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?

LOOK OUT! he's got a board with a nail in it!
That board with the nail in it may have defeated us but the humans won't stop there. They'll make bigger boards and bigger nails. Soon they will make a board with a nail so big it will destroy them all!

😂

Prisoners do it all the time; they make shivs out of toothbrush handles, soda cans, sharpened metal spoons.

The Simpsons. Very nice. 😂

Ironically, I use a meat cleaver for stuff like this. I'm a vegan.

cleavers are good.

Love the cleaver for splitting swedes.

Idris Elba agrees that pointy knives should be restricted.
Zombie knife ban won't solve crisis - but there is hope, says Idris Elba - BBC News

Just because an actor thinks it Dosen’t mean it’s actually a good idea….he’s just an actor

Guess I'll have to carve my pumpkin with my nail file.

I think something may happen now that Idris is involved.

I doubt it, he’s just an actor, his opinion is no more valid than anyone else’s

Yes but people will listen to him because he is a famous actor.

Maybe he reads MN and has stolen my idea? Either way it is a good idea and would prevent at least some stabbings.

Not a good idea at all, a good idea is one that can be implemented, this is just pie in the sky

Idris isn't just a random actor, he's done a fair amount of work and documentaries on disaffected urban youth and knife crime.

A ban on all pointed knives is unworkable. A ban on points for longer knives while still allowing you to have points on smaller knives should be workable. It wouldn't prevent serious criminals from getting hold of dangerous weapons, but it would make them slightly less accessible on the spur of the moment at very little inconvenience to anyone.

People do need points on knives sometimes, but if you've got a three inch knife with a point and a long knife with a round tip (or a cleaver) then there's nothing you can't cook.

Surely it's the small knives that are more dangerous as they are easier to hide in pockets etc?

Another thing that would help is banning cheap knives. Only allow the premium ones to be sold.

Also, only selling sharp knives in a knife block set of 5 or more.

Good plan. If only nice affluent people can afford knives then rates of violent crime will go way down. Everyone knows it's poor people who stab each other. And it's not like they need pointy knives to cook with - they just eat Pot Noodles after all.

Another thing that would help is banning cheap knives. Only allow the premium ones to be sold.

this is never going to happen, people on low incomes need sharp knives as well

Also, only selling sharp knives in a knife block set of 5 or more

Not going to happen, not everyone wants to buy 5 knives and anyway what if you wanted to replace one, would your only option be to buy 5 knives again!?!

Maybe we should ban cars. After all cars cause deaths. Sure they are useful for many, many other things and most people use them safely but they exist and therefore dangerous

I have plenty of small knives. I have yet to stab anyone.

Exactly, there is a wider issue behind knife crime that needs to be looked at, if sharp knives were removed they would just find some other implement / way of attacking someone

some people can only afford cheap knives. they cook too.
well off people love to pretend poorer people go hungry because they lack cooking skills, and now people are saying to put essential cooking utensils out of their reach.

oh dear, you're too poor to be trusted with a knife, just go and eat a pot noodle.

"You can't afford sharp knives? Poor you."
"Why don't poor people cook properly? It's not hard. They're just lazy..."

Starmer was on the TV news a few days ago essentially blaming people who don't have jobs for violent crime and terrorism - so maybe he too believes the same.

I don't have any truck with any political party; but for a party whose main stated purpose is to represent the ordinary people and care about the less privileged members of society, they're very good at demonstrating their disdain for their traditional core voter base. Apparently poor = terrorist in their eyes.

Much easier to cause a fatal injury with a long knife than a short one, especially in a mass attack. That's why length is the basis of the ban for "zombie knives".

No, the best way to reduce stabbings it to address why people are doing it, and appeal to them.