Consultation on review of legislation on 'Samurai Swords'
We have just received an e-mail from the Department of Justice inviting us to give our views on a review of current legislation.
A chara,
You will be aware that a number of crimes have been committed using what
has been described as 'samurai swords'. The Department of Justice,
Equality and Law Reform has received representations from TDs and members
of the public that such weapons should be banned. We are presently
reviewing the current legislation.The Department does not wish to unnecessarily restrict or adversely impact
on cultural, sporting or dramatic activities. We would welcome your views
and submissions on this issue. The term 'samurai sword', though in popular
usage, is problematic in that it refers only to swords made during the
samurai era in Japan. It clearly does not refer to the types of swords
being used in violent crimes. We are open to any better suggestions you
might put forward.We are also looking at providing exemptions for martial arts practioners
and would be interested in your views of how this would work. Would
specific swords be exempted based on how they are manufactured or would one
need to be a registered club member to purchase a sword?We might put a meeting together in early February where we could discuss
these matters. In the meantime, I would be grateful if you would consider
the issue and get back to me with your comments.
Thoughts!?
Update?
I was just wondering if anything came out of this?
Rgds,
Eoin
Offensive weapons
My first reaction to this is that I am delighted that the Department of Justice is asking for the Associations views! We should ensure we keep the dialogue open and be the voice of Iaido in Ireland!
Any discussion of this should involve the relevant legislation which is The Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990. It specifically bans most types of weapons anyway ( its here http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1990/en/act/pub/0012/index.html )
The Act itself does not ban weapons - it bans whatever is on the Statutory Instrument (SI) referred to in the Act. The way it works is (I think) Acts have to be passed in the Dail, SIs can be implemented by a Minister. So the list of banned weapons can be changed by the Minister without having to go to the Dail.
The particular SI which lists the banned weapons is S.I. No. 66/1991 — Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990 (Offensive Weapons) Order, 1991. I think this was the last time it was updated (which is here http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1991/en/si/0066.html )
This SI is particularly interesting in that it bans a number of Japanese martial arts weapons including shuriken.
Licensing adds a layer of bureaucracy and expense. Most legislation is designed to be a deterrent - if you do something illegal you will be punished. However, the usual knee jerk reaction to sword and gun crimes is to ban them so that people dont have the opportunity to do something illegal in the first place.
Even if weapons are banned, those who really want them will get their hands on them. I think the (flawed) reasoning behind discussions like this is that banning removes them as "weapons of opportunity". The reason I think this is flawed is because it doesnt stop the crime - the person who would have grabbed a handy samurai sword now just grabs a kitchen knife and the result is the same. Firearms are different - they allow you to harm someone from a distance. If you cant grab a firearm, theres nothing much else you can use to do the same harm from a distance. I think this is the line I would argue.
The Department also asks for definitions of swords and I think this is interesting. The SI which has the banned list specifically does NOT include swords! My guess is that this is because it would then cover legitimate collectors and martial artists.
Anyway thats my 2c worth.
Rgds,
Eoin
Temeshigiri.
Don't forget that there are many who also practice Temeshigiri as part of their Iai training, and therefore Shinken also have to be available for a practitioner to purchase. Licensing would only be a way of the government screwing more money out of an already over-taxed population, I would therefore be against Govt issued licenses. The purchase of such weapons should be restricted to SERIOUS Martial Artists, and this could be done by restricting sales to only those people who have a signed "authorisation to purchase" from a registered Dojo leader or Instructor. This also then puts the onus on the Instructor to make sure that the pupil is of the right mind-set. From the point of view of collectors, then membership of an organisation such as the To-Ken society would be mandatory for any person wishing to start. Then the same rule would apply, once it was agreed that the person in question was responsible enough the society would issue a similar authorisation.
Edited slightly
To emphasise that they've made no decision to do anything yet - this is just a review of the situation.
Consultation on review of legislation on 'Samurai Swords'
Well, the obvious initial thing is get iaito and bokken exempted. What do people think of licensing?
Iaito for Iaidoka
For sure we need an exception for iaito (for Iaidoka) based on club membership. I guess that bokto is not recognized as
the weapon so far.
What does it mean 'how they are manufactured' ???
No idea
They might be angling to ban the nasty wall-hangers on the basis that they're manufactured differently than proper (expensive) swords.
Sorry, I mean Iaito for training
Sorry, I thaught about training Iaito.
I try to imagine the situation when I need to bring to Ireland the gift of my Sensei shinken from Japan. What should I do???
Is this way right way?
I agree, that the further purchasing of sharp Japanese swords (shinken) and the training sharp swords for tameshigiri should be made on behalf of Martial Art group leader confirmation/recommendation for training porpose. Dura lex, sed lex.
The using and keeping of training non-sharp swords (iaito) should be left without special allowance, since they are not much "dangerous" as baseball bites.
Although, on my opinion the licensing would not generally solve the problem.
Recently the selling of any swords is banned. But tones of fakes sold before were not occasionally melted into toys so far.
I recognize the problem in low cultural level of some society elements, alcohol and drug abuse, psychological problems and mental disorders and doesn't matter which weapon those people apply.
There is no licensing for swords in Japan, nevertheless I have never heard about drunk fighting with.
The licensing would be rather an illusion of keeping the control on this point.
For precise evaluation of sword (manufacturing, age, the master/school etc) the committee of experts is required. When it will be organized, the registration and taking into account of swords that used for Martial Art may have a sense and really might take a place.
Is this the right way?
Licensing will never be the answer, in the same way as a complete ban hasn't worked for handguns. Anyone who doesn't give a toss about the law will still find ways to lay their hands on weaponry... or even make it themselves. All that these knee-jerk reactions for political brownie points do is restrict those who ARE responsible in their handling and usage of such weapons.
You mentioned baseball bats....there are many instances of these being used in crimes, pick-axe handles too, but these haven't been banned or restricted. More people have been killed with carving knives and hammers but there is no "licensing" of these products. The Katana is coming under fire because it is something that can be sensationalised in the news. And as such our pathetic politicians try and use such things to win over the members of the general public. If they really wanted to keep us all safe and sound then they should ban the motor vehicle, as there are more people killed by them every year than anything else!
As to having an evaluating committee, the only thing that would lead to is a massive increase in cost for the practitioner. You already have to pay VAT and an import tax on anything that you get from Japan, if the item then has to be sent to another Govt. Dept. for evaluation, you can be damn certain that they aren't going to do that for free, I would guess that the increase in costs would be about £100 per blade, taking into account evaluation charges AND extra postage to and from the department. Then you have to consider what would happen if they, in their "wisdom" decided that the blade you had saved for months or years for didn't meet their criteria? The system would, like most of the departments, be open to abuse, if you know someone there or grease enough palms, then your stuff gets through, if on the other hand someone has taken a dislike to you or the organisation to which you belong, then you get diddly-squat!
At the end of the day the whole thing seems to me to be just another political smokescreen, and another method of getting more hard earned cash out of the general public.