Has everyone managed to fill in the consultation? The online part isn't all that hard, and you don't have to write War and Peace, as I did.
I did the consultation and wrote to my MP.
I had back a very fulsome reply saying that he would raise my points when the discussion was on the go in parliament.
Our MP, though Conservative and having had his wrist slapped for a bit of extra marital fun, seems to listen to his electorate ...
Has everyone managed to fill in the consultation? The online part isn't all that hard, and you don't have to write War and Peace, as I did.
Maybe banning TV would help?Quite a bit on TV about knife crime today, seems the legislation is getting ready to go through...
Maybe a ban on kitchen knives is next?Quite a bit on TV about knife crime today, seems the legislation is getting ready to go through, even had a policeman looking under bushes in London, and lo and behold he comes out with a kitchen knife, one smart coppa
With immediate effect, all sales threads must have location of buyer / item.
Reason :
It's come to our attention recently that our much admired United Kingdom Border Force Detection Unit are now actively intercepting & seizing legal to own & purchase knives sent from inside the European Union to the United Kingdom. This practice had previously been adopted by UKBF for knives imported into U.K. from outside the European Union resulting in many retailers & private sellers refusing to ship to U.K.
2017 saw a policy change by Netherlands based supplier "Knives & Tools.co.uk" who now refuse to sell & ship legal to purchase & own folding locking knives with finger guards sometimes referred to as "flipper" or deployment tabs to U.K. The UKBF Detection Unit have seized numerous knives illegally & classed them incorrectly as Gravity knife or switchblade ( Flick) knife under old laws passed in 1953 & 1959 & subsequently seized as prohibited weapons. However, any folding locking knife that may deploy from closed to open with the flick of wrist or use of other item attached to blade may also be subject to seizure.
In addition to the above action & "seizure of goods notification" letter sent to the personal importers home or business address, Since 2014, the most disgusting behaviour is now being implemented by the UKBF Detection Unit on an increasingly regular basis, where the agency (allegedly acting upon direction from the Home Office) are instructing Police Officers local to the importer of the knife to be visited at home or work & questioned about the importation of a knife. This has now gone one step further where we are now informed that Importers of a legal to purchase & own knife are being requested to attend Police stations & questioned under caution with what appears to be no legal justification.
Due to the above, we feel that buyers & sellers need to be open & transparent from the start, where sellers & their items are located & that sellers outside the U.K. be aware of the risks of shipping knives here. It's the responsibility of the buyer to assess the risk of importation. If goods are seized upon importation into the U.K, any insurances against loss or damage are void. The seller of the knife can not be held responsible for sending you the knife.
I will clarify that in the cases we are aware of, the buyer & the seller did nothing illegal. Proving that the "United Kingdom Border Force Detection Unit" seizure actions are illegal requires them to be challenged in court & ordered to return illegally seized items. This is risky & potentially costly.
Magistrates are not knife law specialists They could rule against you. There's no case law definition. Even if you win the court case, there's no law stopping the Agency doing exactly the same thing again the next day.
With regret.
EM Team.
I had a multitool delivered today from Amazon and it was preceded by an email telling me that it would only be handed to an adult and ID might be asked for. They didn't ask for ID in the end but that may be because I'm clearly over 18. They didn't say what would happen if no one was in to take delivery and no age checks were made at point of sale. Given the hype over internet sales recently I was expecting to have more trouble.
The one thing to note here is that Amazon say it has to be signed for by an adult, not neccessarily the person who has purchased the knife,as it is quite normal for a parcel to be signed for it is possible the adult who signs for it is unaware it is actually a knife, possibly bought by one of his/her children. As Amazon does not stipulate the purchaser has to prove they are over 18, so they are just trying to show they are being conscientous, though in my opinion they have not given it much thought.