National / Crime & Legal Sagamihara killings reveal shortcomings in law to control knives Tuesday’s stabbing rampage in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, has highlighted the difficulty of reigning in crimes involving knives, despite a recent revision to the Firearm and Sword Control Law. Knives have often been the weapon of choice in single-perpetrator mass murders in Japan, where gun ownership is strictly prohibited. In 2009, the government revised the law to effectively ban the possession of daggers and other doubled-edged knives with blades 5.5 cm or longer, in the wake of the indiscriminate stabbing of pedestrians the previous year in Tokyo’s Akihabara district. In that incident, 25-year-old Tomohiro Kato rammed a truck into a street crowd, running people over and then going on a stabbing rampage, killing a total of seven. Before the 2009 revision, the law banned swords, knives and spears with blades 15 cm or longer. In the Akihabara attack, Kato used a 13-cm dagger.

Violators of the revised law face up to a three-year prison term and maximum ¥500,000 fine. It is not yet known what kind of knives Satoshi Uematsu, the alleged perpetrator of the Sagamihara stabbings, used when he attacked residents at Tsukui Yamayuri En, a care facility for people with mental and physical disabilities, in the early hours of Tuesday. Uematsu is reported to have been in possession of three knives, including a Japanese-style kitchen knife, when he turned himself in to local police shortly after the rampage.Copyright © Kramer Knives Inc. Kramer® is a Registered Trademark of Kramer Knives Inc. No part of this website may be reproduced in any way, or by any means, without the prior written permission of Kramer Knives. Any use of this website is subject to our terms and conditions. Web design by Tiller Police tape at the Tsukui Yamayuri Garden disable care facility in Sagamihara. A knife-wielding former employee has killed 19 people and injured 25 at a care centre for people with disabilities in Japan, the country's worst mass killing in decades.

Key points:Police arrest Satoshi Uematsu, 26, a former employee at the disability care centreNHK reports that he broke a window to gain access to the Tsukui Yamayuri Garden facilityAsahi Shimbun, quoting police, said the man wanted to 'rid the disabled from this world'sushi jersey city 440 Satoshi Uematsu, the 26-year-old attacker who reportedly threatened to kill hundreds of disabled people earlier this year, later turned himself in at a police station admitting to officers: "I did it."sushi cat 2 play onlineHe reportedly also said: "The disabled should all disappear."sushi go round play onlineBroadcaster NTV said the man told police he had been fired and held a grudge against the care centre.how to buy raw salmon for sushi

The dead ranged in age from 18 to 70 and included nine men and 10 women, the Kyodo news agency has reported.The attack began in the early hours of the morning when Uematsu allegedly broke a first-floor window to get into the building.NTV reported that he tied up caregivers before stabbing the residents.A doctor at one of the hospitals where victims were taken described some with "deep stab" wounds to the neck.Staff called police at 2:30am local time on Tuesday with reports of a man armed with a knife on the grounds of the sprawling three-hectare Tsukui Yamayuri Garden facility.The man handed himself over at a police station half an hour later, a spokesman at Kanagawa Prefecture Police said.A local official identified the suspect and said he had turned up at the police station with the murder weapons."When Uematsu turned himself in, he was found carrying kitchen knives and other types of knives stained with blood," Shinya Sakuma told a press conference in the prefecture's capital Yokohama.Mass killings are extremely rare in Japan and typically involve stabbings, due to Japan's strict gun laws.

Local media reported Uematsu had sent a letter to the Speaker of the Lower House of Japan's parliament in February threatening to kill 470 disabled people.In the letter, which he hand-delivered to security personnel, he also presented his vision of a society in which the seriously handicapped could be euthanised with the approval of family members.It brought him to the attention of Tokyo police, who informed Sagamihara authorities that he was a potential threat to others, NHK and other media reported.Uematsu was hospitalised on February 19, the same day he left his job at the care centre, but was discharged 12 days later when the doctor deemed he would not attack anyone, NHK said. The site of a stabbing attack at a disabled facility in Sagamihara. A man identified as the father of a patient in the facility told NHK he learned about the attack on the radio."I'm very worried but they won't let me in," he said, standing just outside a cordon of yellow crime scene tape.The man said he had never heard of trouble at the facility before.

A woman who said she used to work at the facility said many patients were profoundly disabled."They are truly innocent people. What did they do? This is shocking," she told Japanese television station TBS.NHK reported that the facility is usually locked at night but the man broke into the building by smashing a window.Established by the local government and nestled on the wooded bank of the Sagami River, the Tsukui Yamayuri Garden facility cares for people with a wide range of disabilities and hosts accommodation for 150 people.Are you looking for a great Bowie Knife? A Bowie knife is a knife that is longer than 6 inches with a sharp, wide blade. It was designed by Col. James Bowie to be a portable fighting knife. It should be longer and heavier than a dagger but shorter than a saber. Historians stated that a Bowie “must be long enough to use as a sword, sharp enough to use as a razor, wide enough to use as a paddle, and heavy enough to use as a hatchet.” With all these features, it is no wonder why the Bowie is a very popular knife from the 19th century onwards.

There is no real definition for what a Bowie knife is. Jim Bowie made several variations to his Bowies over the years and the original history has been lost. However, accounts from the time states that the Bowie knife looks like a large butcher knife with a clip point. The clip point is used to improve the Bowie’s stabbing ability. Today, you can find a lot of Bowies from many manufacturers. Some include a saw-tooth back to use in survival situations. Others are modernized with composit materials. However, no matter what specifications are made, the following would always remain important in a Bowie: PUMA is a German knife maker who is known for the quality of their steel. PUMA knives are custom forged in the factory and, before shipment, are individually tested for their hardness. Only knives who have passed the Rockwell hardness tests are sold to consumers. The PUMA Stag Bowie has been known among knife enthusiasts for its quality but, however, this model is a remake of the original and the knife has many downgrades.

The steel was downgraded from D1.4 stainless to 440A stainless. D1.4 is the traditional steel used by PUMA whereas 440A is the steel used for mass-produced knives. It still passed the hardness test but the knife is much less special because of the downgrade. The knife is still 6 inches and full tang but the rivets was changed from nickel/silver to brass. There used to be 3 rivets in the knife but the knife now only has 2 rivets. Also, there used to be a lanyard hole between the middle and last rivet but that has now been removed. The knife is still made with a Stag horn. The sheath went from a leather sheath to a nylon sheath. The knife weights 8 ounces and, because of the changes mentioned above, the market price dropped from $135 to $60. If you are looking for a good knife in the market, I would either look for the 3 rivet version of the PUMA Stag Bowie or find another knife. This two rivet version is now worth it. Ka-Bar is a company that was renown for their USMC fighting knife.

If you are looking for a good all around knife, I highly recommend the USMC knife. In fact, the USMC knife was loosely based upon the Bowie knife for its design. The BK9 is Ka-bar’s big Bowie knife. It is a whopping 9 inches long and weights 1 pound. This knife is definitely a large knife. The BK9 is made of 1095 Cro-Van steel. 1095 is a very common type of carbon steel used in knife making. Carbon steel holds an edge very well and is easy to sharpen. The downside is that it rusts easily. 1095 Cro-Van is 1095 steel with chromium and vanadium added. Chromium aids in rust protection and vanadium increases blade retention. What you get is a very good, solid knife that will keep an edge and not rust easily. Like all Ka-bar knives, this knife comes razor sharp and is proudly made in the USA. The knife features a full tang construction with two Grivory handles. Grivory is a composit material that is basically layers of nylon glued together. It makes for a very light handle but some users find it to be slippery.

I didn’t see it like them but you can also buy these really cool Micarta handles for the BK9. Micarta is super slick. The knife also has a pummel that you can use to nail things or break safety glass. The sheath is nylon and, even though nylon is not the best material for a sheath, the sheath does not feel cheap at all. I’m sure Ka-bar chose to use nylon because of issues with moisture for leather. Also, most tactical gear today are made of nylon or some other plastic. This knife received a 4.5 star rating on Amazon out of 97 reviews. It is also one of the top selling Bowie knives on Amazon. It retails for $134 but you can buy it for $78 on Amazon. Check it out here. Cold Steel is another big knife maker in the US. The Natchez Bowie is named after the region where the Bowie knife was first used. There are several versions of this knife but the Micarta version has to be the best in my opinion. The blade is a little short of 12 inches, making this the longest knife in the review.

It is a monster! It weights almost 20 ounces and is a little more than 17 inches total in length. The blade uses VG-1 San Mai III steel. San Mai is a type of steel often used by Japanese knife makers. VG-1 is believed to have a much better edge retention than comparable stainless steels but it is also believed to chip much easier. When I received the blade, I noticed it was razor-sharp and that it was very slick. I can’t say anything bad about it. The handle is made of black linen Micarta. Micarta is a popular knife handle material made up of glued layers of fiberglass. They are very cool and have good grips. This handle is no exception to that and features a cool wave design on it. The knife is a full tang. The sheath is a leather sheath. It will absorb moisture over time but, since the knife is so pretty, I’m sure no one is going to go camping with this baby. It retails for $700 but you can buy it on Amazon for $349. So, which Bowie knife should you get? If you are thinking about buying a Bowie for hunting, camping, or for tactical reasons, I highly suggest the BK9 by Ka-Bar.