To ban crossbows & Military style knives in UK?

Even if these particular weapons had been banned, these women would still be dead.

That’s one of the US National Rifle Association slogans, isn’t it? Not something we need over here.

There’s no need for anyone to have crossbows or Rambo knives or anything that’s clearly a weapon, and is used as a weapon. They should be illegal, except where used in sports and kept locked up in controlled conditions.

Of course killers can use kitchen knives, but that’s not the central purpose of a kitchen knife.

And this is why the US’s gun use is in crisis. I despair.

I wish we'd focus less on the method,and actually focus on the motives: there will always be methods available,so we need to challenge this evil response some men have to being told 'no'.

We shouldn’t fall into the US gun rhetoric of ‘guns don’t kill people, people do’. I don’t however think crossbows should be banned, but they, and any instrument of weaponry should be highly regulated and listened in regard to ownership and use.

Given that the women were alive when the emergency services arrived, he did not ‘kill them in quick succession all at once’.

It has happened before. Listen to radio 4 at 6:50am this morning on iPlayer and you’ll here about someone whose husband was killed in 2018 (I think) and the campaign to impose restrictions on cross bows.
And there was the ‘Cross Bow cannibal’ in Bradford a number of years ago.

I get that. Like I said in my post, these men can and do use all
sorts of ways to harm and kill women but I still think there should be tighter controls on weapons that can cause as much damage as crossbow. Someone said upthread that a man near her was shooting birds with one. That’s horrifying. For the animals being shot at and dying horribly but also if he missed and injured or killed someone just walking along minding their own business? The general public need protecting from these absolute bastards.

Should have the same restrictions as guns - you have to have a licence, reason for keeping it, keep them locked up etc. The ones you can buy are deliberately made all games of thrones, black and sexy - why does anyone need one of these? Can’t see why anyone would argue for no restrictions .

Why are so many on here defending the right to own a weapon?

Blame the man. Not the weapon

Knives are used for fishing, scuba diving, outdoor activities etc and of course kitchen knives are very sharp, my favourite cooks knife is 8 inches long, lethal in the wrong hands. Sadly if someone is intent on doing harm rate sporting goods are the least of your worries. My heart goes out to the family but a knee jerk reaction isn't what is needed, it's to look at why the person reacted in this way and if there is anything that can be put in place to prevent future cases eg was it a failure of mental health services? Support for veterans?

We have a normal bow in the garage (for sport purposes!) and than could do harm but archery is a sport.

I agree they should be banned OP. If you use them as a sport or hobby then it should be clear to show paperwork to that effect.

Yes people will find other ways to kill should they want to but I think my chances of escaping with my life would be higher if running or fighting someone off if they tried to do it by other means, rather than a gun or a crossbow. I can't outrun or overpower those.

I agree they should be banned op - there is no legitimate use for some of the ones on sale (pictured above).

I'm sure prop makers in theatres can manage to produce a wooden replica if they need one.

the UK's Knives Act of 1997 prohibits the sale of combat knives

Exactly!

Men kill women every day using their bare hands. Men are the problem not crossbows.

Point is that it isn't the weapons that are the problem. Someone is far more likely to snap at home and stab their partner with a kitchen knife.

You can kill someone just as easily with a kitchen knife. Laws banning "military" style ones would be pointless.

i don't know what the laws surrounding crossbows is but banning them isn't going to solve any problem either.

I completely agree with you OP. Attacking someone with a crossbow is rare but it doesn’t mean that the law (or lack thereof) around them shouldn’t change. Look at what happened regarding gun control after the children in Dunblane were murdered: gun laws changed very quickly soon after, as they should have. That was a rare occurrence too.

VAWG is not rare, happens every single day and perpetrators use all
manner of things to cause harm. But that doesn’t mean they should be able to access stuff like guns and cross bows just because “well, he could use a knife and kill with that so why bother?”

There was someone shooting at passers by and birds with a crossbow on an east London estate earlier this summer. It’s not that rare. And ffs justifying it because reenactors use them??!! They don’t need live/ usable weapons to cos play history! Film and tv use is heavily regulated and in many cases can use replicas too. There’s no need for these things.

FixTheBone

Iamthemoom
Can we just ban men instead?

It'd make about as much sense as banning knives or crossbows.

i.e. A massive overrreaction, impossible to actually do, wouldn't achieve what you wanted, and would upset more people than it helped.

I was being ironic.

But this is the moment for our new government to step up and deal with the endemic misogyny that permeates our nation and results in the deaths of far too many women. This is the moment to lay down a marker and set out a plan to deal with VAWG. And it is about the men not the weapons. Men will murder women with or without weapons. Most Dv murders are carried out without weapons.

@FixTheBone I suspect it was a comment to express utter frustration at the seemingly endless violence by men against women rather than a serious suggestion. And the poster is right to feel that way. We are talking about bans on items as a way to mitigate the severity of violence men seek to cause to women because we can't expect them to control their fury and rage at being dumped. The best we can hope for is a knife we might be able to run away from.

This is my view, those ladies sadly would not be alive today if a ban on cross bows existed, they sadly would still be dead at this man’s hand. You can kill someone with rope, a pillow, with your feet or hands, a screwdriver, a heavy ornament, a brick . A. Ban on crossbows would simply mean they sadly died another way,

It'd make about as much sense as banning knives or crossbows.

i.e. A massive overrreaction, impossible to actually do, wouldn't achieve what you wanted, and would upset more people than it helped.

Crossbows are horrific weapons.

I remember listening to a podcast about the murder of an elderly man in Wales who was killed by one and one of the surgeons who tried to save his life was clearly very disturbed and distressed by the incredible amount of damage it had caused to the man’s body. It was a shock even for him.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65985341.amp

I don't mean to sound flippant, but if someone is set on killing a person, a ban on knives/crossbows won't stop them.