Comments on: It’s OK To Carry A Weapon – If You’re A Sikh http://www.commonfolkusingcommonsense.com/2006/03/05/its-ok-to-carry-a-weapon-if-youre-a-sikh/ My rantings and ravings in this interesting world. Fri, 24 Dec 2010 22:41:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: John Anderson http://www.commonfolkusingcommonsense.com/2006/03/05/its-ok-to-carry-a-weapon-if-youre-a-sikh/comment-page-1/#comment-239 John Anderson Tue, 07 Mar 2006 00:06:16 +0000 http://www.commonfolkusingcommonsense.com/?p=135#comment-239 I do not know how to go about explaining that this dagger is, to a Sikh, only to be used for immediate defense: other weapons may be used for things not necessarily immediate, like defending your country against an invader. But it is a religious requirement, much as peyote is a sacramental drug to some, and not lightly given up. And it is traditionally worn unobtrusively, on a necklace and under clothing. Nor is it exactly a Bowie knife: as you can see in the picture with your post, the blade is usually four inches or less (even weapons-paranoid Massachusetts allows <i>anyone</i> to carry a blade of three inches). Nor is the position of the Sikhs entirely a surprise to those of us who are a certain age. During the violence of the Sixties, Sikhs could get a pass allowing them to carry the <i>kirpan</i> on airplanes and other venues. But it is a weapon, so I can understand people wanting them banned from schools: it makes more sense than banning girls' scarves, even if I do not agree with banning the Kirpan. I do not know how to go about explaining that this dagger is, to a Sikh, only to be used for immediate defense: other weapons may be used for things not necessarily immediate, like defending your country against an invader. But it is a religious requirement, much as peyote is a sacramental drug to some, and not lightly given up. And it is traditionally worn unobtrusively, on a necklace and under clothing. Nor is it exactly a Bowie knife: as you can see in the picture with your post, the blade is usually four inches or less (even weapons-paranoid Massachusetts allows anyone to carry a blade of three inches).

Nor is the position of the Sikhs entirely a surprise to those of us who are a certain age. During the violence of the Sixties, Sikhs could get a pass allowing them to carry the kirpan on airplanes and other venues.

But it is a weapon, so I can understand people wanting them banned from schools: it makes more sense than banning girls’ scarves, even if I do not agree with banning the Kirpan.

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