Knife Attacks Cause Britain Schools to Teach Trauma Aid to Teens

Knife attacks continue to surge in several UK cities, prompting schools to introduce emergency knife wound trauma curriculum to teenagers. Not only are knife attacks a significant issue for Britains, violent crime, but even incidents involving firearms have also steadily increased over the last decade. Why does this matter for us Americans?

Gun Control and Knife Control?

Proponents of gun control laws often point to the strict gun sanctions of Britain as a prototype of their desire for America. Besides not having a Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, the UK is fundamentally different from the United States. But the differences do not mean we can't look at how radical gun control and other crime-related policies have affected crime across the Atlantic Ocean.

Gun-rights advocates have continued to claim that the issue is not the firearm but the heart of the individual wielding the gun. Instead of addressing the social issues that lend to a feeling of despair and evil, politicians in the US and Britain virtue signal by pushing restrictive laws that do more harm than good. And the kicker is these restrictive gun laws only affect the law-abiding citizens in the country.

Crime Rates In England:

After passing more restrictive gun laws in the UK, the number of crimes involving guns initially dropped. We would expect this, as fewer guns were to be had by criminals. Almost instantly, violent crime involving other weapons increased.

An article from US News reported that knife attacks in England and Wales are at the highest level in over 9 years! It is so bad that, as mentioned above, teens are now taught how to provide emergency trauma aid to victims of knife attacks. To be clear, I am not against teens or adults learning emergency trauma skills.

Trauma Response Training is Great:

I can't recommend this free Emergency Trauma Response course on the Mountain Man Medical site. I don't know how long it will be before it is $28.00 again, but it is a no-brainer for everyone. Novices, and highly trained medical personnel, have agreed that this course is comprehensive and an incredible resource for everyone. It would be a fantastic idea for schools and employers here in the United States to teach a lesson like this.

Now back to the inevitable consequences of restrictive gun laws. An article from the BBC has indicated that crimes involving guns have risen consistently in England and Wales since 2014. Not only was this inevitable, but also predicted by anyone who looked at the issue for more than two seconds.

Crime Rates are Complex:

To be fair, crime rates are very complicated and there are many influences to what may cause a spike or reduction in the statistics. The complexity goes for guns and knives. But we cannot discount the fact that a strict prohibition on possession of firearms by non-criminals has not made people safer. Rather it makes them more vulnerable. Nearly any criminal can afford a knife, and knives are not highly regulated like guns. Many studies have looked at the question of “do good guys with guns stop bad guys with guns or even knives?”

In an article from USA Today, reported the following:

We know, because of research directed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that guns are used 16 to 100 times more often to protect life than to take life. That means there are a whole lot more “guns save lives stories” not being reported by USA TODAY.

Now the USA Today is not what most would consider a pro-Second Amendment propaganda machine. And later in the USA Today article, they conceded:

But as much as the USA TODAY Editorial Board wants to discount the idea of the “good guy with a gun,” let’s not forget that almost 90% of police agree that mass shootings would be “reduced” or “avoided altogether” by the presence of legally armed citizens.

Takeaways:

So what can we learn from all of this? Hopefully, we take away this understanding. Simply banning citizens from possessing firearms or regulating them in such a restrictive way that the average citizen cannot afford them is not going to make society safe. Here is some work I did on showing how mass shooters were able to get their guns, despite strict gun laws.

And in our personal lives, we can better prepare ourselves to be ready not only to defend ourselves with a great equalizer, the gun but to possess the knowledge and skills to treat basic trauma injuries and save lives. Knife attacks continue to surge in several UK cities, prompting schools to introduce emergency knife wound trauma curriculum to teenagers.