A member of the U.K. Parliament thinks it's a good idea to have knives fitted with tracking devices so their government can know where all knives are at all times.
Scott Mann, a member of the Conservative Party, posted his soon-to-be “made fun of” views Thursday, tweeting:
Every knife sold in the UK should have a gps tracker fitted in the handle. It’s time we had a national database like we do with guns. If you’re carrying it around you had better have a bloody good explanation, obvious exemptions for fishing etc.
— Scott Mann (@scottmann4NC) March 14, 2019
This almost sounds like he’s just being a troll, but that’s doubtful.
Many in the British Twitter world hopped on Mann immediately, even questioning his status as an MP.
5 years from now. Every gang-member carries fresh fish with them at all time. Drug dealers known as fishermen. Fishermen known as knife-men. Twenty million arrests on Christmas Day due to illegal turkey carving. All power tools fitted with Netflix.
— Dom (@westerbuck) March 14, 2019
"There's been a stabbing"
— Mike McKinley (@MikeMckinley) March 14, 2019
"Quick, get me the GPS tracking for every knife in a 3 mile radius"
"OK, it says there are 120,000 of them, mostly in kitchens"
"Bollocks, thought we had them then"
"Could ask those young lads with the machete"
"Nah, they've got a mackerel, been fishing"
You can't tell me society isn't inclusive when this young man can make it to the top despite having the cognitive function of a half a moth. We're proud of you champ.
— Axl Roast (@AlecofWharf) March 14, 2019
Nice idea but totally ineffective. All sorts of things can be made into a knife or deadly weapon. Screwdriver, hammer, scissors. The problem is not the weapon.
— Alastair McNeillovich #FBPE (@aljola) March 14, 2019
Are you serious or is this a spoof account like that Fabricant character? 😂🤣🤣
— Neil Ford (@neiljohnford) March 14, 2019
The British politician’s tweet comes as the U.K. has been seeing a large increase in knife attacks. As The Evening Standard reports:
New Ministry of Justice figures showed 21,484 people were prosecuted or cautioned for knife offences in England and Wales in 2018. The figure is the highest since 2009, when it stood at more than 25,000.
A lot of the Twitter users had it right when they said, “the problem is not with the weapon." It's with the person in possession of the weapon. There is absolutely no way a GPS tracker is going to prevent a criminal from committing a crime, no matter what weapon they're using.