There was yet another knifing on the local news. I’m very concerned. Shootings are terrible, but an increase in the number of knifings is, in some ways, worse.
With a gun, the assailant stands away from the victim. He has what I call “space courage.” That is, he has no contact with the victim and doesn’t even have to look him in the eye. It’s so easy to pull that trigger, especially with these guns that essentially shoot themselves (automatic, multiple shots).
With a knife, however, the attacker is up close. He has physical contact and likely can’t avoid seeing his victim’s face. He plunges the knife anyway, sometimes again and again. Each plunge requires effort and a will behind it to hurt. That will is born and sustained by a hatred more powerful than that seen in most shootings.
Does the increasing choice of knife as weapon of choice reflect growing personal hatred in our society? I can handle seeing a gun or a knife. It’s that blind hatred that scares me.