Lightsaber-Control Legislation Causes Controversy
Advocates and opponents of stronger lightsaber-control laws are gearing up their lobbying efforts to battle over groundbreaking lightsaber-control legislation that is being proposed in the Republic government. Advocates say that stronger lightsaber-control laws are necessary in order to prevent lightsabers from falling into the hands of evil Sith and also to ensure that lightsaber owners are competent to use their lightsabers safely. This legislation follows a series of widely publicized lightsaber accidents, ranging from the minor, such as an incident in which a 7-year-old Coruscant boy accidentally chopped his own hand off with his father's lightsaber, to the severe, such as when a Jedi who was fighting a fierce duel with an evil Sith Lord while standing on top of the primary antimatter conduit for the Corellian Reactor Complex accidentally dropped his lit lightsaber, rendering a 1000-square-kilometer area of the planet permanently uninhabitable. Despite these reasons for the legislation, there are still many opponents.
Opponents of lightsaber-control laws claim that they are unconstitutional because they violate the Second Amendment to the Republic Constitution, which states that "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free galaxy, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, but the right of the people to keep and bear hands may be infringed by others exercising the previous right." There is much debate over whether "arms" refers only to blasters, or whether it refers to lightsabers too. Jedi Knight Jaden Korr, an opponent of lightsaber control, says that "the fact that the Second Amendment specifically mentions chopping off people's hands clearly means that the Framers were thinking about lightsabers. Have you ever tried chopping off someone's hand with a blaster? I have, and it isn't easy." Snarlton Weston, the head of the GLA (Galactic Lightsaber Association) goes even farther, saying that " 'arms' refers to any form of man-portable weapon, not just blasters and lightsabers. Shoulder-launched anti-vehicular missiles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, non-lethal weapons, you name it. That is, if anyone had the sense to actually invent any of those things, given their obvious tactical uses as well as the complete lack of anything resembling them in modern warfare." On the other hand, some people dispute these interpretations, saying that the Second Amendment only allows lightsabers in the hands of well-regulated militias. "There are lots of things you can call the Jedi," said Jedi Padawan David Vandria. "Hokey New Age religious cult? Check. Quasi-monastic paramilitary organization? We're that, too. But well-regulated militia? No way. Come on, we can't even capture a single high-value target at a known location with no guards when the fate of the galaxy is on the line."
The new lightsaber-control legislation has several provisions. One provision mandates a three-day waiting period to buy lightsabers, during which authorities will perform a background check to check for evidence of "recent Sith activity". However, some claim that this provision will not stop lightsabers from falling into Sith hands, because "about 97 percent of all Sith are fallen Jedi. They could have gotten their lightsabers while they were Jedi and then keep using them after they turn to the dark side." Also, says Jedi Knight Darian Ketrion, "if you let Sith get lightsabers, they'll probably get new lightsabers and make them red. But if you stop Sith from getting lightsabers, they'll just use their lightsabers from when they were a Jedi, which will be green or blue. And that makes them a lot harder to identify. I know, I was in a battle with Sith once, and if I couldn't identify who was on my side by the color of the lightsabers then I would have killed my friends as often as I killed my enemies." Another controversial provision is one mandating registration of all lightsabers in a central database. "If, hypothetically, the most beloved Senator in the Galactic Senate turned out to be an evil Sith Lord and wanted to turn the Republic into a dictatorship and get rid of all the Jedi, if they had a database of everybody who has lightsabers they could go around and confiscate them and we'll be defenseless," said Ketrion. "Of course, I'm not sure why they would go to all that trouble when they could just destroy the Jedi Temple with about 30 seconds of continuous fire from an Imperial Star Destroyer, but still…"
Another provision of the lightsaber-control bill is intended to prevent accidents, but even this one is controversial. This provision mandates that all lightsabers be equipped with specially designed "Safety-Lock" switches that will turn off when dropped. The purpose of this is so that people don't drop their lit lightsabers and cut into something. However, critics say this reduces the usefulness of lightsabers for self-defense. "Let's say you need to throw your lightsaber at an assailant," says Jedi Padawan Jenoria Triala, "but, like me, you aren't strong enough in the Force yet to keep the button on the lightsaber pressed while it's in the air. Before, I could just use one that stays lit even when the button isn't held down, but if all lightsabers are equipped with Safety-Lock switches, that won't be possible."
Nevertheless, despite all these objections, 62 percent of Jedi support the new lightsaber-control legislation. If the legislation succeeds in keeping lightsabers out of the hands of people who have embraced the Dark Side, it will be much easier for Jedi to kill them. "In order to become a full-fledged Jedi Knight I have to kill or capture an evil Sith," says Vandria, "but the problem is that I'm no good at lightsaber combat and all the Sith I'm fighting have lightsabers. I am pretty good at stealth, though, so I could just sneak up on them and chop their arms off." However, Vandria added, "there's a stupid Jedi Code regulation which says that I have to make my enemy aware of my presence and be staring at each other for at least three consecutive seconds before engaging in lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat. If the enemy didn't have lightsabers, this rule wouldn't apply. Of course, they would probably come up with an equally stupid rule to replace it, but whatever…"