Ban the blade

BBC reports that Britain has launched a nationwide knife amnesty. For the next month or so, anyone burdened with an extra carving knife can relinquish it to the police with no questions asked or charges pressed. In the States, where handguns present a more obvious target for weapons eradication (223 million firearms in private hands, according to the ATF) a knife amnesty would be laughable—what’s next, ban the lead pipe? But last time the Brits tried this strategy in Scotland, murders fell by 26% the following year. Bayonets, cutlasses, and sabers will also be accepted.