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.