Should knives with points be banned?

[OonaStubbs]

All the recent attacks have been through stabbing, why not ban pointy knives and just sell knives with rounded ends? Or at least heavily, heavily restrict the sale of pointy knives to those who have a legitimate need for them, have them branded with serial numbers and prevent re-sale etc?

Because people will just sharpen them.

People with a legitimate need - like everyone who needs to cook dinner every night?

What...🥴

That's not going to make the slightest bit of difference... and is just going to be a nuisance as people legitimately need knives most days don't they.
It's already illegal to carry a sharp pointy knife on you whilst out and about.
There's already an age limit for buying knives. And shops can refuse sale if they feel someone is buying them for untoward purposes.
And really you can do as much damage whatever the shape of the knife if it's sharp

Machetes, axes, knives, the list of weapons are long.

.

You can stab and injure/kill someone with anything given enough force. And it is already illegal to have a knife out in public anyway.

It's not the knives that are the problem though is it @OonaStubbs?
I have a drawer full of pointy knives, each one capable of killing someone but none of them are ever going to be used for that purpose (unless my DH refuses to get off his arse again this year to finish off all the DIY jobs).

I bought two bread knives from a website Xmas presents. No questions asked.

You can kill with chisels, screwdrivers too.

How would craft knifes work? Or Stanley knifes? I know they are great stabbing knifes but would be great slashing ones. Or is diy and arts and crafts now banned? Scissors? Gardening sheers.

Or nail scissors? Tweezers? A chisel?
Swiss Army knives are actually legal to carry.

You can stab someone with a pencil.

Or an icicle.

Best weapon ever tbh.

Ridiculous suggestion that treats the 99.9999% of the population that don’t stab people like they’re criminals or numpties

Knife crime isn’t solved by changing knives. It needs a multi-level policy approach - politicians and police forces saying “This is what we are going to do and this is how people will be punished”. It’s the only way to change things.

Also how will I cut potatoes with a round edged knife.

You can sharpen a toothbrush into a weapon OP, should we ban them too?

Not the answer. People will find a way to sharpen a balloon if they want to hurt someone.

Pens can kill people too, we can just add them to the list of things we've banned along with all types of knives, scissors, axes, machetes...

There is clearly a problem with knives especially amongst male teenagers but it's an increasing problem. Google tells me there has been an 80% increase in the last decade yet I'm sure there are more restrictions than ever.

What is causing it to rise?

Actually there has been shown to be merit in this. Very few things you need a knife for do you use the point for so in many cases that could be removed.

There are two main types of knife crime. People who carry knives and the spur of the moment 'easy availability of weapon' ones. So two people are having a fight and one goes into the kitchen and grabs a knife out the kitchen drawer.

Obviously a crackers idea. But I do think lots will change with the rise of this sort of attack (and car attacks) in terms of how we design public spaces and expectations around security.

What where they using before knifes?

Knuckle dusters, smashed bottles and baseball bats.

Unless you want to just ban going outside (waves at covid 👋) they will just pick a new weapon. Just like they go through dogs.

What we need it more action to keep the knifes off the streets. People didn’t like stop and search though. We are ever loosing the fight against gangs. The true issue is ultimately drugs.

The gangs exist to run their areas drugs. But while you can despite it being illegal walk down the street smoking a joint. Gangs will exist selling their drugs and running the streets.

Talk about tail wagging dog!
Why not fix the fuckers using them to stab?

When you catch and release criminals, they get better at it and teach others , the problem spreads.
Take away a gun, you get a sword, take away a sword, you get a knife, take away a knife, you get a shank.
One way or another, killers gonna kill.
It's not the tools , it's the person using them that needs to be the focus.
That's where the change will happen.

It wouldn’t work.
The majority of firearms used by criminals are illegal and cannot be purchased but are still obtained and used by those who wish to carry them.

You can kill somebody with one punch.

We need to campaign for everybody's arms to be cut off, because it's not like they'd ever be doing anything mundane, essential and non-violent with them...