Self-Defense Zone: Crime Prevention & Self-Defense Forums

crackhead · Registered User Joined: 28 Jun 2006 Posts: 20

Boogie Man · Moderator Joined: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 43

All swords are banned Knife shops need licence

SCOTLAND'S killer blade culture faces a tough new crackdown today.

Under fresh restrictions, all "non-domestic" knives will only be sold by shops with a special licence.

Almost all swords, meat cleavers and machetes will be banned completely.

The clampdown will be unveiled by Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson at a Glasgow police station.

The move comes two months after a Scotland-wide knife amnesty netted 13,000 weapons - including a lethal arsenal of machetes and meat cleavers.

The latest measures will be included in a new Sentencing Bill due to go before the Scottish parliament later this year.

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They should become law by next spring and form part of a five-point Executive anti-blade plan that comes into effect next month.

The new initiative will be unveiled by Jamieson at London Road police station in Glasgow's east end.

An Executive spokesman said: "We are determined to crack down on violence in Scotland - particularly the booze and blade culture which strikes fear into the heart of too many of our communities.

"Knives and sharp objects are the most common method of killing in this country, consistently accounting for around half of all murders each year."

Scotland's blade culture has claimed more than 400 lives since 1998.

But from the start of next month, the minimum age for buying a blade will rise from 16 to 18.

Police will also get greater powers to stop, search and arrest people they believe to be carrying weapons.

The maximum sentence for possessing a knife will double from two to four years.

Those measures were part of the Police Bill, passed by MSPs earlier this year and which comes fully into force on September 1.

The new licensing scheme will cover all nondomestic knives, including potentially deadly hunting knives, curved Bowie knives - which can be a foot long - and machetes.

It means only shops vetted and approved by local councils will be allowed to sell nondomestic knives

Non-licensed shops which sell such blades will be committing an offence.

The ban on sword sales - including vicious Samurai-style weapons - will be near total.

There will be just few exceptions for "religious, cultural and sporting" purposes.

No swords will be allowed on display in shop windows.

Shops will need a licence to sell swords and will have to take customers' names and addresses.

Police have long been concerned at the number of second-hand shops selling potentially deadly weapons cheaply.

And campaigning MSPs have been angered by the sight of giant broadswords on display in souvenir shop windows right on Holyrood's doorstep on Edinburgh's RoyalMile.

Last year, 72 per people in Scotland died from stab wounds.

The figure has been rising steadily since 42 people were killed in 1998.

In the recent blade amnesty, more than half of the 12,645 weapons were handed over in the Strathclyde police area.

A further 1000 blades have been seized by police using metal detectors since the amnesty ended two months ago.

New metal detector gloves have been used on the streets of Glasgow and Falkirk.

And airport-style scanners have been introduced at Glasgow's Central Station and in Largs.

crackhead · Registered User Joined: 28 Jun 2006 Posts: 20

Thats why I like living in america

trouzer-x-snake · Newbie Joined: 03 Oct 2006 Posts: 4 Location: devon, UK

hell im glad i dont live in scotland !!!!!
id get f***ed for all my swords/knives !!

Birdman · Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:43 pm Post subject:

Nuts! I was hoping to buy a gen-you-wine Scottish dirk/Sghian Dubh set for a souvenir when I get around to visiting Scotland one of these years...
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