# Now they want to ban the sale of pointed kitchen knives in the UK to reduce knife crime. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 10, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606 "2019-10-10T20:32:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/21 "2019-10-10T22:00:44Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > As mentioned above, there are many articles on the subject. But if there are many articles on the subject, why pick the one from The Blaze a notoriously poor site? Why not choose, for example, The Telegraph? Like the source of information matters for it to be taken seriously, and The Blaze is not reputable (like not even a little bit). > **[Britain's first stab-proof kitchen knife launced in bid to combat knife crime](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/24/britains-first-stab-proof-kitchen-knife-launced-bid-combat-knife/)** > > Britain's first mass-produced stab-proof kitchen knife is to be launched in January in a bid to combat the knife crime epidemic. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/22 "2019-10-10T22:12:51Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > How many involved a candlestick, rope, wrench, or lead pipe? Rope and wrench incidents have remained steady over many decades, but wider lifestyle and environmental changes have reduced the incidence of candlestick and lead pipe bludgeoning somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/23 "2019-10-10T22:16:54Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Isn’t this sort of old news? I seem to recall a similar thread about this in GQ like months or even a year or so ago. [Here](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=21072315#post138). ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/24 "2019-10-10T22:41:37Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > There were 728 homicides in England & Wales in the reporting period 2017/2018 (presumably from April to April) > > [Homicides in England and Wales 2023 | Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/283093/homicide-in-england-and-wales-uk-y-on-y/) > > of which 263 involved a blade of some sort > > [England and Wales knife homicides 2022 | Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/978830/knife-homicides-in-england-and-wales/) Don’t England and Wales have combined population of like 60 million? That’s the majority of the population of the UK. Anyway, I’m sure it’s a serious problem. Sorry if I was mainly tongue in cheek, I wasn’t taking the OP as seriously as I should have I guess. I’m sure taking the points off of knives or banning combat knives or scary knives (I’m going from memory of that GQ thread and what they were talking about) or whatever the plan is will work well to stem to tide of crime and prevent future deaths. > [@DinoR](#): > > That’s about 1 annual reported knife crime per 597 residents in London. A touch more than half of those are attempts to actually use the knife. You are correct that the numbers of knife crime related deaths nationwide are low. That’s below 300 in the entirety of the UK. Knife crime is high though. Death toll just isn’t a good measure of how often someone at least tries to stab someone else, let alone succeeds but doesn’t inflict a mortal wound. People are understandably unhappy about someone attacking them with a knife even if the mortality is relatively low. I agree…knives are a lot less lethal, and if they are being used mainly as hold up weapons without the intent to kill or even harm and just to rob then it’s not a good measure. Again, sorry I was flippant…I’m sure it’s a serious issue for our UK brethren and sistren. I had not heard about it, but it’s been a long while since I was in England (and it’s been like 20 years since I was in Wales), and most of my friends are in Scotland and don’t really talk about the crime in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/25 "2019-10-10T23:11:06Z")
I disagree with the idea that kitchen knives don’t need points to do their jobs. There’s more to kitchen chores than chopping vegetables, sometimes you need to de-bone a chicken or take off some pockets of fat off a roast. I’m no expert but I watch a lot of America’s Test Kitchen and they use knife points all the time. How about it, culinary mavens, can you do without knife points in your kitchen? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/26 "2019-10-10T23:22:56Z")
Not easily. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/27 "2019-10-10T23:23:30Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Don’t England and Wales have combined population of like 60 million? That’s the majority of the population of the UK. Yep, close enough. > [@](#): > > Anyway, I’m sure it’s a serious problem. It’s quite a newsworthy problem - a fair proportion of those knife deaths are the result of teen on teen violence. Wannabe gangster shit and the like. > [@](#): > > most of my friends are in Scotland and don’t really talk about the crime in the UK. Scotland - and Glasgow in particular - has long had a problem with knife crime. Scotland has been trying a new approach to the problem, by attempting to tackle the underlying causes from within the most badly affected communities themselves. The [Violence Reduction Unit](http://actiononviolence.org/) is one of the main drivers - an initiative initially drawing from police and NHS resources - and it seems to be having an impact. Basically, viewing endemic violence in a community as a health matter, not solely a criminal justice one. They took on board quite a lot of practical experience from an initiative in Los Angeles called Homeboy Industries as it happens. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/28 "2019-10-10T23:32:09Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > How many involved a candlestick, rope, wrench, or lead pipe? Suppose he’s got a pointed stick? ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/29 "2019-10-10T23:35:27Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Again, sorry I was flippant…I’m sure it’s a serious issue for our UK brethren and sistren. I’m more than merely flippant about their _solution_ to the problem. 😉 You might even described my internal dialogue every time this idea comes up in terms from the article title - “Brutal mockery follows.” Defining the problem and crafting good solutions are separate tasks. Too often that difference gets ignored IMO. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/30 "2019-10-11T00:10:37Z")
Thankfully, here in the Land o’ the Free, there are no knife laws . . . [oh, wait](http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/sta-law.htm). CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/31 "2019-10-11T00:51:39Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > The UK is what happens when you try to baby-proof an entire country. Was going to post something similar. Lawmakers that think the populace is too stupid to buy and handle pointy objects. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/32 "2019-10-11T00:55:23Z")
Hur hur hur ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/33 "2019-10-11T02:02:22Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Suppose he’s got a pointed stick? Shaddup!! ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/34 "2019-10-11T02:24:45Z")
You know, I realize this is supposed to be a dire indictment of wanting to control guns because lookit here, now UK criminals have moved on to other weapons and now they want to control _that_ but… doesn’t it implicitly prove that the silly leitmotiv that gun control doesn’t work because when guns are outlawed only outlaws have guns" is very, very wrong ? As in, British gun control \*\*did \*\*reduce gun violence, and reduced it so much that most criminals use knives. So it _did_, in fact, dis-gun criminals. As to the further argument that “but there’s still violent crime, see ! So it’s pointless !”, well, I’d posit that one can’t easily mow down a crowd from atop a skyscraper with a knife. Or go room to room in a crowded university knifing helpless people. Or really hurt somebody who’s running away from the crazy person with a knife. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/35 "2019-10-11T02:31:21Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Not easily. Really? Granted, I’m no culinary maven, but if I need to cut/slice/chop, I use a knife. If I need to stab, I go with a fork. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/36 "2019-10-11T02:46:09Z")
…the Blaze, (founded by Glenn Beck), cites Russia Today, (official Russia propaganda outlet) who cites the Premier (who tell stories from a Christian perspective) which cites an open letter that it quotes from but doesn’t link too. For reference here is that [open letter](https://gallery.mailchimp.com/0b375b1912f2d9f546f580f63/files/f2812d61-68bb-4e41-8e0b-0c3dbc61b363/Knife_blade_letter_2019.pdf). :: shrugs :: I disagree with them. Their call won’t get much traction. If it does, there are more than enough people in the UK who need to be able to use pointy-knives to make a living that there will be push back and debate. That’s the way it works. This story is a great-big-huge-nothing-burger. Just fodder for the post-truth-media-outlets. Now I’m going to go scrub my computer history. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/37 "2019-10-11T02:56:55Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Thankfully, here in the Land o’ the Free, there are no knife laws . . . [oh, wait](http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/sta-law.htm). > > CMC fnord! Exactly why is it Constitutional to ban the carry of knives. The 2nd amendment specifically refers to “arms” not guns. Aren’t knives and swords arms? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/38 "2019-10-11T03:01:34Z")
I guess you have to know your audience. Once upon a time, on long sailing voyages, the captain would lead the whole crew aft to the carpenter’s vise and have the point of each knife snapped off. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/39 "2019-10-11T03:05:56Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Exactly why is it Constitutional to ban the carry of knives. The 2nd amendment specifically refers to “arms” not guns. Aren’t knives and swords arms? Don’t forget nunchucks, throwing stars, and such. And those two are FAR more dangerous to the user. Ask me how I know. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606/40 "2019-10-11T03:18:03Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Yep, close enough. > > It’s quite a newsworthy problem - a fair proportion of those knife deaths are the result of teen on teen violence. Wannabe gangster shit and the like. > > . So teens are going after each other with steak knives? Tsk, tsk. They’ll poke holes in their trouser pockets, they will. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-they-want-to-ban-the-sale-of-pointed-kitchen-knives-in-the-uk-to-reduce-knife-crime/841606.md?page=3)