A period of time before there was the internet, Jim Bowie knives became fashionable among young men. Unlike ordinary knives, these knives served primarily as tools to kill other young men should the need arise. They were male ego items, and as such were often expensive, showy, and worn in plain sight for all to see. Said knife said to the world “Do not mess with me. If I wanted I could kill you.” The usual sort of guy stuff.

There’s a famous Historian, Hank Williams Jr. who used to tell about what young men did before they had the internet and smart phones to occupy their time: Turns out young men would get together with their rowdy friends, go into town, and drink whiskey.

Across the South especially at this time, young men came from a culture where they could be rather easily provoked.

Young men easily provoked, alcohol, and now they were showing up with big honking Jim Bowie knives on their belts for all to see.

The result was predictable; a wave of senseless knife violence swept the South, young men in the flower of their youth being struck down in stupid drunken brawls. What did this epidemic of senseless knife violence result in?

Knife Control, of course.

In 1839 Georgia, Tennesse and Kentucky all outlawed the carrying of Jim Bowie knives, (which is why there are no Jim Bowie knives in those States today). These laws did not to the best of my knowledge specify what features made a Jim Bowie knife a Jim Bowie knife, nor address the fact that a plain ol’ kitchen knife could also be used to kill people.

If them young men back them woulda had video games and smartphones this all would likely of never happened.

"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744