On the other hand, Britain's obsession with banning knives/sharp objects appears to be unique - many countries have no such restrictions and yet they don't seem to have a stabbing epidemic.
Are you implying there's a stabbing epidemic in Britain? (apologies if I'm misunderstanding that)
Britain doesn't have a stabbing epidemic[1]. It's a meme
Media attention made the obsession, not whatever actually happens in the real world. Ah, if only people cared as much about heart and brain diseases :(
[1] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/stabbing-... (click on Rate per 100k on the last table)
No, my point is that the insane knife restrictions we have aren't actually necessary since many countries lack such restrictions and still don't end up with a stabbing epidemic as a result.
1) There is in fact a need to curb knife crime, without these measures people would die a lot more.
2) There is no significant risk of knife crime, UK uses arbitrary law application to harass undesirable individuals and/or instill a "harmless mindset" into its subjects.
Not sure what's worse.