The United Kingdom is banning even more types of blades in hope of getting on top of its crime problem, “ninja swords” being the latest specific blade shape blamed for killings.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer flaunts a “manifesto commitment delivered” this week as he announces what the government calls “ninja swords” are to be banned later this year. From the first day of August, anyone owning such a weapon faces six months in prison, and this penalty will later increase to two years, it was said.
This is a major step-up from the law presently, which differentiates between swords — which can be objects of art — in private collections, and with actually wielding a sword as a weapon in public. Running up to the ban, the government will be running a sword surrender scheme.
The government’s definition, offered in its statement today, claims a “ninja sword” is in the “majority” of cases characterised by a “a blade between 14 inches and 24 inches with one straight cutting edge with a tanto style point”. A tanto point is a relatively shallow chisel-like tip, developed to make the sword more effective against armoured opponents, unlike a more fragile tapered points which can be prone to snapping if used aggressively.
When UK Govt Says Problem is Too Many Knives, Not Too Many Knifemen, Legacy Media Falls Into Linehttps://t.co/ufqIdizmKM
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The “ninja sword” ban is the latest instance of the United Kingdom’s governments demonstrating a belief that it is the availability of tools like swords or even kitchen knives that results in knife crime. The government has previously banned what it calls “zombie knives”, a modern form of machete which typically feature a serrated back edge and lurid colours.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council said at the time of the Zombie Knife ban that “Dealing with the accessibility of deadly and intimidating weapons is key and we are doing all we can to reduce how easily they can end up in the wrong hands”. And yet, somehow, UK knife crime is still on the rise. In fact knife crime has only fallen one year in the past decade, in 2020, the year of the Coronavirus lockdowns.
The British government also obsessed over the availability of knives in the aftermath of the Southport killings, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer blasting online retailer Amazon.com for selling kitchen knives, the British media following suite. There is even a celebrity-backed campaign in the UK to ban the sale of kitchen knives with a point, claiming this isn’t needed for an average home chef and could simply be rounded off.
Brexit leader Nigel Farage, a critic of this approach, responded: “Starmer wants us to talk about how a 17 year old could buy a knife online. The truth is there are murder weapons in every kitchen drawer. What we should be talking about is the total failure to stop this terrorist & the cover-up of information that the public were entitled to.”
