The delivery of knives purchased online to private addresses will be banned under a package of measures to combat knife crime to be announced by Interior Secretary Amber Rudd. The maximum penalty for an adult carrying a knife or gun illegally is 4 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. You will receive a prison sentence if you are found guilty of illegally carrying a knife or weapon more than once. To buy knives in the UK, the law states that the customer must be 18 years of age or older.
New UK knife laws will prohibit people from ordering a knife online and sending it to a private residence. Those who buy online will have to pick up the knife in person. The retailer will have a responsibility to ensure that the knife is legal and that the buyer is at least 18 years old, a requirement of British law. As a result, retailers selling knives online can no longer rely on passive and inadequate means of age verification.
As in the United States, public officials have offered changes to UK knife laws over the years. A court will decide if you have a good reason to carry a knife if you are accused of carrying it illegally. They have called on British officials to address the causes of violence, mostly associated with gangs, rather than imposing restrictions that affect the rights of all knife owners in the UK. If you are charged with a crime under the Knife Act 1997, you have the defense you did not know or suspect, and had no reasonable cause to suspect, that the manner in which the knife (or marketing material) was marketed amounted to an indication or suggestion that the knife was suitable for combat or was likely to encourage or encourage violent behavior involving the use of the knife as a weapon.
A shipping company that has an agreement with a non-UK seller of “bladed items” * to deliver them to buyers in the UK, where the sale is made remotely (for example, online or by telephone), commits an offence if it fails to deliver the bladed item to a person 18 years of age or older. UK knife law allows you to carry non-locking pocket knives with a blade length of up to 3 inches (7.62 cm) without the need for a valid reason. With the penalties for non-compliance severe, online knife retailers need to understand how they are expected to comply with UK knife laws so that their verification measures are deemed appropriate in the worst case scenario. However, knife advocates have spoken out, saying that UK knife laws are too restrictive for those who legally own knives for harvesting purposes or for outdoor use.
A court will decide if you have a good reason to carry a knife or gun if you are accused of carrying it illegally. One of the biggest changes in recent months has been the movement to change the laws surrounding buying knives online. Whether a particular item is a knife is a matter of fact, but using a broader definition, this legislation prohibits the sale of, for example, sheathed knives, kitchen knives, craft knives and carpet knives to persons under 18 years of age.
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