Watch out, that man is armed with a five and a half inch stick!

Now, normally I am pretty positive when it comes to Great Britain, they have the national health, the Magna Carta and Stonehenge. On the downside, they have more close circuit security cameras than anyone can keep track of. It makes you wonder if some people over there didn't realize that 1984 was a dystopian cautionary tale, not an instruction manual. Now, if just to prove how nutty they have gone in their post-imperial era, some judicial chuckle-head on the other side of the pond has decided that a kubotan is an offensive weapon.

To fill in some of the details, the British actor Darren Day was arrested for drunk driving, as it turned out the key chain he had on him was a metal kubotan. It was a gift he received 14 years ago (good thing they got it when they did, who knows how much carnage he could have caused with the stick if he had it for 15 years). During his trial, (My goodness, they actually have trials for stuff like this over there? They must be bored) two martial arts experts testified that the kubotan was designed, "as a self defense weapon and in a worst case scenario could be used to kill someone."

Those martial arts "experts" are really being over dramatic. In a worst case scenario, most solid items could be used to kill someone. Watch out Brits, next thing you know you may have to register your cricket bats, rolling pins and kitchen cutlery with the authorities. I should probably stop now before I give anti-crime zealots over there more bad ideas. Things are not exactly ideal over in the colonies by any stretch of the imagination. But, I think that somewhere between open carry nuts and police charging someone with possession of a five inch stick, reasonable people can find a more rational place to be. Maybe mandatory boffer carry laws?