Uk knife law

[M99]

You have to ask the question what had he done to give them grounds to put their hands in his pockets?!

If they had grounds to search prior to arrest then he is not telling you the whole truth, if it was found whilst being searched after arrest then he had been knicked for something else ;-)

Mike

[bradaz11]

won't make any difference if you can't supply a good reason and convince the officer that that beast is "street legal" good looking knife though.

If it's blade/cuting surface is under 3" and does not lock, then it is a penknife and so does not require good reason to carry. As long as you are not at a major public event. Ie football match or music concert . Or a court of law....
Everyone can carry one if they like. As long as you don't tell the nice policeman is for protection. As i say you do not need to give a reason .
Spyderco ukpk's are a good shout. But hennie has a whole section of uk legal 'penknives'

[DaveB]

After having more than one knife close on my fingers over the years, I have a firm policy that I will not give house room to a knife that doesn't lock. I don't think I have a single knife (and I have many) that would be legal under that daft UK law!

Once again, I have to say that while I cherish my British heritage, I could not see myself living in a society that thinks repressive laws like that are appropriate.

[JonC]

Well I just had a quick look at NZs knife laws and they appear to be worse than the UK. We can legally carry a small folder in public without good reason, larger lockers and fixed blades can be carried with good reason (same as NZ). Is there any dispensation for carrying without good reason in NZ?

I always take a fixed blade when out hunting, sometimes its a large machete for hide building, in my mind I have good reason and would be willing to go to court to back that up.

After having more than one knife close on my fingers over the years, I have a firm policy that I will not give house room to a knife that doesn't lock. I don't think I have a single knife (and I have many) that would be legal under that daft UK law!

Once again, I have to say that while I cherish my British heritage, I could not see myself living in a society that thinks repressive laws like that are appropriate.

[bradaz11]

After having more than one knife close on my fingers over the years, I have a firm policy that I will not give house room to a knife that doesn't lock. I don't think I have a single knife (and I have many) that would be legal under that daft UK law!

Once again, I have to say that while I cherish my British heritage, I could not see myself living in a society that thinks repressive laws like that are appropriate.

Just because it's more than 3" or locks doesn't make it illegal. You can still carry it but you have to have a justifiable / appropriate reason why you have it on you.

[DaveB]

"Just because it's more than 3" or locks doesn't make it illegal. You can still carry it but you have to have a justifiable / appropriate reason why you have it on you." Ah, I see. I don't recall that the link included that - it made it sound like any knife with a locking mechanism or over 3 inches long was absolutely verboten under any circumstances.

I fail to see what they have against locking mechanisms. Even my one and only Swiss Army Knife has a locking blade.

I grew up in Canada where there are very few restrictive laws about knives. I never even bothered to check NZ law on the subject. Not that it will matter to me anyway. Regardless of what the law says, much of NZ is still rural, and people routinely carry (often quite openly in pouches on their belt) and use knives. I hardly know anybody who doesn't routinely have either a knife or a Leatherman/Gerber multi-tool with them. They are incredibly useful and everybody acknowledges it. The justification can be something as simple as - "it comes in handy to open packages".

Now of course I am talking about rural NZ. Police in downtown Auckland on a Saturday night may look upon things differently, but then I never go to downtown Auckland - any night.

[bradaz11]

Yeah. Add i say. Lots of ppl assume that is the case. But basically it sounds the same as the law in nz. Btw. Opening packages would not be just cause.
Afaik the reason is it is quite hard to stab someone with a spring back knife. Ie non locking swisss army, without losing a finger to the blade. Although with the adaptation of choils and extending the back of the blade so you can hold it open its all a bit moot

[DaveB]

Btw. Opening packages would not be just cause.

That one apparently has actually worked here. I guess it really depends on what you do for a living, where you are, when, what you happened to be doing at the time, how much latitude their instructions permit them, and what sort of mood the police constable was in - as to what they will accept as a justification. I suspect officers patrolling an urban area with a high crime rate are much less accepting of reasons for having a knife, than are rural officer in a small farming community.

[bradaz11]

Of course.
But what i meant was that excuse wouldn't fly if you had it in your pocket while shopping. But if at work then all is good

[channel12]

I used to see the catering students going to and fro from college with kitchen knives in cloth roll. They would have good reason to be carrying fixed blades in a public space.

A couple of days ago I visit the Scottish Parliament building and had to go though security and declared my swiss army knife. I couldn't take it in but it was bagged and I was given a receipt to collect it on the way out. I was told a lot of non UK visitors to the Parliament have their knives confiscated by the police.
That knife also went though the security scanner when going by Eurostar with no problems except the UK security man checked it was a folder, no check in France.