The UK needs stricter knife control....

A cub scout leader confronted terrorists just seconds after they had beheaded a soldier asking them to hand over their weapons and warning them: "It is only you versus many people, you are going to lose."

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According to witnesses, dozens of people got out of their cars and shouted at the two heavily armed men to stop as they hacked the man to death.

After the men dragged the soldier's body into the road, witnesses said "brave women" shielded the dead man's body from further attack. The men stood over them, brandishing their weapons.

Footage taken on a mobile phone shortly afterwards shows one woman lying on the body and two other standing between the dead soldier and the attackers.

MPs last night praised the "extraordinary bravery" of the women and raised concerns about why it took armed police 20 minutes to arrive at the scene while people's lives were at risk.

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"We first received a 999 call from the public at 2.20pm stating a man was being attacked, further 999 calls stated that the attackers were in possession of a gun. We had officers at the scene within nine minutes of receiving that first 999 call.

"Once that information about a gun or guns being present was known firearms officers were assigned at 2.24pm. Firearms officers were there and dealing with the incident 10 minutes after they were assigned, 14 minutes after the first call to the Met."

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Peck of Arabia said:

As I understand it, the assailant had a machete.

Call me clueless, but one would assume such a weapon was not obtained legally

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Knives: the laws on buying and carrying
Not what you're looking for? ↓ The laws about buying and carrying a knife depend on the type of knife, your age and your circumstances.

Basic laws on knives
It is illegal to:

sell a knife of any kind (including cutlery and kitchen knives) to anyone under 18
carry a knife in public without good reason - unless it’s a knife with a folding blade 3 inches long (7.62 cm) or less, eg a Swiss Army knife
carry, buy or sell any type of banned knife (the list of banned knives is below)
use any knife in a threatening way (even a legal knife, such as a Swiss Army knife)
Lock knives (knives with blades that can be locked when unfolded) are not folding knives, and are illegal to carry in public.

The maximum penalty for an adult carrying a knife is 4 years in prison and a fine of £5,000.

Good reasons for carrying a knife
Examples of good reasons to carry a knife in public can include:

taking knives you use at work to and from work
you’re taking knives to a gallery or museum to be exhibited
the knife is going to be used for theatre, film, televison, historical reenactment or religious purposes (eg the kirpan some Sikhs carry)
A court will decide if you’ve got a good reason to carry a knife if you’re charged with carrying it illegally.

Knives that are illegal
There is a complete ban on the sale of some knives:

flick knives (also called ‘switchblades’ or ‘automatic knives’) - where the blade is hidden inside the handle and shoots out when a button is pressed
butterfly knives - where the blade is hidden inside a handle that splits in two around it, like wings; the handles swing around the blade to open or close it
disguised knives – eg where the blade is hidden inside a belt buckle or fake mobile phone
gravity knives
sword-sticks
samurai swords (with some exceptions, including antiques and swords made to traditional methods before 1954)
hand or foot-claws
push daggers
hollow kubotan (cylinder-shaped keychain) holding spikes
shuriken (also known as ‘death stars’ or ‘throwing stars’)
kusari-gama (sickle attached to a rope, cord or wire)
kyoketsu-shoge (hook-knife attached to a rope, cord or wire)
kusari (weight attached to a rope, cord or wire)
This is not a complete list of banned knives. Contact your local police to check if a knife is illegal or not.

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The case of Southwell v Chadwick (1986) illustrates this well. The Court of Appeal accepted that it was reasonable to be in possession of a machete and a catapult in a public place for the purpose of killing grey squirrels as food

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GoodSarmatian said:

And while I don't want to make light of a murder, the body count of this act was 1, so whatever point you are trying to make is as dumb as it is tasteless.

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Bugfatty300 said:

The point is that the body count would be 0 if knives were strictly restricted.

It's truly mind blowing that one can just buy bladed weapons.

Oh right, the knife nuts want their precious weapons to cut their meat or open packages (likely filled with even more knives they ordered through the internet!). Well tell that to all the innocent people getting stabbed by them!

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Bugfatty300 said:

The point is that the body count would be 0 if knives were strictly restricted.

It's truly mind blowing that one can just buy bladed weapons.

Oh right, the knife nuts want their precious weapons to cut their meat or open packages (likely filled with even more knives they ordered through the internet!). Well tell that to all the innocent people getting stabbed by them!

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metatron said:

See post #9.

Knifes in the UK are severely controlled and regulated. One is fundamentally not entitled to own a knife beyond a rather small size, one has to qualify for doing so. Having knifes is not a right.

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Bugfatty300 said:

Meh severely controlled and regulated? No knife registration, no fingerprinting, no background checks, no waiting period.

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metatron said:

Uhm, you can't wait for what you can't get.
Outright banning something circumvents the whole umpleasantry with the fingerprints, too.

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Bugfatty300 said:

Apparently you just have to wait for the package to arrive.

Amazon UK

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2.22-inch blade length

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