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UK Knife laws

Medwayman

Medwayman

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Not that I would buy anything like this , but if you were to have one in your own home IE not walking around outside with , can you still get nicked for just owing one?

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Any knife apart from one that has the label (legal) comes with uncertainty and risk... we have to remember that knifes that are in the gray area of the law (ie without clear explanation)are still subject to reasons enough to prosecute.
 
If a knife has a legitimate purpose other than as a weapon then it is legal to own it, however zombie knives are pretty useless other than for intimidation or wounding. The legitimacy of your purpose for owning a knife could be tested in court. The same knife in the possession of one person could be seen as legitimate while it could be illegal for another person in a different situation who would have no lawful reason.
Edit; For example, I own a machete and as a landowner who has to clear scrub I have an unarguably legitimate reason to own one...while a young man with a troubled history and no access to outside space would have difficulty justifying a machete should his home get searched for any reason...even though it really is a tool.
 
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Ystranc said:
If a knife has a legitimate purpose other than as a weapon then it is legal to own it, however zombie knives are pretty useless other than for intimidation or wounding. The legitimacy of your purpose for owning a knife could be tested in court. The same knife in the possession of one person could be seen as legitimate while it could be illegal for another person in a different situation who would have no lawful reason.
Edit; For example, I own a machete and as a landowner who has to clear scrub I have an unarguably legitimate reason to own one...while a young man with a troubled history and no access to outside space would have difficulty justifying a machete should his home get searched for any reason...even though it really is a tool.
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Agreed Mike, I have a few sharp and/or pointy things around the house and sheds. I also have a load of wood at the side of the house, I also post on here about going off to the woods to spend a night. Not that you need an axe or kukri etc to kill a person, we've also got a range of things from battery powered drills to steak knives that can make you go 'ouch'. I think I can have one of those zombie knife things in Scotland although feck knows why I would.

'Zombie knives' ban to come into force

Despite Wee Jimmy making us get licences for our airguns, she seems remarkably easy-oasy about the old zombie knives. :lol:
 
I've probably mentioned before (I tend to repeat myself these days) that it's my opinion that the 2019 reduction of violent crime act in England and Wales was simply to make politicians look tough on crime while they were in actual fact continuing to plunder the budgets of police forces.
 
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A lot of those Zombie knives were made cheaply in China for distribution in the UK by a firm called AngloArms. Hidden amongst all the crap that they sell are one or two useful looking knives but much of it is poor quality stuff with no clear legitimate purpose.
 
I’d never contemplate owning one of those Zombie knives and as Bam said we have to have a cert to own an air gun in Scotland but it strikes me as strange I can own a bow and a crossbow both much more powerful than my air gun and why?
Because some fool hasn’t ran wild with one yet,I’m a bit of a sceptic about certain laws and I’d be interested to see if once implemented if they actually work!
 
While Laws are enacted to stop or prevent certain actions, it's rarely the case that the particular law is 100 % successful. What it does however is give the Police or other Authorities power to act when the (New) law is broken, which is generally the effect that Law makers are seeking, because they know that the law will still be ignored by some.

Drink driving hasn't been stopped, but if you are caught there is a law in place to deal with offenders.
Without a law being in place there would be no deterrent or course of action open to deal with offenders.

It may be that the Air gun licence requirement in Scotland doesn't reduce offences with air guns, but at least now there is a specific law being broken and action if necessary can be taken, and " Well there's no law against it mate" doesn't work when the Neds are on their way to pot Swans or similar and are caught with an unlicensed Air Gun..

I suspect Crossbows and Archery Bows will be on the list one day, it's just a matter of time. A Bloke in Wales was murdered with a high power Cross Bow within the last 2 years and there were a few squeaks from the Ban it Brigade here in Wales..
 
saxonaxe said:
While Laws are enacted to stop or prevent certain actions, it's rarely the case that the particular law is 100 % successful. What it does however is give the Police or other Authorities power to act when the (New) law is broken, which is generally the effect that Law makers are seeking, because they know that the law will still be ignored by some.

Drink driving hasn't been stopped, but if you are caught there is a law in place to deal with offenders.
Without a law being in place there would be no deterrent or course of action open to deal with offenders.

It may be that the Air gun licence requirement in Scotland doesn't reduce offences with air guns, but at least now there is a specific law being broken and action if necessary can be taken, and " Well there's no law against it mate" doesn't work when the Neds are on their way to pot Swans or similar and are caught with an unlicensed Air Gun..

I suspect Crossbows and Archery Bows will be on the list one day, it's just a matter of time. A Bloke in Wales was murdered with a high power Cross Bow within the last 2 years and there were a few squeaks from the Ban it Brigade here in Wales..
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There were already specific laws in place. Assault, armed trespass, criminal damage, wounding, section 21 possession of firearm when disqualified etc. The newer acts had some good bits that tightened up some loopholes but for the most part the laws to punish violent crime already existed.
 
The point I was trying to highlight was the specific law relating to Air Gun Licences in Scotland. Yes there were laws to deal with any offences committed under the other Acts, but nothing to stop the owing or possession of an unlicensed gun..apart from the usual age restrictions.
That was where the control starts..who can legally own an Air Gun
 
To be honest about the whole thing (not aimed at any particular post or person ) if setting up a section of law for air rifles to be licensed allows the family of that poor wee boy to win a fight and rest in some kind of peace, then who cares about the logistics of the law surrounding air rifles..... it won’t stop idiots from braking the law, however as I’ve said, if the family of that wee lad has some justified peace in there life then so be it and it’s worth doing 👍🏻
 
Ark79 said:
To be honest about the whole thing (not aimed at any particular post or person ) if setting up a section of law for air rifles to be licensed allows the family of that poor wee boy to win a fight and rest in some kind of peace, then who cares about the logistics of the law surrounding air rifles..... it won’t stop idiots from braking the law, however as I’ve said, if the family of that wee lad has some justified peace in there life then so be it and it’s worth doing 👍🏻
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Sorry to disagree Mark but I don't buy into that logic at all. The kid getting shot in the eye was a tragedy, as is every person who gets killed by a drunk driver, I don't see anyone looking to either 'ban' cars or to call for more regular driving tests/refreshers etc and there's a lot more people killed by cars than air guns.
 
Ark79 said:
To be honest about the whole thing (not aimed at any particular post or person ) if setting up a section of law for air rifles to be licensed allows the family of that poor wee boy to win a fight and rest in some kind of peace, then who cares about the logistics of the law surrounding air rifles..... it won’t stop idiots from braking the law, however as I’ve said, if the family of that wee lad has some justified peace in there life then so be it and it’s worth doing 👍🏻
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I think that’s exactly the point, it won’t stop idiots acting like the idiots they are.I remember the incidents with horses being shot dozens of times with air guns makes my skin crawl thinking about it.
The other night there were incidents involving neds throwing fireworks at the police officers now we get calls to ban fireworks,then on the other hand I see those Chinese lanterns being lit and sent out to land god knows where, perhaps we need a basic non stupidity certificate in order to purchase certain fun items.
I think that often legislation is brought in without enough thought and it appears that when found not to be effective it is not repealed but altered the powers that be appear unable to admit they got it wrong.
 
Bam said:
Sorry to disagree Mark but I don't buy into that logic at all. The kid getting shot in the eye was a tragedy, as is every person who gets killed by a drunk driver, I don't see anyone looking to either 'ban' cars or to call for more regular driving tests/refreshers etc and there's a lot more people killed by cars than air guns.
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Definitely Andy it’s a horrible place sometimes, thats our world 👎 but most don’t sit behind a stearin wheel to kill, but when a gun/rifle of any is raised and pointed at another then that’s intentional, even if it’s in jest it’s still stupid. So instead of 1000ns of idiots there’s only 100s now with an air rifle and there not so brash about carrying it also....I will take them odds
 
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