British Govt. launches 'Your Freedom' - Could it help?

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Fire Force

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Jun 16, 2010
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The government two days ago, I think, launched its online Your Freedom initiative, asking members of the public for their ideas on cutting red tape, shedding burdersome regulations and repealing bad or unncesessary laws. Now, a cynical man might suggest it has something of the publicity stunt or consultation "sop" about it, but assuming it is at least somewhat on the level, is there any way this could be used to help blade enthusiasts in the UK?

I must confess, my blade enthusiasm is pretty casual (family members are much more keen), so I don't encounter problems very often and as such am not aware of what a lot of them are. What ideas would you guys like to submit to a site like Your Freedom? How many things you would have politicians do away with, steamline or just amend? Any bodies you would abolish or restructure? What's the particularly overbearing bureaucracy confronting enthusiasts in Great Britain when purchasing blades, registering them (if you have to), moving them across borders or putting them in cargo luggage? What seems galling when trying to import/export them or buy them online? Are there expensive licenses which you feel are unnecessary, or are the authorities too stringent when it comes to making your own blades and then selling them in terms of registering it as a financial interest or whatever? Perhaps the regulations dictating the how long a blade you carry can be need changing, or you find it a pest that even your Leatherman is technically illegal because it's one of the ones with a lock blade? Are you prevented from collecting old bits of militaria or Japanese swords because of Labour-era knee-jerk legislation, and if so how do you think things should be amended? Maybe you are actually a smith, and there's health and safety legislation or a tax regime that seems awkward and ill-thought out? Are the laws in Scotland, Ulster, England and Wales different enough that it causes problems moving between the home nations? Are there regulators and boards and so on that, generally speaking you think could be merged or just done without?

I'd be very interested to hear any of your thoughts, and to see links to any proposals you do post on the site!
 
Greetings Fire Force: This underlying concept appears highly laudable. Experience has taught me however, that not all information sought by a government is always used for the purpose they initially profess. An in-depth knowledge of which specific laws, policies, methods, programs, regulations, agencies, practices, and other instrumentalities that are most functionally, burdensome and preemptive is exactly the information that would most aid those individuals wishing to remove knives from Great Britain. Any aspects of current regulation that ares deemed particularly irksome by pro-knife enthusiasts, must be, based upon their reactions, the most effective ones in defeating their ends. Although one Minister or Ministry may by be motivated by a genuine desire to halt the encroaching erosion of personal freedom, another may view the same situation as a necessary and beneficial progress in improving public safety and security. Information given to one Ministry is effecitvely given to all. Knowledge is power. I would be cautious with whom I shared my knowledge. OldDude1
 
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That's a very cynical, if not necessarily innaccurate view. ;) I can certainly see the wisdom in it, but still, if all that we do is point out rules already in place which are too onerous it's not like they can impose them a second time, right? I'm as sceptical of these sorts of initiatives as the next guy, but nothing ventured nothing gained?
 
I regularly chat with friends in Ulster, both Unionist and Nationalist, and am amazed at their willingness to allow themselves to be disarmed.
I always tell 'em: weapons aren't evil, only people are.
The UK govt apparently disagrees.
 
Uk knife laws are maybe not as bad as some people think.The only knives that are illegal are balisongs and auto's.Everything else is ok.What you are allowed to carry on your person is a different story though and you need "good reason" to carry anything that locks or has a blade of 3 inches or more."Good reason" is obviously largely open to debate but,i find,if you are going about your business and don't look like a ned (not sure if thats a British term) then the police will have no reason to stop you.

You don't need a licence to buy or sell knives and the laws are the same across Scotland,England,Wales and N.Ireland.

Given the press knives give in the UK you would probably have more success taken your head and hitting it off a wall than hoping enough politicians showed some balls to do something about it.

The worst thing to happen to UK knife enthusiasts in recent years was not from the goverment but UK ebay deciding to ban UK sellers from selling knives to UK buyers.Yes,we can sell them on the .com site and Uk buyers are free to buy them from anywhere in the Ebay world but UK sellers cannot sell to Uk buyers.Explain that one...
 
The Highlander said:
The worst thing to happen to UK knife enthusiasts in recent years was not from the goverment but UK ebay deciding to ban UK sellers from selling knives to UK buyers.Yes,we can sell them on the .com site and Uk buyers are free to buy them from anywhere in the Ebay world but UK sellers cannot sell to Uk buyers.Explain that one...
Click to expand...

I had wondered why that was! It's the same on sites like Amazon, of course - you can't buy knives or any of the sorts of things people like Cold Steel put about on the .co.uk website. I'd always assumed the govt. had put some sort of restrictions in place; that's what the sites seem to suggest?
 
The Highlander said:
Uk knife laws are maybe not as bad as some people think.The only knives that are illegal are balisongs and auto's.Everything else is ok.What you are allowed to carry on your person is a different story though and you need "good reason" to carry anything that locks or has a blade of 3 inches or more."Good reason" is obviously largely open to debate but,i find,if you are going about your business and don't look like a ned (not sure if thats a British term) then the police will have no reason to stop you.

You don't need a licence to buy or sell knives and the laws are the same across Scotland,England,Wales and N.Ireland.

Given the press knives give in the UK you would probably have more success taken your head and hitting it off a wall than hoping enough politicians showed some balls to do something about it.

The worst thing to happen to UK knife enthusiasts in recent years was not from the goverment but UK ebay deciding to ban UK sellers from selling knives to UK buyers.Yes,we can sell them on the .com site and Uk buyers are free to buy them from anywhere in the Ebay world but UK sellers cannot sell to Uk buyers.Explain that one...
Click to expand...
But the problem is that determining what is a "good reason" appears to be totally left up to the police and in many cases, there is not good reason that will satisfy them. Also, myu understanding is that you now do need something akin to a license to sell knives in Scotland.
 
jdm61 said:
But the problem is that determining what is a "good reason" appears to be totally left up to the police and in many cases, there is not good reason that will satisfy them. Also, myu understanding is that you now do need something akin to a license to sell knives in Scotland.
Click to expand...

Wow.I had to go check that and i appear to have been out of touch for the last 15 months.Up until March last year i made a living from selling knives in Scotland though only online.I stopped when ebay brought in their UK ban despite about 60% of my business being from the USA anyway.

Having just checked it appears you are correct,from April last year the Scottish goverment have indeed passed a bill to have knife sellers licensed and from last month it came into effect.:barf:
 
The Highlander said:
Wow.I had to go check that and i appear to have been out of touch for the last 15 months.Up until March last year i made a living from selling knives in Scotland though only online.I stopped when ebay brought in their UK ban despite about 60% of my business being from the USA anyway.

Having just checked it appears you are correct,from April last year the Scottish goverment have indeed passed a bill to have knife sellers licensed and from last month it came into effect.:barf:
Click to expand...
Perhaps you should start selling tonic wine instead.;)
 
I would personally like to see the UK law ammended so that people are permitted to carry small locking knives with a blade length of less that 3 inches for every day carriage as a folding pocket knife is far safer to use if it has a safety lock to stop the blade snapping shut on your fingers.
 
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