Outside the Americas, Knives Are Often the Weapon of Choice in Homicides

[lostinblue 1,989]

Outside the Americas, Knives Are Often the Weapon of Choice in Homicides

More than 130 people in Kunming, China, were injured when about ten men and women wielding knives began stabbing others at random

More than 130 people in Kunming, China, were injured when about ten men and women wielding knives began stabbing others at random

By Rachel Nuwer

smithsonian.com

March 3, 2014

On Saturday, more than 130 people in a train station in Kunming, China, were injured when about ten men and women wielding knives began stabbing others at random, the BBC reports. The attackers, who authorities say might be members of a Muslim separatist group from Xinjiang province, used swords and meat cleavers to inflict damage on people lined up near the busy station's ticket counter. Officials stated that at least 28 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the attacks, Reuters reports.

As shocking as Saturday's attack is, knife attacks are not uncommon in China. As Quartz reports, knives are often the weapon of choice there.

Its unclear exactly how many knife attacks have taken place in China over the years, but the almost regular media reports of the attacks suggest that efforts to regulate the purchase of knives or punish offenders havent been successful.

Most recently, targets for these knife attacks have included schools and shopping centers. Last June, knife-wielding assailants killed nine policemen and 17 civilians at a police station in Lukqun Township in Xinjiang.

In July of 2013, a mentally ill man stabbed four people, leaving a two-year-old boy dead, outside of a Carrefour shop in Beijing with a knife he purchased from the store. The following month, another man stabbed several passengers on a bus in Henan province, killing three, including a 10-month old baby and a 10-year-old child.

China is not unique in its problem with knives, however. In Japan, in 2001 a janitor wielding a kitchen knife killed eight children at an Osaka school where he worked, while a man in Tokyo went on a random stabbing spree with a dagger in 2008, killing four people. In South Korea, a disgruntled man killed eight people in a stabbing spree at his apartment complex in 2008. In Germany, a drunk 16-year-old stabbed 41 people at the opening ceremony of a Berlin train station. And last year, anti-knife campaigns ramped up in the U.K after a 13-year-old girl was stabbed to death.

All of these countries have tight gun control laws, and rates of violent crime involving knives reflect that. According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, firearms account for 76 percent of homicide weapons in the Americas (30 countries), while knives make up just 10 percent of those crimes. In Europe (32 countries), on the other hand, guns are involved in 36 percent of murders and knives are involved in 43 percent. Here's the U.N.:

Over the whole age range, a male in the Americas is around six times more likely to be killed by a firearm than a knife. In contrast, in 17 countries in Asia, firearm and sharp object homicides are much more equally distributed in the 15 to 34 age group: while a slightly higher proportion of violent deaths are caused by firearm in each group, a male in the countries examined in Asia is almost as likely to be killed by a knife as a firearm.

Likewise, deaths among European men are about evenly divided between guns and sharp objects, the U.N. reports. While either a gun or a knife is, clearly, a potential murder weapon, there is a correlation between the availability of guns and the lethality of violent crimes, the U.N. writes.

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/outside-americas-knives-are-often-weapon-choice-homicides-180949953/#I45juUvj01bpVEjZ.99

[Dakine10 5,452]

Obviously the way to stop these attacks is for everyone to get their own knife. A criminal with a knife would be less likely to attack if he knew everyone else had a knife. Only a good guy with a knife can stop a bad guy with a knife. Knives don't kill people , people kill people. All teachers should carry knives. If we ban knives, only criminals will have knives. Why do you want to take my knife away. More knives in the hands of private citizens equals less knife crime. I carry a knife cause a cop is too heavy. Cars kill more people than knives why don't we ban cars. Without knives the king of England could walk right into my living room and quarter troops. More knifes mean fewer deaths. You're taking advantage of knife tragedies to push your agenda. If the gubmint want's my knife, they'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands. The right to bear knives is a God given right. If we give up our knives, pencil related crimes will increase.

[JohnR! 5,495]

There seems to be empirical data suggesting more knives will make everyone safe... :rofl:

[X Factor 1,112]

When someone wants to kill you can't really stop them. They use knives, bombs, guns, cars etc. Something is wrong with society to produce rising numbers of people that want to kill others.

[Rob L 3,811]

Obviously the way to stop these attacks is for everyone to get their own knife. A criminal with a knife would be less likely to attack if he knew everyone else had a knife. Only a good guy with a knife can stop a bad guy with a knife. Knives don't kill people , people kill people. All teachers should carry knives. If we ban knives, only criminals will have knives. Why do you want to take my knife away. More knives in the hands of private citizens equals less knife crime. I carry a knife cause a cop is too heavy. Cars kill more people than knives why don't we ban cars. Without knives the king of England could walk right into my living room and quarter troops. More knifes mean fewer deaths. You're taking advantage of knife tragedies to push your agenda. If the gubmint want's my knife, they'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands. The right to bear knives is a God given right. If we give up our knives, pencil related crimes will increase.

mandatory bearing of sabres in bars, schools and churches?

[Expat1 971]

Obviously the way to stop these attacks is for everyone to get their own knife. A criminal with a knife would be less likely to attack if he knew everyone else had a knife. Only a good guy with a knife can stop a bad guy with a knife. Knives don't kill people , people kill people. All teachers should carry knives. If we ban knives, only criminals will have knives. Why do you want to take my knife away. More knives in the hands of private citizens equals less knife crime. I carry a knife cause a cop is too heavy. Cars kill more people than knives why don't we ban cars. Without knives the king of England could walk right into my living room and quarter troops. More knifes mean fewer deaths. You're taking advantage of knife tragedies to push your agenda. If the gubmint want's my knife, they'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands. The right to bear knives is a God given right. If we give up our knives, pencil related crimes will increase.

Left out: The pencil is mightier than the knife

[eieio 1,594]

Something is wrong with society to produce rising numbers of people that want to kill others.

IMO society has nothing to do with it. People have been killing each other since whenever human existence began. I am not even sure more people(at least % wise) are being killed. We sure have improved our ways of hearing about it though.

[X Factor 1,112]

IMO society has nothing to do with it. People have been killing each other since whenever human existence began. I am not even sure more people(at least % wise) are being killed. We sure have improved our ways of hearing about it though.

No there is increasing lack in love among people. Talk to older people. I am seeing public announcements the past 10 years in English and Spanish on sides of buses in the hood say "please don't abandon your babies call 1 800 xxx". While society has always been violent there is increasing violence.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Obviously the way to stop these attacks is for everyone to get their own knife. A criminal with a knife would be less likely to attack if he knew everyone else had a knife. Only a good guy with a knife can stop a bad guy with a knife. Knives don't kill people , people kill people. All teachers should carry knives. If we ban knives, only criminals will have knives. Why do you want to take my knife away. More knives in the hands of private citizens equals less knife crime. I carry a knife cause a cop is too heavy. Cars kill more people than knives why don't we ban cars. Without knives the king of England could walk right into my living room and quarter troops. More knifes mean fewer deaths. You're taking advantage of knife tragedies to push your agenda. If the gubmint want's my knife, they'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands. The right to bear knives is a God given right. If we give up our knives, pencil related crimes will increase.

Thanks for the laugh man!

[eieio 1,594]

No there is increasing lack in love among people. Talk to older people. I am seeing public announcements the past 10 years in English and Spanish on sides of buses in the hood say "please don't abandon your babies call 1 800 xxx". While society has always been violent there is increasing violence.

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/violent-crime/violent-crime

I guess it may just depend where you live.

[GandD 5,966]

No there is increasing lack in love among people. Talk to older people. I am seeing public announcements the past 10 years in English and Spanish on sides of buses in the hood say "please don't abandon your babies call 1 800 xxx". While society has always been violent there is increasing violence.

Incorrect.

[Sousuke 1,214]

Incorrect.

Right, violence has been decreasing in the United States for the last 20 years. Violence peaked from the late 1970s until the early 90s.

With a lag time of about 23 years, there is a correlation with leaded fuel and violence.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Right, violence has been decreasing in the United States for the last 20 years. Violence peaked from the late 1970s until the early 90s.

With a lag time of about 23 years, there is a correlation with leaded fuel and violence.

Does that also coincide with the removal of lead based paints?

[Sousuke 1,214]

Does that also coincide with the removal of lead based paints?

Could be, I just checked and they were banned in 1978. Given all existing homes would have been grandfathered, it would also take awhile before lead paint began to diminish.

[GandD 5,966]

Just wait till organic food becomes more accessible. Humans will be as docile as a manatee. I'm not sure why I use manatee. My first instinct was to use kitten but sometimes they're jerks.