It all started with one roommate locking the other out of the apartment. When the victim was able to get back in and tried to go back upstairs, he noticed his roommate “had on wolverine blades and a knife in his other hand,” according to the deputies’ report. He then attacked the victim, slashing his head and arms and stabbing him in the thigh.
They then fell down the stairs and the wannabe Wolvie was restrained by his mother, who also got cut in the process, requiring stitches. (nice)
Aside from the blades, which I’m skeptical were actual adamantium (thank Whedon, right? Or else this could’ve been much worse), the perpetrator also suffers from Wolverine’s trademark memory wipe. He remembers locking his roommate out, but nothing after that.
Now I know this is not the time to start a national debate on replica weapons control. I’m not sure that a week-long waiting period on wolverine claws would’ve stopped this crisis from happening. Some are making the legitimate point that if these sharp, assault-type-weapons weren’t on the market, the roommate likely would’ve only had the much less dangerous kids toys made of plastic, and no one would’ve gotten stabbed.
But I also remember as a kid simply using the set of steaknives we had in our kitchen, sticking them between my four fingers and pretending I was Wolverine. These sort of makeshift claws are surely equally as dangerous, if not moreso.
I can understand the outrage and the kneejerk reaction to people who want to immediately pull all sword or blade type weapon replicas off of ebay. But then we’re just sending people to black market dealers who will sell only to criminals, leaving the traditional, law-abiding nerd defenseless.
I think that we can all agree if the victim had only been armed with Captain America’s shield or perhaps Batman’s gauntlets, this situation could’ve been resolved without anyone getting stabbed. . . and probably in a much more cool, epic fight scene.
So I think that’s the real solution. It’s not that we need to get rid of dangerous replica Wolverine blades, but that we need a populace educated and patriotic enough to carry with them at all times either a vibranium shield or other protective weapon.