Story of the month ...

June 2013: Knives and assault weapons: In the International Herald Tribune I could read today (June 7, 2013) that the U.S. won't allow knives on planes (see the earlier article in the NYT here). We are not talking about big knives only, we are talking about knives down to the samllest pocket knives. The TSA had considered to allow small knives to be carried on board, but the flight attendent and crews had protested. They felt that the presence of such small knives would make their lifes and that of the passenges less safe. I am not sure, I agree with the flight attendents, but I don't see a problem in keeping knifes out of air planes.

The interior of air planes in flight are the safest places in the world. Statistically, one needs to spend 35,000 years there to be in an accident. Partly, they are so safe because we make sure that airplanes are well maintained, the people doing the job are well trained and selected, and traffic is controlled with a huge effort. Partly, they are also safe because we have made an unparalled effort to ensure that no passengers with assault weapons, explosives, swords, golf clubs, baseball bats, large and small knifes, and even sharp cosmetic tools get in.

If we would apply the same reasoning to society at large, would we then allow unscreaned people to acquire assault weapons, have them at home ready to use, and carry them almost wherever they want without control (expect for airplanes, of course)? Would we let people freely buy all sorts of weapons, even those that can easily be concelled? Nobody is accusing the flight attendents of being paranoic because they didn't want passengers with knifes on the planes. But in the U.S. society, people who argue against proliferation of weapons and the right of everyone to posses almost whatever rifle, gun, knife, sword or other weapons they want are often ridiculled. Why do we even respect a person who argues in favor of the right to own weapons? Why do we even consider the argument they put out there that more weapons will make society more safe? All scientific studies and all statistical data show the opposite. The “more weapons equal more safety” is a hoax, with an impact comparable in the U.S. to the impact of the “there is no climate change” hoax. In the U.S., people who ignore science, statistics, and well documented knowledge and, among others, publically argue in favor of the right to own assault weapons and other weapons may be elected into public positions, including the U.S. Congress and the Senate. I am glad, they obviously don't make it into the air plane cabines as flight attendants.

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