A....amnesty for knives!

**A.Saturnus** · 06-03-2006, 21:12

Originally Posted by ceasar010

Sorry about the gun example but....in america we pratice drills and such with our guns for self defence(there are even games made out of it like idpa), why can't the brits do this with knives?

Don't know but I think they have courses there where you can learn how defend yourself against people who attack you with fruits and vegetables.

"...and now: I'm eating the banana!"

**scooter_the_shooter** · 06-05-2006, 01:09

Originally Posted by A.Saturnus

Don't know but I think they have courses there where you can learn how defend yourself against people who attack you with fruits and vegetables.

"...and now: I'm eating the banana!"

huh? IDPA is short for international defenseive pistol. Ya' run through different drills and scenarios. Who ever score the best in the least amount of time wins.

**English assassin** · 06-05-2006, 11:47

A switch blade would be illegal. But a one handed opener would not?

Yeah, its a bit arbitrary but it doesn't really cause any serious confusion. Flick and gravity knives are illegal per se. I guess one handed openers are not because of the difficulty in definition.

Truth be told, most thugs do not walk about tooled up, for fear of stop and search. Their knives are usually hidden in a nearby hedge or something. But that's not a reason to allow them to have them in their pockets.

I don't really know why they have these amnesties, since even if you do have a "combat knife" (which are prefectly lawful to buy and own, just not advertsise as such), if you decide your knife carrying days are over why not just put it in the attic? Or indeed, in the rubbish, since that would be lawful too. Can the amnesty be nothing more than a photo opportunity to convince us the government is "doing something" about knife crime?

I'm jolly glad they took that bat'leth off the streets though, I don't know about the rest of the country but round my way you can barely step out of doors without being assaulted by teenagers carrying mild steel copies of unweildy fantasy weapons.

**Avicenna** · 06-05-2006, 12:34

You've got no knoves? No problem, get this here baseball bat

**scooter_the_shooter** · 06-05-2006, 15:08

I have a question!

I am 15 and carry 3in lock blade every where I go, its also a money clip on the other side. But it's advertised as a "close quarters self defense knife" I just carry it because it's a nice little tool. Would I be an evil anti social thug in the UK for carrying it?

Also you'd never know its a knife unless you saw the other side.

**English assassin** · 06-05-2006, 15:21

Originally Posted by ceasar010

I have a question!

I am 15 and carry 3in lock blade every where I go, its also a money clip on the other side. But it's advertised as a "close quarters self defense knife" I just carry it because it's a nice little tool. Would I be an evil anti social thug in the UK for carrying it?

Also you'd never know its a knife unless you saw the other side.

Ah, well that would be an unwise thing to carry in the UK for a reason we haven't touched on, namely that anything adapted or designed to be a weapon, is a weapon. (and therefore basically unlawful in a public place.)

So, on the basis its just a lock knife, you would have been OK so long as you had a good reason for carrying it (being a nice tool would not really be enough, unless you had a reason for needing the tool). But as its advertised as a "close quarters self defense knife" (as opposed to a long range knife presumably) you'd be in serious danger of being done on that basis regardless of your reason.

Again this is all slightly arbitrary.

**scooter_the_shooter** · 06-05-2006, 15:53

You guys got some strange laws over there

And with all I hear about "happy slapping" and drunk teens beating the hell out of people

I don't think I'll ever visit the UK.

While were talking about the UK how bad is all the happy slapping and such...or does the news just exagerate(sp?), it sounds like you got a bunch kids raping, beating, and stealing at will

**Slyspy** · 06-05-2006, 17:39

Ceasar that knife may get you into trouble because it is a locking blade I think, though it may be small enough to avoid this. It will certainly get you into trouble because it is a disguised weapon. As noted in the article an number of disguised weapons are completely illegal. Even if your knife isn't covered on the banned list I'm sure any inventive copper could find a reason to confiscate it.

Edit:
Better to be happy slapped by a bunch of drunk teens with knives or without? In fact will a pocket knife help in the face of a determined assault by such a gang? Besides which such behaviour is not as widespread as all that. To be honest I believe that the amnesty is really after more than pocket knives ie combat and hunting knives, swords, bayonets etc.

**scooter_the_shooter** · 06-05-2006, 18:39

Originally Posted by Slyspy

Ceasar that knife may get you into trouble because it is a locking blade I think, though it may be small enough to avoid this. It will certainly get you into trouble because it is a disguised weapon. As noted in the article an number of disguised weapons are completely illegal. Even if your knife isn't covered on the banned list I'm sure any inventive copper could find a reason to confiscate it.

.

I am in America where I *think* it's legal.

**Masy** · 06-05-2006, 18:25

I believe this amnesty is all rather pointless, knives have perfectly legitimate reasons (camping, fishing, boy scouts etc), and those who would have a knife for another, less legal reason, may not be so inclined to give theirs up. Why would some thug throw away their precious tool of mayhem because they have been given an easy means to? Furthermore, I would like to say that any complete bans on knives would also be futile, aside from incriminating fishermen and the like, an alternative would just become popular. In Glasgow -still the knife capital of Britain i think- people have been killed with screwdrivers, nails, even a steel hair brush...what then? Ban metal? Ban sharp plastic? There is an interesting quote from somewhere, i think it's "a sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killers hand". Someone wants to jump you, they'll do it regardless of whether they have a store bought knife or a sock full of batteries. Guess i'm just trying to say that people too often blame the weapon, and rarely seek to target the causes of such problems.