1.) A gun can only be used for a few things: target shooting, hunting, and self-defense. A blade has literally hundreds of possible utilitarian uses.

2.) Blades(even the really big ones) are generally lighter and easier to conceal than a handgun.

3.) In many jurisdictions, anyone, even a teenager or foreign tourist, can lawfully possess a folding knife. Not so with the handgun, which is far more stringently controlled. Permits are often required for concealed carry, and failure to obtain a permit could result in jail time. You probably wouldn’t get sent to jail for carrying a blade unless it was either a switchblade or a dagger (or something similarly "weaponlike").

4.) You can carry a medium-sized folding knife virtually anywhere without upsetting or alarming the populace — not so with the handgun. If you are strutting down Main Street, proudly displaying your holstered shootin’ iron for all to behold, people are probably gonna get nervous — they might even call the cops. How do you think the police will respond when some hysterical ninny dials 911 and screams, "There’s a crazy man downtown! And he’s got a gun!"?

5.) You can use your gun to shoot a small animal for dinner. You can use your blade to: cut meat, chop vegetables, slice bread, spread butter, spoon out spices, crack nuts, and attend to the majority of your food preparation needs (okay, I guess you could crack nuts with your gun as well, but I wouldn’t recommend it).

6.) A man might be hesitant to pull out a gun unless he truly intended to kill someone. Not so with the blade. A skillful practitioner of the fighting arts can easily use his blade to "injure to degree" (the pommel, spine, and flat can be used to hammer and smack with, and the edge can be used to either scare, scratch, or slash. The point is only used as a last resort).

7.) A man might be hesitant to pull out a gun in a public place, especially if it were crowded. Not so with the blade. A blade will not overpenetrate and endanger innocent bystanders; nor will the noise cause a panicked stampede towards the exits. It would be reckless and ethically reprehensible to discharge a firearm in a room crowded with innocent bystanders, no matter how justified you might be in defending yourself! Armed only with a handgun in such an environment, your best option would probably be to pistol whip your attacker across the teeth.

8.) Blades require no special training to use effectively against an assailant. Any five year old boy can stab someone in the belly — but see how long it takes him to figure out how to jack a round into a .45!

9.) Blades are nastier than guns. They’re silent, they can’t be "made safe," and then (of course) there’s all that "phallic symbolism."