carrying knives

[cads 260]

in england the goverment are making knives more difficult to buy the police have knife amnesty,s etc because of knife crime but when i was younger all boys carried pen knives ,sheath knives etc there was never any knife crime like there is now the knives arnt the problem

 

[jill jackson]

I doubt airguns are the problem either, but your government has a power limit of 12 pounds on them. (which really isn't a very powerful airgun)

 

[cads 260]

if the goverment in england had their way we would be eating with chopsticks or our fingers
a new knife smiths has opened in sheffield so im going to check out some of their knives

 

[OilMan]

if the goverment in england had their way we would be eating with chopsticks or our fingers
a new knife smiths has opened in sheffield so im going to check out some of their knives

So knives are illegal to have but someone is going to start making them there? Don't the police hassle them?

 

[cads 260]

you can still buy knives but the goverment are trying bring more laws into play to ban certain types hunting knives being on the list

 

[jill jackson]

Knives aren't totally illegal in England. But, the carry of them is severely restricted. Same with Australia. Knives are a hard item to make totally illegal. After all they are needed by almost everyone.
I've even read about people in Australia carrying screwdrivers now so they don't get busted for illegally carrying a blade. There was discussion to ban carry of those too.

This link shows just how tough the laws are on weapons of any type in most parts of Australia, my good friend lives in Victoria and I had no idea Australia had followed England's lead on this until she filled me in!
http://www.aussiecon3.worldcon.org/a3pr4wep.html

 

[Wilkenstein]

Sweden isn't like this is it?

 

[jill jackson]

Sweden isn't like this is it?

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-272278.html

 

[M67Chucker]

After you guys lost your right to bear firearms things have really been in a downward spiral ever since.

You Brits might want to start thinking about revolution before you are totally powerless.

 

[Bastid]

Such a shame. It is still my belief that knives of the Sheffield era were the finest knives made to date. (period).

 

[Cougar Allen]

Welcome to Bladeforums!

Let’s see if we can find the right forum …

 

[PV29]

Sheep have no claws. Makes them easier to herd and shear.

 

[Dogmatic]

Knife laws in the UK aren't really that strict; they're very flexible, but that leads to a lot of confusion.

The main laws regarding knife carrying are:

- Prevention of Crime Act 1953 (?)

This basically says that anything carried with the intention of harming another is illegal. This can cover knives, hammers, screwdrivers or even a newspaper.

The problem with this law is there is a presumption of guilt and it's up to you to convince the magistrate that you had a perfectly good reason for carrying whatever you where. For example; walking to a friends house with a screwdriver to fix a light fitting, perfectly legal (as long as you can prove that's what you're doing; phone call to said friend should be fine). Walking down the street with a screwdriver asking people for a fight, very illegal.

- Criminal Justice Act 1988

This covers the carrying of bladed articles in public; while it doesn't apply to a non-locking folding knife with a blade under 3", those can still fall under the Prevention of Crime Act if used threateningly (or it is believed you will use it threateningly).

This law basically says that to carry a bladed article in public you need a good reason, you can't carry it "just in case". Again, it's up to you to convince the powers that be that you do have a good reason. If you're hiking, camping, at work doing a job that needs a knife etc. then you can carry whatever you need while you do that. Example; A groundskeeper with a fixed blade strapped to his leg wile on duty; perfectly legal. A groundskeeper with a fixed blade strapped to his leg while in the pub on his day off, illegal.

This also lists some knives that are illegal to buy/sell (autos, balisongs, "stealth" & and disguised knives, push daggers and knives incorporating a "knuckle duster").



For EDC we stick to sub 3" non-locking folders because they don't come under the CJA1988, but if we ever need a bigger/locking/fixed knife then we can carry that also; we just need to know what we're going to use it for beforehand.


PS. While I'd prefer to be able to carry a slightly bigger locking folder every day, a 3" slipjoint is fine for most day-to-day tasks (after all, many people around the world get on just fine with a SAK).