Update on the War on Knives
Never guess what they are looking at: individual government approval; licensing and licensed dealers. Notice (among the other assorted trollop) the call for new "powers" in order to deal with "the problem" ..... And look closely at the bottom line.
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http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=713332005
The Scotsman
Wed 29 Jun 2005
HAMISH MACDONELL
SCOTTISH POLITICAL EDITOR
A CRACKDOWN on hunting knives, swords and police-style batons will form the centrepiece of ministers' plans to tackle the weapons culture.
Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, published a consultation paper yesterday which recommended a ban on the sale of swords and severe restrictions on the sale of all "non-domestic knives".
If the restrictions are approved, only licensed shops would be able to sell hunting and sporting knives and anyone who wants to buy one will have to provide their personal details to the government as well as a good reason for ownership.
Ministers also announced plans for an outright ban on so-called stealth knives, police-style night sticks and truncheons, to be implemented within a matter of months.
Stealth knives, which are made up of non-metallic blades, are popular with criminals because they can slip unnoticed through metal detectors.
All these weapons will be banned without a consultation, probably by September, bringing Scotland into line with England and Wales.
The crackdown on knives was signalled last November. From 1998 to 2003, just under half of the 667 murders committed in Scotland involved the use of a knife. This pushed Glasgow to the top of the murder league in Europe.
Last year 51 people died as a result of knife attacks and the police have to deal with ten stabbings and slashings every day throughout the country, but mostly in the west.
A spokeswoman for the Association of Chief Police Officers yesterday welcomed the prospect of new legislation.
"If the plans prevent one sword or knife from getting into the wrong hands, if they prevent one murder, one assault, they are worth it," she said.
A police insider said the aim was to curb the macho culture of carrying big knives.
He said: "Of course there is nothing to stop someone taking a domestic knife from their mother's kitchen and heading out on to the streets, but the culture in Glasgow gangs is based around big hunting knives. We hope this will tackle that."
Yesterday's consultation paper on knife sales is being introduced alongside tough penalties for carrying them and harsher sentences for offences.
Plans to double the maximum sentence for carrying a knife from two years to four, increase the minimum purchase age from 16 to 18, and give police unconditional powers of arrest when they suspect someone of carrying a knife are already progressing through the parliament.
Ministers have included various licensing and banning options and say they will not make up their minds until they have considered all the responses.
Proposals on non-domestic knives range from a scheme which would merely license the sale of hunting and sporting knives, to suggestions of making it illegal to buy a knife from unauthorised sellers.
The proposals on swords are equally wide-ranging, from a blanket ban on all except those used for "ceremonial, religious, sporting or cultural" purposes, to a more limited ban just on samurai, or one-bladed swords.
The consultation paper also proposes allowing the sale of swords to continue, but introducing a licensing system which would restrict their sale, similar to that proposed for hunting knives.
Ms Jamieson said she was committed to tackling a weapons-carrying culture. She said: "Making it harder to buy a non-domestic knife would deter those without legitimate reason for owning one, and would force the 'small minority' of unscrupulous traders to behave more responsibly.
"Nobody living in a normal house or flat in an ordinary community needs a sword as part of day to day life," she said.
"Those with a legitimate reason for needing a non-domestic knife or sword should not, however, be put at a disadvantage by these proposals.
"Some necessary administrative safeguards are a small price to pay to tighten up the availability of these weapons in the wider community."
Kenny MacAskill, for the SNP, welcomed the curbs, but said it was "absurd" that airguns were not covered.
"It seems absurd that we have legislation against swords but not firearms," he said.
"The parliament must have the powers to address this problem and the Scottish Executive must take action immediately."
But retailers called on the Executive to provide evidence that a licensing system would curb knife crime.
The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) complained of a "knee-jerk" reaction.
THE BAN DETAILS
A WHOLE swathe of knives and swords will either be banned or sold only under licence when the Executive proposals are made law.
The restrictions will cover everything that is not categorised as a domestic knife. This means that kitchen knives, including carving knives, all workshop blades, including Stanley knives and all garden equipment will be exempt.
The Scottish Executive defines a non-domestic knife as "a knife which has a blade or sharp point and which is not designed only for domestic use, or only for use in the processing, preparation or consumption of food".
This means that restrictions will be placed on all hunting and sporting knives, including sheath knives, knives with a blade on one side and a serrated edge on the other and knives sold to gut fish and animals.
The new law will not mean these cannot be purchased or carried, but anyone who does so will have to give a reason for their possession.
The Executive has decided that knives which fold with no lock, like pen knives, will be allowed, but locking knives will not.
Flick knives, sword sticks, push daggers, death stars and butterfly knives are already banned under existing legislation.
The law on swords will be much tougher. Although the proposals are out for consultation, the Executive is expected to back a ban on the sale of all swords to anyone other than members of approved organisations.
These will include martial arts associations, highland dancing groups, fencing clubs and re-enactment societies. The possession of swords will not be illegal, but their purchase will be.
The police already have the power to arrest anybody for possession of an offensive weapon and this is determined largely by the circumstances in which the person is found. A Boy Scout at a Scout camp would be allowed to carry a small sheath knife, but a teenager going into a nightclub would not.
The police will have discretion to interpret the law on the carrying of offensive weapons, as they do now.
Never guess what they are looking at: individual government approval; licensing and licensed dealers. Notice (among the other assorted trollop) the call for new "powers" in order to deal with "the problem" ..... And look closely at the bottom line.
---------------------------------------------
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=713332005
The Scotsman
Wed 29 Jun 2005
HAMISH MACDONELL
SCOTTISH POLITICAL EDITOR
A CRACKDOWN on hunting knives, swords and police-style batons will form the centrepiece of ministers' plans to tackle the weapons culture.
Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, published a consultation paper yesterday which recommended a ban on the sale of swords and severe restrictions on the sale of all "non-domestic knives".
If the restrictions are approved, only licensed shops would be able to sell hunting and sporting knives and anyone who wants to buy one will have to provide their personal details to the government as well as a good reason for ownership.
Ministers also announced plans for an outright ban on so-called stealth knives, police-style night sticks and truncheons, to be implemented within a matter of months.
Stealth knives, which are made up of non-metallic blades, are popular with criminals because they can slip unnoticed through metal detectors.
All these weapons will be banned without a consultation, probably by September, bringing Scotland into line with England and Wales.
The crackdown on knives was signalled last November. From 1998 to 2003, just under half of the 667 murders committed in Scotland involved the use of a knife. This pushed Glasgow to the top of the murder league in Europe.
Last year 51 people died as a result of knife attacks and the police have to deal with ten stabbings and slashings every day throughout the country, but mostly in the west.
A spokeswoman for the Association of Chief Police Officers yesterday welcomed the prospect of new legislation.
"If the plans prevent one sword or knife from getting into the wrong hands, if they prevent one murder, one assault, they are worth it," she said.
A police insider said the aim was to curb the macho culture of carrying big knives.
He said: "Of course there is nothing to stop someone taking a domestic knife from their mother's kitchen and heading out on to the streets, but the culture in Glasgow gangs is based around big hunting knives. We hope this will tackle that."
Yesterday's consultation paper on knife sales is being introduced alongside tough penalties for carrying them and harsher sentences for offences.
Plans to double the maximum sentence for carrying a knife from two years to four, increase the minimum purchase age from 16 to 18, and give police unconditional powers of arrest when they suspect someone of carrying a knife are already progressing through the parliament.
Ministers have included various licensing and banning options and say they will not make up their minds until they have considered all the responses.
Proposals on non-domestic knives range from a scheme which would merely license the sale of hunting and sporting knives, to suggestions of making it illegal to buy a knife from unauthorised sellers.
The proposals on swords are equally wide-ranging, from a blanket ban on all except those used for "ceremonial, religious, sporting or cultural" purposes, to a more limited ban just on samurai, or one-bladed swords.
The consultation paper also proposes allowing the sale of swords to continue, but introducing a licensing system which would restrict their sale, similar to that proposed for hunting knives.
Ms Jamieson said she was committed to tackling a weapons-carrying culture. She said: "Making it harder to buy a non-domestic knife would deter those without legitimate reason for owning one, and would force the 'small minority' of unscrupulous traders to behave more responsibly.
"Nobody living in a normal house or flat in an ordinary community needs a sword as part of day to day life," she said.
"Those with a legitimate reason for needing a non-domestic knife or sword should not, however, be put at a disadvantage by these proposals.
"Some necessary administrative safeguards are a small price to pay to tighten up the availability of these weapons in the wider community."
Kenny MacAskill, for the SNP, welcomed the curbs, but said it was "absurd" that airguns were not covered.
"It seems absurd that we have legislation against swords but not firearms," he said.
"The parliament must have the powers to address this problem and the Scottish Executive must take action immediately."
But retailers called on the Executive to provide evidence that a licensing system would curb knife crime.
The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) complained of a "knee-jerk" reaction.
THE BAN DETAILS
A WHOLE swathe of knives and swords will either be banned or sold only under licence when the Executive proposals are made law.
The restrictions will cover everything that is not categorised as a domestic knife. This means that kitchen knives, including carving knives, all workshop blades, including Stanley knives and all garden equipment will be exempt.
The Scottish Executive defines a non-domestic knife as "a knife which has a blade or sharp point and which is not designed only for domestic use, or only for use in the processing, preparation or consumption of food".
This means that restrictions will be placed on all hunting and sporting knives, including sheath knives, knives with a blade on one side and a serrated edge on the other and knives sold to gut fish and animals.
The new law will not mean these cannot be purchased or carried, but anyone who does so will have to give a reason for their possession.
The Executive has decided that knives which fold with no lock, like pen knives, will be allowed, but locking knives will not.
Flick knives, sword sticks, push daggers, death stars and butterfly knives are already banned under existing legislation.
The law on swords will be much tougher. Although the proposals are out for consultation, the Executive is expected to back a ban on the sale of all swords to anyone other than members of approved organisations.
These will include martial arts associations, highland dancing groups, fencing clubs and re-enactment societies. The possession of swords will not be illegal, but their purchase will be.
The police already have the power to arrest anybody for possession of an offensive weapon and this is determined largely by the circumstances in which the person is found. A Boy Scout at a Scout camp would be allowed to carry a small sheath knife, but a teenager going into a nightclub would not.
The police will have discretion to interpret the law on the carrying of offensive weapons, as they do now.