Thread: New Knife for the Collection

Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

yEAH, that ticks me off. I'm going to London for a week in December. I won't even be able to take my Leatherman since it locks.

Dumb british knifelawmaking people.

Even small swiss army knives are illegal if they lock.
The only thing I could carry in august was my 2" non-locking swiss army knife, which is basically something you'd give a 5 year old if he / she wants a pocket knife

I heard that spyderco is making a special delica without lock, just for the UK market.

And yes, locks are essential safety features.
When I was 5 I cut my finger nearly to the bone when my first penknife blade snapped shut in my hand and I pulled my finger from underneath the blade instead of opening the it first.

Originally Posted by Bruno

I can raise you one better.
In the UK, a women was convicted for carrying in her purse a small dose of ground household pepper. She carried it with her to have something, anything to defend herself, in case she was assaulted.
And yes, that is sad.

Over here, the laws manage a good balance. Knives are allowed as long as they can't spring open automatically.

But the concept of our laws have 2 definitions:
- weapons which are banned
- illegal weapons.

a banned weapon is any weapon that is on a list that is published in a specific decree. owning such a weapon is illegal, period. On this list are mostly the items that have become popular because of the movies. Spring knives, throwing stars and nunchucks are on this list.
But the concept of an illegal weapon depends on locality and intent. For example, my EDC spyderco is not banned. But if I tried smuggling it into a courthouse or assaulted someone with it, it would be classified as an illegal weapon and as such would land me in a world of trouble.

Bruno,

We had the pleasure of hosting a Belgian family here for a couple weeks last summer. The family dad and I spent alot of time talking about knives. He fell in love with a double action knife I had (similar to the Foster 1911 about which I originated this thread). He explained that it was particularly interesting because the laws in Belgium forbid the possetion of any automatic knife (switchblade)but the double action was so stealthy that he could show it to a cop who would never discover its secret. I gave it to him as a gift the day they left.

Yes if the cop wouldn't notice the spring action, he could get away with it. It'd still be illegal, so it would be a matter of luck.