UK Knife Amnesty

fightingfat

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We are having another knife amnesty here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5010954.stm
A five-week amnesty aimed at tackling knife crime across Britain - the first of its kind in a decade - has begun.
Until 30 June people can hand in knives at police stations in England, Scotland and Wales without fear of penalty.
But police have warned that once the amnesty is over, tough action will be taken on those found armed with knives.
However, some families of victims of knife crime have questioned the effectiveness of an amnesty, calling instead for tougher sentencing.
The initiative - which is running alongside a three-week campaign in Northern Ireland - comes amid growing concern at the level of knife crime in the wake of a series of fatal stabbings across the country.
Last week, 15-year-old Kiyan Prince died from a stab wound after being attacked outside his school in Edgware, north London.
And earlier this year, 18-year-old Christopher Alaneme was fatally stabbed in Sheerness, Kent.
The press all sensationalise the terrible weapons that have been handed in and how it gets knives off the streets etc, etc ad nauseam. I always feel really guilty about it, because we sell quite a lot of knives at my Martial Arts shop- Crouching Tiger, although we are, of course, very careful who we sell them too and, as my brother said on hearing this news, 'You've got a bloody house full of lethal weapns'. Hmmmmm. Surely the only people who are going to hand 'em in are the ones who don't want them any more? Also, if we're still selling 'em, how does it make any sense? If they stop us selling 'em, will villans just use carving knives and similar kitchen implements? (To be honest they seem to any way most of the time!)

The law here regarding this sort of thing is quite weird. You can own, buy or sell a weapon, but if you're caught with it it's nighty- night!!

Any opinions?
 

mrhnau

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fightingfat said:
We are having another knife amnesty here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5010954.stm

The press all sensationalise the terrible weapons that have been handed in and how it gets knives off the streets etc, etc ad nauseam. I always feel really guilty about it, because we sell quite a lot of knives at my Martial Arts shop- Crouching Tiger, although we are, of course, very careful who we sell them too and, as my brother said on hearing this news, 'You've got a bloody house full of lethal weapns'. Hmmmmm. Surely the only people who are going to hand 'em in are the ones who don't want them any more? Also, if we're still selling 'em, how does it make any sense? If they stop us selling 'em, will villans just use carving knives and similar kitchen implements? (To be honest they seem to any way most of the time!)

The law here regarding this sort of thing is quite weird. You can own, buy or sell a weapon, but if you're caught with it it's nighty- night!!

Any opinions?
I'm seriously wondering if that is a joke. I've got a bunch of "deadly weapons" in my kitchen. How do they suggest we eat steak? with a fork? From what I read I did not see where they detail what constitutes an illegal knife/blade. What are the restrictions? I'm quite sure some of the knives I've got in my kitchen qualify. I could honestly do a great deal of damage with a nice long fork. I could get a piece of sharp glass and have the safe effect. Plan on starting to ban forks and glass if they are used as weapons?

29% of homicides were with a sharp instrument. So, what about the other 71%? Aren't guns banned? Physical violence w/out a weapon? How do they plan on banning that?

ok, you said that you can own, sell or buy one, but if caught... what on earth was their motivation for that? I thought we had some funny laws here :)
 

Grenadier

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Advocates who favor confiscation and prohibition generally assume that these fallacies are true:

1) Criminals will obey the law, and turn in their weapons (not likely).

2) Criminals will continue to obey the law, and not buy more unlawful weapons (again, not likely).

3) Criminals will continue to obey the laws of the land, and not commit more crimes (again, not likely).

4) Law-abiding folks who own weapons are somehow directly responsible for the actions of criminals (again, not likely).
 

Blotan Hunka

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So does the UK have an active "Anti-Knife" faction like we do "Anti-Gunners" over here? Just goes to show that its the user thats the weapon, not the tool.
 

Bigshadow

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fightingfat said:
Any opinions?
Sure.... Consider moving to another country... :D J/K. However, that is the most absurd thing I have heard all week!

It begs to question are they really that naive, or is there a more insidious purpose behind it?
 

tempus

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Although, how far will a society go when the criminal will continue?
-Ban Guns, they go to knives
-Ban knives, they go to sticks
-Ban sticks, ........
 

Phil Elmore

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You can finish that thought. What will be next to go is martial arts training. First it will be regulated. For your own good, of course. Then it will be regulated out of existence, if not banned outright.

It's a logical and historical progression.
 

deadhand31

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Well, I always thought the Brits have a messed up criminal code. If a person injures another in self defense, the defender will be jailed for assault. It's a country where it is actually ILLEGAL to defend yourself.

They had problems with guns, so they ban them. There, now all the gun problems are gone.
Next, they have knife problems, so they ban them. This doesn't seem to have worked, has it?
Could it be that the reasons for the crimes could be something else, and not the tools used? Could it be that maybe, just because a tool was taken away, the problem that required the use of the tool was still there?

Ah well, as long as England still exports stilton, i'll be happy.
 

Bigshadow

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It is a shining example of how treating the symptoms of an illness doesn't cure the illness.

In this case illness being crime.
 

wee_blondie

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I gotta agree with you guys, having a knife amnesty will do little in the way of reducing violent crimes. (Think Tony is just trying to take some attention away from other issues! Y'know foriegn criminals let loose; Prescott with his pants down; home office being a shambles etc etc)

Although on the other hand, the gun ban helped (I am aware we still have guns, but there are a lot less shootings). In Scotland the smoking ban is doing well too (although, bar profits have rocketed so we'll all have beer bellys next.....until they ban alcohol :xtrmshock :waah: )

At the end of the day, someone who is intent on hurting somebody else will do it. Knife or no knife.
 

Ross

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It's just taken a turn for the worst.....................................


Police Seek Klingon For Questioning
Star Trek prop seized by local cops

7802.jpg
point.gif
point.gif
A police knife amnesty appears to have got off to a flying start with even alien criminals giving up their arms in the face of stern looks from the local bobby. The national initiative, which began yesterday and continues until 30 June, is predicted to see 30,000 illegal blades turned over to authorities with no questions asked. Most surprising, though, was the unexpected surrender of a Klingon bat'leth.

The traditional melee weapon of Klingon warriors, the bat'leth has struck fear into the hearts of countless alien races, wielded to deadly effect by those loyal to the great Klingon Empire. The long history of the weapon dates back to the days of Kahless the Unforgettable, who, as the legend goes, dropped a lock of his hair into lava from the Kri'stak Volcano, and then plunged the fiery lock into the lake of Lursor and twisted it to form a blade.

The seized bat'leth is pictured in the custody of a stern-faced police officer and ran in today's Metro alongside the caption 'A policeman with a 5ft blade designed to decapitate victims and seized by officers ahead of the knife amnesty'. It seems both the local constabulary and the daily newspaper need to better familiarise themselves with popular science fiction.

After some investigation of our own*, Empire has learned that a suspect has been taken into custody over the seizure. Police released the following likeness of the man being questioned. When asked for a statement by authorities, the suspect declared: "QaplH ponDu 'ooe'ml SoeHQ Ke'bl jllspl Dlavtl!"

7803.jpg

*this part may be a lie.
 

MardiGras Bandit

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This might seem funny but it is not. The UK is a seriously ****ed up country when it comes to self defense. Violent crime has risen sharply since the gun ban, yet the country has no serious drive to reclaim their rights to gun ownership or debate over the issue.

The knife amnesty sounds ridiculous, but realize that the Parliment seriously considered banning points on steak knives. They had 10 world class chefs testify that points had no use in cooking in an attempt to prove that they were simply a tool for murder.

The UK (among many other countries) is working in the UN to try and ban gun ownership worldwide. Thankfully a combination of their own incompetence and skillful NRA efforts have left the global anti-gun movement looking like Royce Gracie is going to look in three days (I'm a BJJ guy, but Hughes is going to kill him).
 

still learning

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Hello, Yep! Another thing that does not work, hurts the good guys. At one time America had consider banning 38's pistol because it was use in so many crimes. dump yep!.

Everyone does agree banning the knife will not stop the crimes. They will move on to other things. Remember the black combs with the pointed handles in the hair of many African Americans...great weapon for stabbing.

Ban knifes..? What about screw drivers,scissors,plastic combs,big wool making needless for sewing, and canes, walking sticks , bad guys will figure new weopens. ........Aloha
 

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