Who the fuck is Varg Freeborn?
Oh wait now I remember a discussion about him in
this thread. From what I can tell, Freeborn's position is colored extremely by his personal experience, which seems to have been very negative and is likely a result of stupid people stupid places stupid decisions.
I'm not saying you might not face more scrutiny by a jury for using a knife, but it doesn't actually seem to bear out frequently in trials (if it goes that far). In fact, one argument in favor of contact weapon use is that said bad actor is now in your face and your opportunities to escape are limited. In other words there is less, "Shoot the gun/knife out of his hand." kind of thinking and when put in your shoes, your jury must consider, "If someone was up on me, trying to stab me, would I have done the same thing if all I had was a small utility knife?"
As far as knives not working well - yea the evidence doesn't support that claim -
at all. Anecdotal evidence indicates that stabbings are considerably more lethal than handgun shootings. It may take longer for the assailant to stop than a cranial vault shot does, but stab someone 20 or 30 times? Chances of them coming out of that, alive, are low.