International Knife Laws

[Elvislives]

http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum32/HTML/001783.html

This thread got me thinking, what are the general (and specific) knife laws in the respective countries of the members of bladeforums.com?

I am from the US, and the laws here allow many knives to be carried and transported between most of the states evenly. I don't know of any law against importing a legal knife (I'm also not sure what's illegal, aside from automatic knives) as long as it's not from Cuba. We've got that embargo thing, you know. I don't have specific length, or type of knife restriction information for the particular states, but you can legally carry a good sized knife all of the time. It is a tool, after all, and most butcher knives are larger than any tactical knife anyway.

What I find interesting are the automatic knife laws. In the country that boasts freedom above all, a knife that opens with any type of spring (regardless of the size of the blade, mostly) is considered illegal while in many cases a fixed blade knife of the same basic size and configuration is considered legal. You draw a fixed blade and you're ready to go. You draw an automatic knife and you still have to open it, no matter how fast it snaps out.

This may belong in the Community Forum, but this forum does get the most attention!

Sound off...

:0
Brandon

[This message has been edited by Elvislives (edited 01-22-2000).]

 

[Azrael]

Well , german law is not so hard to knifefriends,thanks god!Only automatic knifes are not allowed if even one of the following points fits:
-if the blade is longer then 8,5cm.
-if the blade is thinner than 14% of the bladelength
-if it has a doubleedge
So if one of these points fits even the ownership of such a knife is illegal !

All other knifes are free if you`re 18y.o.
or older.
But how long ?????????????????????????

 

[Roger Gregory]

This should be a very interesting thread!

We had a spate of very opressive legislation brought about in response to a few high-profile psychopaths or sociopaths running amok with guns or blades. Of course the killings and woundings haven't been reduced, just the legal capacity for self-defence.

Her in England it is illegal to sell, hire give or import a 'flick knife' or 'gravity knife'. That's just the beginning.
It is illegal (without good reason) to carry in a public place 'any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed except for a folding pocket-knife which has a cutting edge to its blade not exceeding 3 inches.'
A lock-knife is not a pocket knife for the purposes of this definition.
Maximum sentence: Magistrates Court: 6 months imprisonment, £5,000 fine.
Crown Court: 2 years imprisonment. Unlimited fine.

If anyone thinks I'm going to be caught with a knife in my possession, take another thought. I'm not saying I don't carry, just that I'm not going to be caught!

 

[2Sharp]

Hi Brandon!

Laws here in Sweden are quite restrictive.
Not allowed to carry knives in public unless it's used in your work(for example carpenter)
Auto's are banned, as is balisongs and gravity knives, if you're over 21 you're allowed to own auto's and keep them in your home, but it's illegal to import/manufacture/offer auto's for sale(go figure...)you can apply for a "collectors permit", very much in the same way as a firearm permit, but you have to state/prove a "need" for it, applications are handled coutywise, in my small town it's most certainly a definite no-no, in the future there maybe even illegal to carry any knife in the driver/passenger compartment of your car!!

This of course sucks!
these laws has of course been made as a way to deal with violent kniferelated crimes, but doesn't work of course...

Just my 0.2 cents (or 10 öre in Swedish currency

)

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"May all your detonations be expected"