system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
I'd argue that if it's established that two people both believe napkins are deadly weapons, and one has used a napkin against the other, they did so with intent to kill.

Simply having intent to kill makes one dangerous, and so, you may at least want to ensure that person doesn't get access to guns, knives, etc. otherwise you risk letting someone with intent to become a killer, to become a killer.

And at its harshest, it could be prosecuted as if their murder attempt worked.

&amp;#x200B;

What about the inverse too? Where you have something no reasonable person would agree could kill someone, but it actually did?

Like, what about that assassin's umbrella that shoots a poison dart when opened? Say someone else bought it, noticed the mechanism, then opens it at one specific person, goes to court, and says "Well, umbrellas can't kill people? I may have opened it with intent to kill, but they can't kill people, so surely I can't be prosecuted."

You *could* treat this the same way. Intent, but no possibility of murder in any reasonable person's eyes. But the matter of the fact is, they had intent. A murder was intended to happen, and a murder did happen.
gpt
No reasonable person would argue that a napkin is a deadly weapon. That's a special circumstance and would have to be proven as such. 

&gt;what about that assassin's umbrella that **shoots a poison dart when opened**? Say someone else bought it, noticed the mechanism, **then opens it at one specific person**??, goes to court, and says "Well, umbrellas can't kill people? **I may have opened it with intent to kill**, but they can't kill people, so surely I can't be prosecuted."

Negligence is still possible. Also intent is what gets you in trouble. If you shoved a napkin down someone's throat to try and suffocate them, then that napkin is now a deadly weapon and it'll be proven that the napkin was being used in a way inconsistent with its intended use.

It's the difference in saying "I'm gonna fucking kill you!" And saying "I'm gonna fucking kill you!" and waving a knife at someone's throat. One of these is *much* more likely to get charges than the other, and it all co es down the the specific circumstances.