Dear Knife Buyer / Valued Customer,
It appears that the recent crime wave in London has prompted the government to press ahead with their plans to change the knife laws in the UK and it looks like the changes will come within weeks, rather than months. You can read more about it on gov.uk here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/h...rious-violence
My interpretation of it is as follows. I must stress, this is MY PERSONAL interpretation of this document. You may read it differently and come to a different conclusion. As the document suggests we’re expecting another press release later on today.
“The new Offensive Weapons Bill, which will be brought forward within weeks, would also make it illegal to possess certain offensive weapons like zombie knives and knuckle-dusters in private.”
Obviously the key here is the timescale. Instead of months (or possibly even never, which is what most of us hoped for), the changes will occur within weeks. The second part is making it illegal for people to own items that are classified as offensive weapons. As this relates to the ownership, and not the sale. Then this does not affect the sale of offensives weapons. However, if you’ve legally bought products, which were then added to the offensive weapons list, then you will be breaking to the law by simply owning them. If you do own any items which are on the offensive weapons list. Then one would assume there will be an opportunity for you to surrender these items without risk of prosecution.
“The commitment of new legislation will form part of the government’s Serious Violence Strategy, which will be launched tomorrow.”
Basically, we’ll learn more later on today (Monday 9th April) when this is published. However…
“Stopping knives being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online.”
This is obviously the most concerning thing for us all. However, this statement raises more questions than it answers:
Can we send knives to business addresses? I.e. work addresses? – I can’t imagine we can, as that doesn’t really change much.
Can we send the knives to collection points (i.e UPS Access Point)? - That depends on the service provided by UPS. If they check both the ID AND that the person is over the age of 18. Then it may be a viable option.
What about non-knives? I.e. Swords, Axes, Machetes. There’s no mention of them. Will they be affected? – Who knows! Your guess is as good as mine.
What about mail order. Can we list a knife online and take an order over the phone? – At this stage we don’t know. It will all depend on the wording of the law.
Of course one of our solutions to this change in legislation is Knife Drop www.knifedrop.co.uk. We’re currently working our socks off signing up shops and pushing the message out there.
“Updating the definition of a flick knife to reflect changing weapon designs.”
Now this is an interesting one. I’d guess Assisted Knives and Flippers are gone. However, the big question for me is where does this stop? For example, the worst-case scenario will be if they go further and ban one-handed opening knives. I.e. Thumb-studs/Opening Holes etc. And then all we’re left with is two-handed opening knives (which is an incredibly limited range) and fixed-blades. Again, we’ll learn more as more information is released.
Anyway, that’s my two-penneth worth. I was about to type “let’s hope the news later on today will be better than we fear”, but that’s such a ridiculous statement, I refrained!
Thank you
Peter Schofield
Managing Director
PJS (UK) Ltd
www.coldsteel-uk.com
www.blades.co.uk
www.knifedrop.co.uk