More than 17,700 knives, machetes and axes have been handed over to British police in an amnesty on sharp weapons.
Sharp weapons are used in more than a quarter of all homicides in Britain and the amnesty was partly prompted by fears of a growing knife culture in the country.
Authorities say the response in the first week of the amnesty has been encouraging but they have urged more people to turn in their weapons.
A similar amnesty ten years ago led to 40,000 weapons being handed over.
Junior Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker says the turn-in is encouraging but he is urging that more be given up.
"If you carry a knife out of self-defence, you run the risk of having it turned on you," he said.
The amnesty began on May 24 and runs until June 30.
Among a spate of recent fatal stabbings have been those of 15-year-old Kiyan Prince, a promising footballer attacked outside his London school, and part-time policewoman Nisha Patel-Nasri.
Several anti-knife campaigners have said the amnesty will not stop knife crime and demand tougher sentences for carrying weapons.
- ABC/Reuters

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...6/s1665250.htm


First the UK outlawed guns, violence went up. Now they are working very hard to outlaw knives. There is a law being debated that would make carrying a knife over 3" a major offence with a 5 year prison term.

The only people that are surrending knifes are the people that are least likely to commit a crime with them

I first laughed when I heard that a couple of folks wanted to ban pointed knives in thye UK. But now I see this.

I guess the liberals in the UK couldn't of been happy with just banning firearms. So now they're going after the only other means of defense. Knives.

What a shame. I just now this. If crap like that ever happens in Florida or the USA as a whole. I will become an outlaw and make them damn work to disarm me.

The home of the English Broadsword and the Fairbairn Commando Dagger? Say it ain't so Joe.

Next they'll be banning blunt objects. No more cricket bats, croquet mallets, or tree limbs.

Oh this is serious... I thought someone was taking the piss. I mean just substitute gun for knife and USA for UK. Its a one size fits all argument. What about long fingernails? The base problem is in people's heads, people will kill with whatever is at hand. Eliminating weapons will not lower homicide rates, it will just make it more of a workout.

Originally Posted by 5.56X45mm

I guess the liberals in the UK couldn't of been happy with just banning firearms. So now they're going after the only other means of defense. Knives.

Hi. Just a few of things to throw your way:

If nobody carried knives would you need one for self defence?

The vast majority of people carrying knives have no real clue how to use them.

At close range a knife is probably more deadly than a gun, especially if the latter is holstered with the safety on, i.e. the 21 foot rule.

If nobody carried knives would you need one for self defence?

Burglaries? Car-theft attempts? Hostage situations? Those hypothetical examples, and also because the criminals are more likely to not going to give their knives up?

The vast majority of people carrying knives have no real clue how to use them.

Then how is it that they can use such utensils in the consumption of meat? Or for that matter, butchering meat? Or preparing dinner?

At close range a knife is probably more deadly than a gun, especially if the latter is holstered with the safety on, i.e. the 21 foot rule.

Probably? Yes, that is probably true to some rather limited extent. However, a gun is very much likely to be the deadlier weapon, given that you don't need to be standing just a few feet in front of your target to "reach out and touch". That, and people can aim.

Originally Posted by Pop-a-squat

Burglaries? Car-theft attempts? Hostage situations? Those hypothetical examples, and also because the criminals are more likely to not going to give their knives up?

True to a certain extent but the escalation of knife culture is out of control in the UK. It's one thing carrying one for self defence but a different matter when you have gangs of kids walking around, doing what the hell they like and pretty much all of them packing weapons of some sort. In any case you don't need an edged weapon for self defence. There are alternatives.

Originally Posted by Pop-a-squat

Then how is it that they can use such utensils in the consumption of meat? Or for that matter, butchering meat? Or preparing dinner?

My comments were clearly in the context of self defence, which is what this thread is about. Most people do not know how to use a knife properly in self defence.

Originally Posted by Pop-a-squat

Probably? Yes, that is probably true to some rather limited extent. However, a gun is very much likely to be the deadlier weapon, given that you don't need to be standing just a few feet in front of your target to "reach out and touch". That, and people can aim.

In the sorts of situations where weapons and self defence come into play, you are talking about in the main close proximity situations. In those situations the knife is probably more deadly, due to how easily they can be deployed and concealed. Plus it's far easier to use a knife as most people use them as an extension of their arm, i.e. no special skills are required.

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Hi. Just a few of things to throw your way:

If nobody carried knives would you need one for self defence?

The vast majority of people carrying knives have no real clue how to use them.

At close range a knife is probably more deadly than a gun, especially if the latter is holstered with the safety on, i.e. the 21 foot rule.

Have you ever seen a man's head after a massage with two feet of steel chain? I have and couldn't recognize the guy I had known for years. He lived but his looks and mechanical abilities were gone.