There have been a number of mass stabbings with swords in recent years. Japan appears to have quite a pattern of this and the body count is often higher. I am no expert with a sword but I have cleared a few acres of brush with a machete and the first thing that comes to mind is that it doesn't go bang thus giving the attacker a little more time before confrontation. The downside was that I got a nasty blister on my thumb due to using the wrong gloves but I can clear brush for hours on end.

I would never harm anyone unprovoked and attacking anyone in my state would be suicide as everyone here is packing. The ratio is something like 221:1 firearms to people, yet no mass shootings, yet. No idea why. There are virtually no ammo or suppressor restrictions. My state and a neighboring state have a 66% firearm ownership rate but I think that counts children.

The only thing that really comes to mind is that most folks here are religious, mostly Mormon. They are very family oriented and if a kid is getting picked on the parents will confront the other parents, likely in church. There is a bit of peer pressure to not be a bad person. But that could be entirely unrelated.