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Clarke launches amnesty on knives to reduce stabbings
By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
Published: 09 February 2006
A five-week nationwide knives amnesty is being launched in the summer in an attempt to drive down numbers of stabbings.
More than 230 people were stabbed to death last year and concern over levels of knife crime have been highlighted by the killing of City lawyer Tom ap Rhys Pryce last month.
Under the amnesty, which will run between 24 May and 30 June in England, Wales and Scotland, members of the public can leave bladed weapons in drop-in bins which will be provided at police stations throughout the country without fear of prosecution.
Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, said: "Tackling knife culture, especially among young people, is paramount to the safety of our communities, and I am determined to reduce the devastation caused by knife crime."
He added: "Carrying knives on the streets will not be tolerated. Every weapon handed in during the amnesty will be a weapon that cannot be used in crime."
The amnesty coincides with measures in the Violent Crime Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, which raises the minimum age for buying a knife from 16 to 18. It also gives headteachers the power to search pupils for weapons.
A five-week nationwide knives amnesty is being launched in the summer in an attempt to drive down numbers of stabbings.
More than 230 people were stabbed to death last year and concern over levels of knife crime have been highlighted by the killing of City lawyer Tom ap Rhys Pryce last month.
Under the amnesty, which will run between 24 May and 30 June in England, Wales and Scotland, members of the public can leave bladed weapons in drop-in bins which will be provided at police stations throughout the country without fear of prosecution.
Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, said: "Tackling knife culture, especially among young people, is paramount to the safety of our communities, and I am determined to reduce the devastation caused by knife crime."
Knife Amnesty
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HighDemonslayer
- Egyptian Footgod
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Knife Amnesty
Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?
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-nathan
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-nathan
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Iron Clad Ben
- Superior Precision Bionics
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Since guns are illegal there, criminals will find other ways to harm people. Some people say it gives credit to the "goon control over gun control" argument. The real question is does banning guns reduce number of homicides per capita or do you just find that all the shootings are just replaced by stabbings? It would be interesting to see what the statistics are on that. I'd like to think the gun ban lowers the violent crime rate and the stabbings are just more apparent because guns aren't an option.
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HighDemonslayer
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1070
- Joined: 17 Jun 2003 19:34
- Location: Arizona
"Knife amnesty" is crazy, This is like the feudal days of Britain, when ownership of a sword, or other bladed weapons was a crime unless you were a noble.
I.C.Ben wrote:
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I'd like to think the gun ban lowers the violent crime rate and the stabbings are just more apparent because guns aren't an option.-
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Gun will always be an option, whether smuggled, or manufactured in secret.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb0206.pdf
Here's a paragraph worth noting:
(......)According to the 2004 OCJS, the majority of assaults committed by 10 to 25 year-olds
involved grabbing, pushing or pulling (59%). A similar proportion involved punching, slapping
or hitting (55%). The victim was knifed or stabbed in one per cent of offences committed by
10 to 25 year-olds (see table A4.4 of Budd et al., 2005).
Weapon use
The 2004/05 BCS estimates that weapons were used in a quarter of all violent crimes. The
most commonly used weapons were hitting implements (7%), followed by knives and
glass/bottles (both 6%). Firearms were used in one per cent of offences (Table 1.25) (see
chapter 3 for firearm offences reported to the police).
Weapons were most commonly used in acquaintance violence (33% of all offences) and least
commonly in domestic violence (14%). Weapon use and the types of weapons used has
remained stable since 1995 in all crime types except mugging (including robbery), where
weapon use (mainly knife use) has decreased from 35 per cent in 1995 to 18 per cent in
2004/05. This decrease is statistically significant at the 95 per cent level (Tables 1.25 to
1.27).
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To be honest, I think they cook the books, in a desperate attempt to justify their gun-control, and now "knife control" zealotry.
But my interpretation of those numbers makes it look like the knives aren't really a problem. Glass bottles have the same percentage as knives (6%).
Fire up the Amnesty parade, Brits should be forced to drink everything out of cans, I suppose.
230 deaths from stabbings last year...... How many millions of people live in the U.K.? That's a drop in the bucket.
They are pushing, or already passed legislation to ban kitchen knives.
Kitchen knife ban sought
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story ... 61,00.html
I think it is safe to say, that if you live in Britain, and you have nothing to hide, the government should put you in straitjacket, and lock you in a padded room, for your own safety, of course. That would be Utopia on Earth, to be that protected by Nanny Blair.
-n
-n
I.C.Ben wrote:
-----------
I'd like to think the gun ban lowers the violent crime rate and the stabbings are just more apparent because guns aren't an option.-
-----------
Gun will always be an option, whether smuggled, or manufactured in secret.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb0206.pdf
Here's a paragraph worth noting:
(......)According to the 2004 OCJS, the majority of assaults committed by 10 to 25 year-olds
involved grabbing, pushing or pulling (59%). A similar proportion involved punching, slapping
or hitting (55%). The victim was knifed or stabbed in one per cent of offences committed by
10 to 25 year-olds (see table A4.4 of Budd et al., 2005).
Weapon use
The 2004/05 BCS estimates that weapons were used in a quarter of all violent crimes. The
most commonly used weapons were hitting implements (7%), followed by knives and
glass/bottles (both 6%). Firearms were used in one per cent of offences (Table 1.25) (see
chapter 3 for firearm offences reported to the police).
Weapons were most commonly used in acquaintance violence (33% of all offences) and least
commonly in domestic violence (14%). Weapon use and the types of weapons used has
remained stable since 1995 in all crime types except mugging (including robbery), where
weapon use (mainly knife use) has decreased from 35 per cent in 1995 to 18 per cent in
2004/05. This decrease is statistically significant at the 95 per cent level (Tables 1.25 to
1.27).
-------------------
To be honest, I think they cook the books, in a desperate attempt to justify their gun-control, and now "knife control" zealotry.
But my interpretation of those numbers makes it look like the knives aren't really a problem. Glass bottles have the same percentage as knives (6%).
Fire up the Amnesty parade, Brits should be forced to drink everything out of cans, I suppose.
230 deaths from stabbings last year...... How many millions of people live in the U.K.? That's a drop in the bucket.
They are pushing, or already passed legislation to ban kitchen knives.
Kitchen knife ban sought
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story ... 61,00.html
I think it is safe to say, that if you live in Britain, and you have nothing to hide, the government should put you in straitjacket, and lock you in a padded room, for your own safety, of course. That would be Utopia on Earth, to be that protected by Nanny Blair.
-n
-n
Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?
-----------------------------------
-nathan
-----------------------------------
-nathan
