You can purchase knives and machetes all legally at the Ellice Buy and Sell and any number of other stores around town.
In fact, it will cost you as little as $11 to arm yourself with an 18-inch machete, such as one the Free Press bought Monday at a Jarvis Avenue store
It was a machete Eric Russel Daniels was wielding when police shot the 28-year-old man Saturday night.
The Winnipeg Police Service says he refused to drop the weapon.
Daniels' family say they don't know where Daniels got the machete, but the Ellice Buy and Sell owner said the knives are widely available at city stores and flea markets.
The owner said he won't sell the knives or machetes to people less than 18 years old, or to people who appear stoned or intoxicated.
He said he asks for photo identification from people who appear they could be under the age of 18.
Same for Larry Weinstein, owner of United Unlimited, where the Free Press bought the large, steel-blade machete.
Weinstein says he has customers who live in northern communities and buy the machetes to chop bush, or collectors who like to display the items.
He said he won't sell machetes to people under 18 unless their parents are present. Also out are drunk people or those who appear "deranged."
Giselle Mackinnon said Daniels, who was her boyfriend, had his machete, which was about as long as a shoebox, because he was a former Native Syndicate gang member who feared retribution.
After getting into an argument with a couple outside their Home Street bungalow Saturday -- a fight that apparently started when Daniels threatened them -- he ran south with Mackinnon towards Arlington Street near Sargent Avenue. The couple chased them there and started yelling at them, Mackinnon said.
She said her drunk boyfriend, who had problems with alcohol and had a lengthy criminal record with the majority of the offences involving weapons, responded by hitting his hand on a light standard in frustration.
Police who arrived told Daniels twice to drop the weapon, Mackinnon said. She said police fired three shots at him after he started walking towards officers with the machete. She estimated Daniels was about 1.5 metres from police when they fired.
"Like any other edged weapons that are out there, if somebody wants to procure one, they're going to find a way to get them," said Const. Jackie Chaput.
"That's the fine edge of the law
WE have large knives in our homes to cut food. Some people use machetes to clear brush. But when, legally, do knives and machetes become weapons?
According to the Criminal Code of Canada, a knife isn't a weapon (unless it's a switchblade, which is considered a "prohibited weapon"). The definition changes when the knife is intended for violent use.
Likewise, a machete designed as an agricultural tool can legally become a weapon when it's intended to hurt or kill other people.
The Criminal Code says it is illegal to carry a concealed weapon (violators can get up to five years in prison if convicted of the charge), but questions can arise when the knife is concealed.
"Is it a weapon under the definition of the code, or is it just someone carrying a knife?" asked David Deutscher, a professor in the faculty of law at the University of Manitoba. The facts in each case determine the answer.
Again, where things get fuzzy is in the intent. Once the police or Crown attorney determine a violent intent and public safety comes into doubt, the knife is then considered a weapon.
Hacking coconuts with a machete in your kitchen is fine. But slinging your blade around at Portage and Main, putting people in peril? That won't cut it."
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