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NOT TOO SHARP, ARE WE, FOLKS?
KNIFE-RELATED CHARGES GET THE SOFT TREATMENT DESPITE EPIDEMIC OF STABBINGS

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Gee, it's so nice to know we have the federal gun registry to protect the public from violent crime. Yes, of course I'm being sarcastic.

That $2-billion federal government boondoggle has seemingly had little effect on stemming crime in our Canadian society. (Check out all the gun murders in Toronto, for instance.) Probably the biggest impact it's had is ensuring all the farmers and ranchers and other law-abiding citizens out there license their gopher guns. Just think how much better off we'd be if police forces had simply been given that $2 billion to use in crime-fighting.

But this isn't a column about the gun registry. Rather, it's one about the weapon of choice in this city - the knife.

Just this past weekend, three guests at an Edmonton wedding reception wound up with serious stab wounds following a wild brawl after some people crashed the festivities. In the inner city, a man was taken to hospital clinging to life after he was stabbed twice in the chest.

I have long suspected knives are a far bigger problem in this city than guns - and after a check on the statistics, my hunch proved correct. "This year we've had 23 homicides, and 10 were a result of stabbings," said Edmonton Police Service spokesman Karen Carlson. "Eight of the deaths were shootings. Four were assaults, and one cause of death is unknown."

Last year, it was a similar sad story. "Last year we had 28 homicides, half of which were as a result of stabbings," said Carlson. "Nine were shootings, four were assaults and one was undetermined."

A check with Edmonton's Emergency Response Department paints an even grimmer picture. So far this year, paramedics have responded to 259 reports of stabbings - some of which involved more than one victim. Of all those calls so far this year, ambulances were cancelled in 86 instances. Still, that leaves us with EMS having had to respond to 173 stabbings - and the year is only half over!

Scanning through the Sun's electronic news archives is a real eye-opener. Almost every day there's a story about one person or more being stabbed. It's a true epidemic. The amount of gun crime pales by comparison.

A 2003 study from the Fraser Institute breaks down national crime statistics to show knives are a bigger threat to public safety than guns - yet we've spent $2 billion trying to tackle the so-called firearms problem. That study showed a smaller percentage of people were injured when guns were involved in crimes, as opposed to when knives were employed.

As well, in examining 9,200 robberies, the study found a larger percentage of people were injured when knives were used, compared to when guns were the weapon involved. The study concludes: "Our single-minded focus on firearms appears to be misguided."

That seems fairly obvious.

One thing that also appears obvious is that people using knives to commit assault or other crimes aren't getting much in the way of stiff sentences from the courts. A quick scan of Sun files hammers home that point. While there are almost daily references to stabbings, court stories about tough sentences for those who use such weapons are few and far between.

Alberta Justice department officials note there's a minimum sentence of four years for someone committing a robbery with a firearm - but there's no such minimum when a person does the same thing using a knife.

Given the rash of crimes we see committed using knives, maybe it's time we treat these instances as seriously as we do when guns are involved. What would be wrong with imposing a minimum sentence when knives are involved in a robbery? Isn't it time we caught up to criminal trends?

It might be the only way to bite the bullet and attack the problem, given every second punk on the street seems to be packing a blade. It's not as if we could impose a sweeping law prohibiting the possession of knives, because there are a whole lot of legitimate uses for them.

Any other solutions to this horrific problem of stabbings? I'm all ears. Clearly something has to be done.