Is an Offensive weapon in Scotland, basically what two experts say it is?

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Toddy

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Jan 21, 2005
38,989
4,637
S. Lanarkshire
I feel bad for you guys in Britain. In this part of the U.S if you are 21 you can carry a pistol in plain sight with few restrictions. I dont (I am 19 anways) and dont know anyone that carries in plain sight but its legal.
I always carry a knife. When I go into town to go to stores I usually carry my leatherman just so I dont scare anyone but I have went into stores with a full sized knife on my belt and no one says a word about it. Knive are not just weapons they are tools.


It's probably ironic that most of us feel sorry for you lot that you seem to feel the *need* to be armed.

cheers,
Toddy
 

MikaelMazz

Tenderfoot
Jan 19, 2007
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The United States Of America
It's probably ironic that most of us feel sorry for you lot that you seem to feel the *need* to be armed.

cheers,
Toddy

Well I did not mean to affend any of you by saying I feel sorry for you. I just think that all the knife laws in your country are a little to much and I am sure some of you will agree. Like I said knives are not just weapons they are tools. I dont carry a knife for only protection. Bears and courgars are another concern for some. In my opinion if you are unarmed you life is basicly at the mecy of anyone who wishes to do you harm. And around here you dont here of many breakins because the criminals know that chances are the homeowner will be armed. Maybe I should not have brought up guns :pokenest: But guns are also not just weapons they are also tools.

I dont know all the knife laws of your country but I dont think they are neccecery.

EDIT: Also mayby my reasoning for telling about the legality of open carrying a pistol was not clear. My point was that it is leagal to open carry a pistol here with some regulations but you never here of someone around here being murdred by someone legaly carrying a pistol. You rarly ever here of anyone being shot with a pistol at all in this area.
 
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Toddy

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Jan 21, 2005
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S. Lanarkshire
Shall I explain ?

We have never had a right to bear arms........we have never had an armed population. It has never been necessary.

Before the days of firearms, there were few weapons as such, and pole arms were the normal implements wielded by common people in time of war or invasion..........those are agricultural tools that have been shafted to make long reach spears and the like.

We have very, very little firearms crime, and that the media makes so much of it says more about it's rarity and shock value than it does about it's frequency.

However, we have a hellish record of knife crime, especially among the young men, in this country, and comparatively speaking we are the least policed nation in the Western world.
Less than 8.000 police (and that includes the office workers and specialists) for the entire population of the central belt of Scotland.

The police and population as a whole would love to put an end to knife assaults.
To that end they have created rules that basically say that if you have no good reason to carry a knife, don't do it.
Tough luck if you want to have one just in case, that won't do.
We are allowed, where practical, to carry a non locking folder with a sub three inch blade. Ought to be ample for everyday requirements and generally is.

Our tabloid media lives on screaming banner headlines, hyped up scare stories and verbose soap operas :rolleyes:
The reality is that the population as a whole does not live in fear of home invasion, random nutcase assaults, bomb threats or gunfights at the OK corral.
The laws have been put in place because of a few very isolated incidents and a culture among young men where going *tooled up* is generally an excuse for a fight.

Frankly, outside forums such as this one and BB, no one bothers their backsides about knife or gun restrictions. They just don't impinge on most folks lives.

cheers,
Toddy
 

gregorach

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 15, 2005
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Knife laws have absolutely no relevance to this thread, which is about the carrying of offensive weapons - i.e. items which are specifically designed as weapons, rather than mere tools which may also be used as weapons. Feel free to participate in one of the many knife law threads if that's what you want to talk about. :)
 

Toddy

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Jan 21, 2005
38,989
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S. Lanarkshire
Knife laws have absolutely no relevance to this thread, which is about the carrying of offensive weapons - i.e. items which are specifically designed as weapons, rather than mere tools which may also be used as weapons. Feel free to participate in one of the many knife law threads if that's what you want to talk about. :)

Was that in response to me or MikaelMazz, Dunc ?
I know I was off topic, but it just seemed relevant to his protest.

cheers,
Mary
 

MikaelMazz

Tenderfoot
Jan 19, 2007
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Well alot of people would consider a knife to be made as a weapon. So i thought it was relevant. I dont want to specifically talk about knife laws. I did not think you would take it as a protest against you. I guss I though most of you would agree with me but I guss I will never understand what it is like to live in your country with your history and you will never understand what it is like in our country with our history. I did not know about your knife crime problem.
It is good that you can carry a 3 inch non locking blade as long as your government dont take that away to.
 

gregorach

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 15, 2005
3,723
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Edinburgh
Well alot of people would consider a knife to be made as a weapon.

Very few of them are on here though... ;) UK law certainly doesn't, with certain (fairly sensible) exceptions.
 

featherstick

Forager
May 21, 2008
113
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South East
I've had a day's training with a kubotan (and several years in martial arts generally, aikido in particular). You can do a LOT of damage with one, and I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end. I have a couple downstairs, I take them to Russia with me where a) you won't get nicked for carrying it, and b) I'm far more likely to need it. They can be very nasty indeed. They are designed as an offensive weapon, and Day shouldn't have been carrying one. I don't carry one in the UK.

I'm talking about the classic 5-inch plastic kubotan here, not the mythical "hollow tube with spikes" that made its way into the legislation.
 

mayobushcraft

Full Member
Mar 22, 2007
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Yeovil somerset
Mikaelmazz
As an American living in the UK. I understand your confusion. It took a while for me get used to the knife laws over here. But its really simple you can carry a folding knife on your person as long as it is under 3 inchs blade length. You can also use any resonable knife for work and activaties as long its not being used as a weapon. But you cant carry it around public areas. Just dont think that having a Rambo knife out in the woods is a good idea you dont ever need a big knife. just a good one.
 

MikaelMazz

Tenderfoot
Jan 19, 2007
80
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Just dont think that having a Rambo knife out in the woods is a good idea you dont ever need a big knife. just a good one.

I agree, there is no need for huge knives. When I say my full sized knife I am talking about a fixed blade knife with a 4 inch blade.

But I dont understand how a nonlocking folder is any less leathal than a locking knife. It is more dangerous to the user because it could close on their hand.
And all you need to kill a person in three inches so why did they choose that legth?
 

HillBill

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 1, 2008
8,141
88
W. Yorkshire
I agree, there is no need for huge knives. When I say my full sized knife I am talking about a fixed blade knife with a 4 inch blade.

But I dont understand how a nonlocking folder is any less leathal than a locking knife. It is more dangerous to the user because it could close on their hand.
And all you need to kill a person in three inches so why did they choose that legth?

Because a non locking folders point is not supported, so will not stab well, whereas a locker carries the same strength in its tip as a fixed blade and can stab.

Swiss army knives are designed with a tip that forces the blade closed if used in a thrusting motion.
 

filcon

"Neo-eisimeileachd ALBA"
Dec 1, 2005
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Strathclyde
The photo in the paper had also 2 wee prybars with the kubotan, I don,t know if the photo was that used as evidence though..............WHY?

What gets me about the arrest of DD for being DD.
The Officers regarded the kubotan as a weapon and quite rightly so but they never bothered about the empty buckie bottles in the passenger seats man.

So poor old DD got done for DD what a right DDY.

Good job it didnae happen in Glasgow or John Smeaton would have sorted him out, the kubotan would never of seen the lights of day.
 
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Toddy

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Jan 21, 2005
38,989
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S. Lanarkshire
Apparantly the photo in the Record was one taken from Hatethatgiraffe's keyrings photo on British Blades........he's after then for copyright, photocredit and cash now, I believe :D

cheers,
Toddy
 

Adrian

Forager
Aug 5, 2005
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South East London
Shall I explain ?

We have never had a right to bear arms........we have never had an armed population. It has never been necessary.

Actually that's wrong. The Act of Rights of 1689 (upon which the US Constitution was based) guaranteed as the primary right of every citizen to keep and bear arms. In fact, until the first Firearms Act of 1920, Parliament was of the view that it neither had nor could have, any right at all to prevent anyone owning firearms or other weapons - it was thought to be so fundamental a citizen's right under Common Law that it could not be curtailed . This was changed by the Government's fear of revolution following the First World War, after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and a number of uprisings in other parts of Europe. They feared that soldiers coming back from the war would be disenchanted by social and employment conditions, and might be encouraged to rise up.

Firearms of any kind - including rifles and even machine guns (expensive)could be bought over the counter - the Army and Navy and the Civil Service Stores(large department stores - went under in the 1970's) and Harrods to name just three, all sold fullbore pistols over the counter. No license needed. Interestingly, you could also buy morphine and cocaine over the counter for personal consumption as well. Even after 1920, you only needed a simple permit obtainable at the post office to own any gun.

In the early part of the century in fact, the was an instance in London of police pursuing some armed robbers, who had robbed a bank. The officers borrowed pistols off passers-by in the street to effect an arrest, after which the pistols were handed back to their owners, who then went on about their business.

Lord Roberts (founder of the predecessor of the NSRA) set out to ensure that "there was a rifle behind the door in every home in England" to ensure that there would always be plenty of men trained in the use of firearms in case of war. There were also a large number of Volunteer units (for example the Artists' Rifles) who all bought and supplied their own weapons - conforming of course to the prevailing military calibre and model of rifle, which they kept at home and brought with them to training.

It was common for a lot of people to go armed - whether with firearms, swordsticks, cudgels or whatever, throughout the UK as a matter of routine - especially if going out at night, right up until the 1920's. In fact I had a great Uncle who was in the Met in the 1920's and 30's; it was standard practise for him and his colleagues to slip a revolver into their tunic pockets before walking a night beat in many parts of London.

It was only after the First and then Second World Wars, when the appetite for violence had been exhausted, that people began to really feel safe. In fact it is arguable that the recent rise in violence in the UK (which as Toddy says is by no means as bad as some tabloids would have you think) is no more than a return to "normal" levels, ie the levels we've seen post-WWII are abnormally low; even then, it is BY FAR less than experienced in the 19th century.
 

Toddy

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Jan 21, 2005
38,989
4,637
S. Lanarkshire
The reality is that the vast majority of the population was 'never' armed.
The cost of a firearm was way beyond the means of virtually everyone in the country.

Please go and actually read the document you refer to

"That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law; "

:rolleyes:

It's not the right to bear arms........look for the agenda behind the propaganda, even of the past.

Full document here.........basically it was an anti Roman Catholic statement complaining about the rule of James11 (or V11 depending on your viewpoint)

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/england.asp
English Bill of Rights 1689
An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown

Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully and freely representing all the estates of the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight [old style date] present unto their Majesties, then called and known by the names and style of William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, being present in their proper persons, a certain declaration in writing made by the said Lords and Commons in the words following, viz.:
Whereas the late King James the Second, by the assistance of divers evil counsellors, judges and ministers employed by him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and the laws and liberties of this kingdom;
By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with and suspending of laws and the execution of laws without consent of Parliament;
By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates for humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed power;
By issuing and causing to be executed a commission under the great seal for erecting a court called the Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes;
By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative for other time and in other manner than the same was granted by Parliament;
By raising and keeping a standing army within this kingdom in time of peace without consent of Parliament, and quartering soldiers contrary to law;
By causing several good subjects being Protestants to be disarmed at the same time when papists were both armed and employed contrary to law;
By violating the freedom of election of members to serve in Parliament;
By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for matters and causes cognizable only in Parliament, and by divers other arbitrary and illegal courses;
And whereas of late years partial corrupt and unqualified persons have been returned and served on juries in trials, and particularly divers jurors in trials for high treason which were not freeholders;
And excessive bail hath been required of persons committed in criminal cases to elude the benefit of the laws made for the liberty of the subjects;
And excessive fines have been imposed;
And illegal and cruel punishments inflicted;
And several grants and promises made of fines and forfeitures before any conviction or judgment against the persons upon whom the same were to be levied;
All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws and statutes and freedom of this realm;
And whereas the said late King James the Second having abdicated the government and the throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the prince of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious instrument of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) did (by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and divers principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal being Protestants, and other letters to the several counties, cities, universities, boroughs and cinque ports, for the choosing of such persons to represent them as were of right to be sent to Parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster upon the two and twentieth day of January in this year one thousand six hundred eighty and eight [old style date], in order to such an establishment as that their religion, laws and liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted, upon which letters elections having been accordingly made;
And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now assembled in a full and free representative of this nation, taking into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case have usually done) for the vindicating and asserting their ancient rights and liberties declare
That the pretended power of suspending the laws or the execution of laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament is illegal;
That the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal;
That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious;
That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal;
That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal;
That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law;
That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law;
That election of members of Parliament ought to be free;
That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament;
That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted;
That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders;
That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void;
And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of the laws, Parliaments ought to be held frequently.
And they do claim, demand and insist upon all and singular the premises as their undoubted rights and liberties, and that no declarations, judgments, doings or proceedings to the prejudice of the people in any of the said premises ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter into consequence or example; to which demand of their rights they are particularly encouraged by the declaration of his Highness the prince of Orange as being the only means for obtaining a full redress and remedy therein. Having therefore an entire confidence that his said Highness the prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far advanced by him, and will still preserve them from the violation of their rights which they have here asserted, and from all other attempts upon their religion, rights and liberties, the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster do resolve that William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, be and be declared king and queen of England, France and Ireland and the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions to them, the said prince and princess, during their lives and the life of the survivor to them, and that the sole and full exercise of the regal power be only in and executed by the said prince of Orange in the names of the said prince and princess during their joint lives, and after their deceases the said crown and royal dignity of the same kingdoms and dominions to be to the heirs of the body of the said princess, and for default of such issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark and the heirs of her body, and for default of such issue to the heirs of the body of the said prince of Orange. And the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do pray the said prince and princess to accept the same accordingly.
And that the oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by all persons of whom the oaths have allegiance and supremacy might be required by law, instead of them; and that the said oaths of allegiance and supremacy be abrogated.
I, A.B., do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to their Majesties King William and Queen Mary. So help me God.
I, A.B., do swear that I do from my heart abhor, detest and abjure as impious and heretical this damnable doctrine and position, that princes excommunicated or deprived by the Pope or any authority of the see of Rome may be deposed or murdered by their subjects or any other whatsoever. And I do declare that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state or potentate hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm. So help me God.
Upon which their said Majesties did accept the crown and royal dignity of the kingdoms of England, France and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, according to the resolution and desire of the said Lords and Commons contained in the said declaration. And thereupon their Majesties were pleased that the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, being the two Houses of Parliament, should continue to sit, and with their Majesties' royal concurrence make effectual provision for the settlement of the religion, laws and liberties of this kingdom, so that the same for the future might not be in danger again of being subverted, to which the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons did agree, and proceed to act accordingly. Now in pursuance of the premises the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled, for the ratifying, confirming and establishing the said declaration and the articles, clauses, matters and things therein contained by the force of law made in due form by authority of Parliament, do pray that it may be declared and enacted that all and singular the rights and liberties asserted and claimed in the said declaration are the true, ancient and indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this kingdom, and so shall be esteemed, allowed, adjudged, deemed and taken to be; and that all and every the particulars aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly holden and observed as they are expressed in the said declaration, and all officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and their successors according to the same in all time to come. And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, seriously considering how it hath pleased Almighty God in his marvellous providence and merciful goodness to this nation to provide and preserve their said Majesties' royal persons most happily to reign over us upon the throne of their ancestors, for which they render unto him from the bottom of their hearts their humblest thanks and praises, do truly, firmly, assuredly and in the sincerity of their hearts think, and do hereby recognize, acknowledge and declare, that King James the Second having abdicated the government, and their Majesties having accepted the crown and royal dignity as aforesaid, their said Majesties did become, were, are and of right ought to be by the laws of this realm our sovereign liege lord and lady, king and queen of England, France and Ireland and the dominions thereunto belonging, in and to whose princely persons the royal state, crown and dignity of the said realms with all honours, styles, titles, regalities, prerogatives, powers, jurisdictions and authorities to the same belonging and appertaining are most fully, rightfully and entirely invested and incorporated, united and annexed. And for preventing all questions and divisions in this realm by reason of any pretended titles to the crown, and for preserving a certainty in the succession thereof, in and upon which the unity, peace, tranquility and safety of this nation doth under God wholly consist and depend, the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do beseech their Majesties that it may be enacted, established and declared, that the crown and regal government of the said kingdoms and dominions, with all and singular the premises thereunto belonging and appertaining, shall be and continue to their said Majesties and the survivor of them during their lives and the life of the survivor of them, and that the entire, perfect and full exercise of the regal power and government be only in and executed by his Majesty in the names of both their Majesties during their joint lives; and after their deceases the said crown and premises shall be and remain to the heirs of the body of her Majesty, and for default of such issue to her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark and the heirs of the body of his said Majesty; and thereunto the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do in the name of all the people aforesaid most humbly and faithfully submit themselves, their heirs and posterities for ever, and do faithfully promise that they will stand to, maintain and defend their said Majesties, and also the limitation and succession of the crown herein specified and contained, to the utmost of their powers with their lives and estates against all persons whatsoever that shall attempt anything to the contrary. And whereas it hath been found by experience that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom to be governed by a popish prince, or by any king or queen marrying a papist, the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do further pray that it may be enacted, that all and every person and persons that is, are or shall be reconciled to or shall hold communion with the see or Church of Rome, or shall profess the popish religion, or shall marry a papist, shall be excluded and be for ever incapable to inherit, possess or enjoy the crown and government of this realm and Ireland and the dominions thereunto belonging or any part of the same, or to have, use or exercise any regal power, authority or jurisdiction within the same; and in all and every such case or cases the people of these realms shall be and are hereby absolved of their allegiance; and the said crown and government shall from time to time descend to and be enjoyed by such person or persons being Protestants as should have inherited and enjoyed the same in case the said person or persons so reconciled, holding communion or professing or marrying as aforesaid were naturally dead; and that every king and queen of this realm who at any time hereafter shall come to and succeed in the imperial crown of this kingdom shall on the first day of the meeting of the first Parliament next after his or her coming to the crown, sitting in his or her throne in the House of Peers in the presence of the Lords and Commons therein assembled, or at his or her coronation before such person or persons who shall administer the coronation oath to him or her at the time of his or her taking the said oath (which shall first happen), make, subscribe and audibly repeat the declaration mentioned in the statute made in the thirtieth year of the reign of King Charles the Second entitled, _An Act for the more effectual preserving the king's person and government by disabling papists from sitting in either House of Parliament._ But if it shall happen that such king or queen upon his or her succession to the crown of this realm shall be under the age of twelve years, then every such king or queen shall make, subscribe and audibly repeat the same declaration at his or her coronation or the first day of the meeting of the first Parliament as aforesaid which shall first happen after such king or queen shall have attained the said age of twelve years. All which their Majesties are contented and pleased shall be declared, enacted and established by authority of this present Parliament, and shall stand, remain and be the law of this realm for ever; and the same are by their said Majesties, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same, declared, enacted and established accordingly.
II. And be it further declared and enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after this present session of Parliament no dispensation by _non obstante_ of or to any statute or any part thereof shall be allowed, but that the same shall be held void and of no effect, except a dispensation be allowed of in such statute, and except in such cases as shall be specially provided for by one or more bill or bills to be passed during this present session of Parliament.
III. Provided that no charter or grant or pardon granted before the three and twentieth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-nine shall be any ways impeached or invalidated by this Act, but that the same shall be and remain of the same force and effect in law and no other than as if this Act had never been made.
 

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