London Mayor Sadiq Khan targets knives as murder rate spikes: 'There is never a reason to carry a knife'

London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a tough crackdown on knives Sunday as the city reels from a spike in stabbings that have led its number of homicides to top New York City's for two straight months.

He tweeted: “No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife. Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law.”

The tweet also included an action plan to boost police power and prevent future violence.

London has seen more than 50 homicides already in 2018.

Most of the city’s murder victims have been stabbed to death, as guns are tightly restricted in Britain and shootings are relatively rare.

If the bloody trend continues, London will far surpass the 130 murders in 2017 and reach a number not seen since the early 2000s.

In February and March, London hit the unwanted milestone of recording more homicides than New York, the first time in modern history, as Fox News previously reported.

The cities are roughly the same size, with more than 8 million people, and have similar extremes of poverty and wealth, but London has never recorded more murders in a year than the U.S. metropolis. New York had 290 homicides in 2017, the lowest number in decades.

There are multiple candidates to blame for the city’s rising homicide rate, investigators have said. Police and community workers say London’s surge is driven in part by battles over control of the illegal drug trade and a “postcode war” between street gangs.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/04/08/...arry-knife.html

Apparently thee London mayor never has to open blister packs or packages. Would it not be better to go after the illegal drug trade if you wish to stem violence?

I don’t know what this Twitter postor/Tweeter is talking about when he says, “there is never a reason to carry a knife”; that’s a fairly broad generality. Fortunately, he’s only a mayor. Maybe DR could start up a “Knife Rights” affiliate in the UK.

I’ve been carrying and using a knife routinely since I was 10yo and other than myself (by accident) I’ve yet to hurt anyone else with a knife. REI sells a few knives that are very good and easy to carry because hikers and backpackers occasionally need to cut something. Once they realize that sometimes things need cutting while hiking in the woods, they do something radical like carrying a knife in an urban setting; on occasion things in the city need cutting too. It’s primarily a tool, not a weapon.

I recall an traffic accident a few years back where the car caught fire and the seatbelt locked up. No one on scene initially had a knife to cut the seatbelt. No need for a knife? I have a fully serrated Spyderco folder in the console of my truck always.

Seriously though, this is simply a knee-jerk reaction to the recent number of knife attacks and as mentioned the illegal drug trade and turf wars are central to that increase in violence. So will banning the carry of knives of all residents of London stop the drug wars? Will the participants of the drug/turf wars pay heed to the London mayor’s knife ban? Would anyone involved in drug trafficking and distrubution care one little bit about a knife ban? Would a person who is apparently more than willing to kill as part of his business plan stop carrying a knife because a mayor says something inane.

Typical though -- make law abiding folk pay for the actions of law breakers just because “I need to look like I’m concerned and doing something”.

This is not politics, just a discussion of knife policy.

Unfortunately, there is no way to respond to this situation without making a post that is very political. Suffice it to say, this is that special form of idiocy that results from deliberately avoiding the real causes of a problem. Enough said.

After spending years reducing stop-and-searching by police, he's finally realised that might not have been the best idea.

https://twitter.com/sadiqkhan/status/638686387722678272

How do you implement this?

(1) What is the definition of 'Knife?'

Plastic tableware? Boxcutter? Safety razor in a travel bag? Anything with an edge?

(2) Under what circumstances?

If I am a germaphobe who takes his own plastic tableware to a restaurant, am I in violation?

If I work in a warehouse and need a box cutter?

If I'm a fisherman and have a knife in my kit?

I'm a chef, and I'm carrying my kitchen tools?

The Fox News article quoted at the head of the thread gives little information. Below I've found out a bit more about the proposed action in London:



From https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018...l-emily-zanotti

It sounds like London is going to enforce the existing laws on knives and caustic acid, giving the police greater leeway to stop & search people.

> Facts about the new law

As Binglely has pointed out: here's a minor fact about the 'new law': It doesn't exist.

Unless you have a specific reason, say 'a carpet fitter'. Only non-locking knives with a blade less than 3 inches are legal in the UK.
And Khan has no intention or ability to make anything else illegal.

It's clear from the full twitter “No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife. Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law.”
That he is talking about illegal knives. No one will feel 'the full force of the law' for carrying a legal knife.

His other comments make it clear he's talking about knives as weapons (which are already illegal).
“You could be a mum or dad, big brother, big sister, a friend, a girlfriend, a boyfriend who knows somebody carrying a knife, leaving their home with a knife, involved in criminality - there's no honour in keeping that a secret,” he said.

“You should try and prevent that person carrying a knife, leaving home with a knife.”

You think anyone is going to interpret that as making their son remove the little swiss army knife on his keyring?

qjs

Thanks qjs. That’s a good reminder that we shouldn’t get our news or get excited about things read on Twitter. Then we read an article that UK's Top Doctor Demands Ban For "Killer" Kitchen Knives, and we get all wrapped up again.

So his idea is to get rid of “pointy” kitchen knives so they aren’t available in the kitchens of the UK. The tweeter is just a mayor and this guy is just a doctor. Once London’s LE can stop and frisk again, finding pointy things will be possible and then maybe Chef knives can remain in the UK’s kitchens. Knives are primarily tools and intent is a major factor.

Redacted, please see earlier post in this thread.

This thread really should be a discussion in Around the Campfire.

Good article on the topic at:
London Mayor: “No Excuses: There Is Never A Reason To Carry A Knife.” – JONATHAN TURLEY


No further comments, it’s a good read.

> This thread really should be a discussion in Around the Campfire.

No it shouldn't be on any forum. Like last months non-existent MI5 'we are 4 meals from anarchy' report; it's referring to a non-existent law.
As the Turley article is pretending wanting to enforce the current laws is the path to tyranny. It's at best at unknowingly distorting the facts. Though that is no excuse for a news organisation.
Bingley and I can spend the few minutes it took to find the truth.
Why not do it yourself folks?
qjs

Are you saying that because it’s just the mayor of a large British city expressing his opinion and not already a law, we shouldn’t bother discussing it? The opinions of mayors often find their way into legislation and once passed, then it’s an even bigger fight to get rid of it. Knife laws/policies already on the books or only being proposed by the mayor of London should be discussed.

No I'm saying that there is no such law being introduced. Nor could be. Unlike in the US; local authorities cannot restrict items like guns or knives. Kahn is not introducing OR proposing any new laws. It was not true from the start.
If people want to discuss knife laws; go ahead. I think the existing ones are too restrictive personally. But this isn't discussing actual laws. It's inventing them.
Why give credence to the usual 'we are victims of an imminent tyranny' myth.
It's a lie.
qjs

I don't see how this is not developing into a political thread, whereas chaos has cautioned us to keep it informational.

So can we drop the invented proposal about an imaginary new law and stick to things that actually exist?
And stop pretending that because someone with no authority to make it happen is in favour of restrictions, we are all heading for confiscation?
Though that probably leave us in heated agreement.
Can't remember any people on this site in favour of knife laws....

qjs

Well said! I find it mildly amusing that people who live far from the UK love to get worked up over badly reported or in some cases totally fake stories from the UK (supposed knife laws, 4 meals from anarchy, etc). Meanwhile they ignore comments from people like quick joey small (who actually live there).

A bit of personal on the ground reporting: Last year we spent a couple of weeks as tourists in the UK. There were bag checks at most tourist attractions. At one security check the guard looked in my backpack and then asked if I had any knives or sharp instruments on me. I had a moment of panic, as I had a very tiny knife (suitable mainly for cleaning fingernails) in my pocket. I had meant to leave at the hotel, but had forgetfully left in my pocket. Nervously I showed it to the guard. He laughed and said something to the effect of "....that's not really much of a knife..." and waved me through. Note that in the US I've seen similar blades confiscated by security.

Thanks Russ for the link to the Metropolitan Police site -- very informative.



Redacted.

Initially the law allowed locking blades under 3 inches long.

But it was a court case that a prosecuting lawyer convinced a judge that effectively a locking blade is equivalent to a fixed blade. So that set the legal precedence.