Noncombatants in the Dominion War

[Sionnach Glic]

That seems the likely answer, then.

[Teaos]

Putting locks on replicators holds signifigant risks. They can be over come. It is much easier to just not let people use them.

[Captain Seafort]

Putting locks on replicators holds signifigant risks. They can be over come. It is much easier to just not let people use them.

Easier, yes, however its disproportionate to bad replicators completely simply to prevent one or two thugs replicating weapons. In any event, it'd probably be easier for them to grab a random household item to use as a weapon rather than replicating one, especially as you'd need to get your hands on a pattern before you could do anything. There'd be a black market in such patterns, but they'd probably be pretty difficult to find.

[Sionnach Glic]

Exactly. What would it be easier to do if you wanted to murder someone?
Bypass the security systems, obtain replicator patterns to a phaser and create it without all this being discovered.
OR
Simply replicate a kitchen knife.

[Tsukiyumi]

...Simply replicate a kitchen knife.

Or a crowbar.

[Sionnach Glic]

Or that, yes.

[Mark]

...Simply replicate a kitchen knife.

Or a crowbar.

Or an axe to throw at them (reference thread about man throwing an axe)

[stitch626]

[Mark]

[Tsukiyumi]

"Computer, axe!"

"Please specify type."

"Dammit!"

"Type not on file."

"Dammit!"

[Teaos]

Exactly. What would it be easier to do if you wanted to murder someone?
Bypass the security systems, obtain replicator patterns to a phaser and create it without all this being discovered.
OR
Simply replicate a kitchen knife.

Replicators could make things a little more dangerous than a kitchen knife.

[Mikey]

Consider Japanese-occupied medieval Okinawa. Weapons were banned; so the Okinawans developed devastating combat forms using farm implements. The now-famous nunchaku is simply a rice flail; tonfa (t-sticks) are threshing tools; etc. The Swiss, English, et. al. developed devastating medieval weapons by tying farm tools to long sticks - the bill-hook, glaive, guisarme, Lochaber axe, bec de corbin, etc.

In other words, unless you put the entire population into concentration camps, you have to let them produce - maybe even produce FOR the occupiers. If they are doing that, they will be able to find a weapon, no matter what you ban.

[Sionnach Glic]

Replicators could make things a little more dangerous than a kitchen knife.

Probably. And that illustrates my point nicely.

[Reliant121]

Consider Japanese-occupied medieval Okinawa. Weapons were banned; so the Okinawans developed devastating combat forms using farm implements. The now-famous nunchaku is simply a rice flail; tonfa (t-sticks) are threshing tools; etc. The Swiss, English, et. al. developed devastating medieval weapons by tying farm tools to long sticks - the bill-hook, glaive, guisarme, Lochaber axe, bec de corbin, etc.

In other words, unless you put the entire population into concentration camps, you have to let them produce - maybe even produce FOR the occupiers. If they are doing that, they will be able to find a weapon, no matter what you ban.

I imagine a simple torch could be amplified in power and output to form an energy weapon?

[Mark]

With a replicator, you COULD do serious damage even if banning weapons. Replicate some bleach and ammonia seperately, then mix them together. Bad stuff.