Stronger controls on knife sales proposed
A new licensing scheme is being proposed by the Government to block illegal knife sales and imports.
The measures would introduce mandatory licences for businesses and private sellers, as well as importers of, knives and bladed items.
The aim is to help save lives and keep dangerous weapons out of young hands.
Subject to consultation, sellers could face police suitability checks, mandatory age verification and secure packaging requirements. Import licences would prevent sellers from moving operations overseas to avoid regulation.
This builds on new laws introduced by the Government to tackle knife crime, including Ronan’s Law which strengthens rules for selling knives online.
Widespread police operations, border seizures and a knife surrender scheme have already seen 60,000 knives taken off the streets. There has also been an 18 per cent fall in knife homicides, with knife crime overall down five per cent compared with the previous year and stabbings down ten per cent.
The scheme would prevent young people from bypassing existing safeguards by using adult identification or through unregulated resales on social media. This so-called ‘grey market’ enables knives to be bought without any checks, putting lives at risk.
Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones said: “Knives destroy lives, families, and communities.
“We want to know if licensing measures like those in this consultation could save lives by making knife sales safer and more accountable and stop them falling into the wrong hands.”
Supported by the mother of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda – who was murdered in Wolverhampton by two other teenagers who had ordered a ninja sword online – the proposed licensing schemes follow recommendations from the Independent Review of Online Knife Sales, led by National Police Chiefs’ Council knife crime lead Commander Stephen Clayman. The review highlighted the need for stronger regulation to prevent knives falling into the wrong hands and putting lives in danger.
Commander Clayman said: “Throughout our end-to-end review of online knife sales, the need for better retailer regulation came up time and time again. Whether online or traditional high street shops, we must do all we can to prevent knives ending up in the hands of children and others who carry through fear or for use with offending.
“The most recent activity carried out by police through Sceptre in November highlighted 1 in 4 shops failing a test purchase. Therefore, achieving a consistent standard of responsible retailing of knives across the board is key and this consultation is therefore extremely important.
“We know that all too often, unscrupulous sellers are using a range of platforms to sell to children and young adults, circumventing traditional retailers and legal safeguards. A mandatory licensing scheme will give us another tool in our fight to stop this, while we continue to work with tech and social media companies to ensure the content is swiftly removed or ideally never uploaded in the first place.”