New knife laws

nigelp

Native
Jul 4, 2006
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Sorry for being a broken record; I’ll try to remember not to say this again for a while:
View attachment 85085

This is the Opinel #8 Outdoor.

It is a folding knife in which the blade can be locked open.

The blade is longer than three inches.

The blade is pierced - by the shackle spanner.

Half the blade is serrated - supposedly to cut cord.



This knife is legally available right across the UK.
It ticks nearly all the boxes to be called a zombie knife, a term not used in the legislation.

I wouldn’t carry it about all the time because that is not what it is designed for.
I don’t anticipate any problems at all from carrying it to anywhere that it will be useful.

Most folk here carry knives appropriate to their use in given contexts. There is nothing to sweat about.
I think your knife is not classed as a zombie knife….



“Under a new definition included in these measures, a zombie-style knife is any bladed weapon over eight inches in length with a plain cutting edge and sharp pointed end that also has either a serrated cutting edge, more than one hole in the blade, or multiple sharp points like spikes.”

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-bans-machetes-and-zombie-knives
 

Pattree

Full Member
Jul 19, 2023
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OK but the Opinel #8 Outdoor stands outside the legislation s it has been framed in this thread but it is still perfectly legal to buy in UK (As is an Opinle #13 Giant.)
My point is - I am not concerned about these laws.

On the other hand I deeply regret that my old split handled “hunting” knife (referred to as a “butterfly knife” in law) was totally banned and illegal to own. This is a very different level of law from the current proposals. It was no different in use from any other knife.
 
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Broch

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Jan 18, 2009
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Most of us that canoe (or other water based activities) carry a locking serrated edge safety knife; nothing in the law prevents us doing that whilst on or in the vicinity of the water. However, walk into a pub by the river in the evening, and I think it would be quite reasonable to ask why we still had it around our necks. None of the laws introduced over the years have affected the way I carry and use knives (other than when I was a teenager but we won't go there).
 

nigelp

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Jul 4, 2006
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You can buy a lot of things legally, but what you do with them afterwards can make the possession and use of them illegal.


Playing devils advocate :

The proposed legislation wants to make the purchasing and possession of certain bladed knifes and weapons illegal. It then removes all ambiguity when the police stop and search a person, or a property. The police can then confiscate those weapons and remove them from circulation.

As @Broch says nothing fundamentally has changed or is being proposed to change. If you choose to carry a knife in public then you will have to justify the reason for doing so if you are stooped by the police.

In the article above it clearly says “Machetes and zombie-style knives with no practical use”.

So you can own and use a machete on your allotment but it has no practical use in Tesco!
 
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Laurentius

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Aug 13, 2009
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As far as I can gather the swords thing is just a proposal by the Labour party. The other things are actually being set in motion before the end of the year.
Coming up to an election so the Labour Party is trying to make capital out of the fact that the Tories have not been able to ban zombie knives yet, (basically because it is impossible). You know how idiotic it is, swords are used in civic ceremonies as part of the official regalia, how about banning maces too, you know some MP might pick one up and take a swing at the opposition. Of course various forms of Morris Dancing will also become illegal and those dangerous things will have to be removed from statues as well.
 

Herman30

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Aug 30, 2015
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how about banning maces too, you know some MP might pick one up and take a swing at the opposition.
House of Commons own whack-a- mole.

11vid-mace-image-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg
 

nigelp

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Jul 4, 2006
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newforestnavigation.co.uk
Coming up to an election so the Labour Party is trying to make capital out of the fact that the Tories have not been able to ban zombie knives yet, (basically because it is impossible). You know how idiotic it is, swords are used in civic ceremonies as part of the official regalia, how about banning maces too, you know some MP might pick one up and take a swing at the opposition. Of course various forms of Morris Dancing will also become illegal and those dangerous things will have to be removed from statues as well.
Where did it say swords are being banned?
 

gg012

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Sep 23, 2022
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All swords? Is that what it says?

Technically a foil is used in the sport of fencing. Most guns are banned but shooting is still allowed so I would think once the furore and hyperbole had died down those using swords for sport, ceremonial and civic duties would carry on as before.
I am being pedantic here but most guns aren't banned. All guns are restricted and licensable with some categories of firearm being more difficult to get authorisation to own than others.
 
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GreyCat

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Nov 1, 2023
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I thought handguns were totally forbidden to all but police and military (not even exemption for Olympic athletes)?

But stand to be corrected.

GC
 

swotty

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Apr 25, 2009
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I thought handguns were totally forbidden to all but police and military (not even exemption for Olympic athletes)?

But stand to be corrected.

GC
Unless they're single shot for humane dispatch, long barrel or black powder/nitro muzzle loading or into the cylinder. Damn, I miss my firearms!!
 
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gg012

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Sep 23, 2022
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I thought handguns were totally forbidden to all but police and military (not even exemption for Olympic athletes)?

But stand to be corrected.

GC
Section 7 allows ownership and use of handguns but they need to be of "historical importance", Section 1 allows black powder revolvers or muzzle loading pistols then Section 5 would allow ownership of pretty much anything but is rare to be granted.

Sent from underground

Edit: Swotty reminded me about humane dispatch on a Section 1
 

swotty

Full Member
Apr 25, 2009
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Somerset
Section 7 allows ownership and use of handguns but they need to be of "historical importance", Section 1 allows black powder revolvers or muzzle loading pistols then Section 5 would allow ownership of pretty much anything but is rare to be granted.

Sent from underground

Edit: Swotty reminded me about humane dispatch on a Section 1
And I forgot section 7!!

Sent from my moto g22 using Tapatalk
 
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Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,534
699
Knowhere
You can buy a lot of things legally, but what you do with them afterwards can make the possession and use of them illegal.


Playing devils advocate :

The proposed legislation wants to make the purchasing and possession of certain bladed knifes and weapons illegal. It then removes all ambiguity when the police stop and search a person, or a property. The police can then confiscate those weapons and remove them from circulation.

As @Broch says nothing fundamentally has changed or is being proposed to change. If you choose to carry a knife in public then you will have to justify the reason for doing so if you are stooped by the police.

In the article above it clearly says “Machetes and zombie-style knives with no practical use”.

So you can own and use a machete on your allotment but it has no practical use in Tesco!
The current descriptions do anything but remove ambiguity, they give the police an excuse to come into your home, stretch a point and call your garden tools illegal and confiscate them because in their opinion they do not have a practical use, it is totally arbitrary.
 

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