BASC magazine article on Knives

[PeterHenry]

As said, I'm a layman and simply don't know. But, if that were indeed possible and it did, then I think there'd be uproar - Magna Carta and all that.

I understand where you are comming from, and I certianly have sympathy with your perspective - but all you have to do is google 'reverse burden of proof british law' and you will see that it is true.

[Rossco89]

I think we need a bit of perspective on this topic.

 

A 19 year old male in the kebab shop at 0300 with a load of drink on board and an angry head, will struggle to justify why he is carryimg any form of blade if stopped and searched by police.

 

Put the same blade in the pocket of a 19 year old male out fox shooting at 0300 with legally held rifle he will be able to justify having it.

 

A common sense approach needs to by applied by police in relation to possession of blades and I believe it comes down to the environment and circumstances the Peron has the blade in.

 

Its also worth noting that a successful defence in relation to lock knives is the "good reason" of the knife not closing on your fingers when being used.

 

And in relation to not having to prove your innocence under our legal system, your incorrect, some offences the burden of proof lies with the defence ie proving good reason for having a knife, proving your vehicle was in fact insured or proving you did have a valid driving licence.

[Walker570]

My friend, a truck driver, was detained at airport security when he was delivering a load of stuff with a big artic. He had as all truckers do, a box of tools and in this box was a small locking knife. The security woman made him empty his cab before he could pass into the secure area and she noticed the knife, screwed herself in the ceiling and called the police, they arrested him and held him for an hour or more whilst his truck blocked everyone. Eventually they let him go without charge but without the knife. They tried to get him to accept a caution but he refused and eventually they backed down. Now you have to admit this pathetically stupid law is only causing hassle to lawful people going about their everyday business. The garbage on the streets still carry whatever they want because they know there is little chance they will be stopped and searched ... the intelligencia banned stop and search, didn't they. In New York it was brought back and violet crime dropped dramatically overnight.

30yrs ago when we started to get the new standard of uni educated police officer, I would lift the rear seat squab in our patrol car every time I went to use it after the previous shift and you would not believe the number of knives and weapons I have found there because the over educated idiots we had started employing had a) failed to handcuff the prisoner and b) search him or her.

[Rossco89]

My friend, a truck driver, was detained at airport security when he was delivering a load of stuff with a big artic. He had as all truckers do, a box of tools and in this box was a small locking knife. The security woman made him empty his cab before he could pass into the secure area and she noticed the knife, screwed herself in the ceiling and called the police, they arrested him and held him for an hour or more whilst his truck blocked everyone. Eventually they let him go without charge but without the knife. They tried to get him to accept a caution but he refused and eventually they backed down. Now you have to admit this pathetically stupid law is only causing hassle to lawful people going about their everyday business. The garbage on the streets still carry whatever they want because they know there is little chance they will be stopped and searched ... the intelligencia banned stop and search, didn't they. In New York it was brought back and violet crime dropped dramatically overnight.30yrs ago when we started to get the new standard of uni educated police officer, I would lift the rear seat squab in our patrol car every time I went to use it after the previous shift and you would not believe the number of knives and weapons I have found there because the over educated idiots we had started employing had a) failed to handcuff the prisoner and b) search him or her.

I agree with you, it just highlights the need for common sense!

[Scully]

My friend, a truck driver, was detained at airport security when he was delivering a load of stuff with a big artic. He had as all truckers do, a box of tools and in this box was a small locking knife. The security woman made him empty his cab before he could pass into the secure area and she noticed the knife, screwed herself in the ceiling and called the police, they arrested him and held him for an hour or more whilst his truck blocked everyone. Eventually they let him go without charge but without the knife. They tried to get him to accept a caution but he refused and eventually they backed down. Now you have to admit this pathetically stupid law is only causing hassle to lawful people going about their everyday business. The garbage on the streets still carry whatever they want because they know there is little chance they will be stopped and searched ... the intelligencia banned stop and search, didn't they. In New York it was brought back and violet crime dropped dramatically overnight.

30yrs ago when we started to get the new standard of uni educated police officer, I would lift the rear seat squab in our patrol car every time I went to use it after the previous shift and you would not believe the number of knives and weapons I have found there because the over educated idiots we had started employing had a) failed to handcuff the prisoner and b) search him or her.

 

This. Ineffectual and farcical legislation.

[Bazooka Joe]

Now you have to admit this pathetically stupid law is only causing hassle to lawful people going about their everyday business.

 

 

Totally agree...

 

Why do you have to have good reason.

 

I've had my Opinel No 8 for over 40yrs, I didn't need good reason to have it then, it was classed as a penknife & used for whatever job came to hand (it still is a penknife)

 

This day & age I cannot have a knife that locks, but I'm safe to have firearms, absolutely ludicrous & laughable......

 

 

[Albert 888]

Is a Stanley knife illegal.

 

Can a scotch person wear a fix blade knife in their sock if they wish,can't remember the name sorry.

 

What about a leatherman multi tool etc.

 

What if you buy a kitchen knife set, is it illegal to carry it from the shop to your home

Is an axe illegal.

 

What is this world coming to.

 

And before anyone asks yes I have been in close proximity of a knife being pull x2. They weren't locking blades either.

 

If you have a good reason fair do's, if you don't well that's your fault.

[CaptainBeaky]

Can a Scot wear a sgian dubh in his sock? Yes, if worn a part of national dress.

Again, you might struggle to explain it to a suspicious copper at the the kebab shop at 3am!

[walshie]

I wouldn't like to be the copper who tried to tell Bill Harriman he couldn't carry a knife.

[Penelope]

This the reason.

 

I don't see many 'countrymen' mentioned.

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/topic/knife-crime.

[Savhmr]

My friend, a truck driver, was detained at airport security when he was delivering a load of stuff with a big artic. He had as all truckers do, a box of tools and in this box was a small locking knife. The security woman made him empty his cab before he could pass into the secure area and she noticed the knife, screwed herself in the ceiling and called the police, they arrested him and held him for an hour or more whilst his truck blocked everyone. Eventually they let him go without charge but without the knife. They tried to get him to accept a caution but he refused and eventually they backed down. Now you have to admit this pathetically stupid law is only causing hassle to lawful people going about their everyday business. The garbage on the streets still carry whatever they want because they know there is little chance they will be stopped and searched ... the intelligencia banned stop and search, didn't they. In New York it was brought back and violet crime dropped dramatically overnight.

30yrs ago when we started to get the new standard of uni educated police officer, I would lift the rear seat squab in our patrol car every time I went to use it after the previous shift and you would not believe the number of knives and weapons I have found there because the over educated idiots we had started employing had a) failed to handcuff the prisoner and b) search him or her.

 

Nail...head.

 

Common sense rarely applies to anything these days because we are all subject to judgement by the lowest possible common denominator. Society has been dumbed down to the level that the test on such laws is applied to a virtual teenage to twenty-something year old scroat in an urban environment possibly up to no good.

 

It is not just knives, though. Many things constitute an "offensive weapon" in law where, in the right context, they may have the potential to do harm. E.g. a screw driver. You can be cautioned for carrying one of those in a public place if the police think that you are up to no good (that or "going equipped...")

 

I once had to explain just why I was carrying a bow and arrows from a field to my car on the verge by two young policemen, called out because some busy-body reported me when they saw me enter the field an hour earlier (I had permission to be there). They got quite animated but I simply laughed at them and suggested that they read up on their law (my father was a policeman at the time, so I was brought up knowing what was what by him). One of them stuttered that "....but it is an offensive weapon" to which I responded, "No....it has the potential to be in the wrong hands, which isn't me because I have just spent an hour shooting in that field, so unless you have reasonable suspicion that I'm up to no good, I suggest that you leave me to go about my lawful business". They couldn't comprehend that it wasn't an offense to carry a bow and arrows, but left me alone. There's an element of education.

 

Back to knives. I carry one when deer stalking, and it has a blade longer than 2.5 inches and is a fixed blade design. I suspect that being in possession of a centre fire firearm is actually the more pressing thing to be concerned with in such circumstances, so always carry a copy of my permission to shoot on that land. Certs they can check up on. Being there, or on the way to or from your land, in possession of any type of knife as long as you have good reason for having it, is not illegal.

 

A chap I once knew who was a police officer himself was stopped and his van searched when on the way to a music festival with friends. The policemen doing the search found a leatherman with a folding blade inside his tool-kit, buried under his spare wheel in the back of his camper van and wanted him to accept a caution, which naturally, he refused. They confiscated the leatherman and he never saw it back. It seems ridiculous that even though you might be a police officer yourself and have good reason (it's a tool and the blade could be useful for cutting tape etc if you need to gaffer tape something up), that the rules are blanked applied without a shred of common sense. We may think that we live in a free society, but we don't. Britain is fast becoming more and more restrictive and many areas. I have been threatened in the past with a knife by some idiot waving a knife around at me but that in itself doesn't make me want to see a blanket ban on anyone carrying one for whom it has been a life long habit and where there is no obvious intent to do anyone harm.

 

Point is, those that the law is meant to protect us against don't give a fig for the law and will continue to carry knives, guns and whatever they deem suitable for offensive purpose, irrespective of the risks.

Edited July 8, 2017 by Savhmr

[Roddy189]

isn't the problem being that they may not find your reasoning behind needing the knife valid? To you it would be a genuine reason but to them an excuse. I always wonder about the mental state of those who make these laws and rules as it wouldn't cross my mind to attack someone nor use a 2.5" knife to attack anyone, and yet that is exactly what they think it will be used for if no good reason is given. Preparedness is a need to which I doubt is allowed. This is exactly the same problem with many bans/laws in this country, they're presuming everyone is guilty before proving otherwise which is completely against the ethical code of this country!