End of sword collecting in the UK

[Mark]

They do the same thing in the US, depending on which way the political wind blows and whose courtroom you are in. Interpret broadly or narrowly, depending on what social engineering result you are after. We may have more lee-way for attorney argument to swing things one way or the other, dispite what the judge wants.

Originally Posted by spiral

Mark , Sport covers most publicliy insured martial arts venues & teaching groups I would say, But vagnes of law which might be usefull in USA, means in England, you can be arrested for nearly any curved sword & a judge will decide & direct a jury in the manner he see fit.

Thats why today carrying a Leatherman in England gets one arrested for carrying an offensive weapon. {because a judge directed it so as a locking blade equaeled a fixed blade & was therfore illegal.} {Sadley 95% of police enforce the law in that manner as well.}

I have a 50 year old, one inch long blade mechanikal locking knife {by an unusual patented design.} that fits on a key ring & that i use to open parcels. It is illegal to carry outside my front door in the UK.

Spiral

[Lew]

Soon the moron lawmakers will ban cricket bats, broom handles,hammers,pointy sticks and what ever else that can be used to do bodily harm You will always have a problem with gangs and hot headed young people who decide to settle their differences through violence. Making collectors of historical arms into criminals will not stop the trouble makers they will always find a way to the crime. I feel the law makers in the UK are slowly slipping down a dangerous slope here. You see how effectively the switch blade ban of the 1950s here in the USA worked gang members no longer use them they have graduated to 9mm pistols and assaut rifles

Lew

[kronckew]

guns are of course illegal for the common man over here, with few exceptions; two thugs break into your home for the second time in as many weeks & you shoot one of them, you get to go away for a few years, even tho they had baseball bats they intended to use on you. catch a burglar about to enter your childs room & grab a steak knife out of the sink as you both go thru the kitchen as he tries to get away by hitting & kicking you & you stab him, it's assault with a deadly weapon and possession of an offensive weapon for you. the criminal in these can also sue you for damages sustained during the commission of your illegal assault on them. (the first case, after the farmer got out of jail, his 'victim' who had been shot in the leg sued him for loss of earnings in his career as a burglar, and may have won except he was filmed running across a road to get to court - not quite as disabled as his cane & poorly leg performance in court was supposed to show - that was too much even for the liberal press here & he dropped the case after being laughed at by all)

oh, and since the ban on firearms, they cannot understand why the use of them in crimes continues to rise sharply.

[josh stout]

I think the American oversupply of guns, particularly in the hands of teenage boys is nutty, but I can see that the nuttiness can go the other way. Is there no way to win a fight legally in England?

Anyway, I was glad to see that anything over 100 years is exempt. There are so many things that are "early 20th/late 19th C." that I am sure there will be a sudden switch to things being listed simply a late 19th c.

What happens over time? In 2050 will all the WWII stuff be legal? Is the WWI stuff about to become legal?

Is a pedeng larus a straight or curved sword? what about a kris with lots of curves?

So an antique with a new handle is still an antique, how far does that go? What if only the handle is old? What if it is only a one nail?

Laws in general have an inherent problem with absurdity given they are absolute rules in a relativistic universe, but this one seems more absurd than most.
josh

[spiral]

I didnt realise it worked the same way there Mark...cheers.


Josh i think the problem will be if ebay or police decide to say you have to proove a sword is over 100years old, {that is a rolling date, thats why i got rid of many of my. ww2 issue dated/marked kukris last year by trading them for ww1 ones.} {still kept one speiceim of each main type for ww2 issue of course .] Plus the fact in 5 years time, I figure anything ww1 dated will get magnificent premiums with all the remberance stuff & ww1 anniversaries.

In England you can only defend yourself on your own property if you are attacked, if the burglar tries to escape you are supposed to let them. you can only stab, chop or otherwise ruin thier day for them if your are under attack & "fear for your life or that of others."

Sadley the people who get arrested & covicted for seriosly damaging burglars probably didnt know that.


Spiral

[BBJW]

Originally Posted by josh stout

I think the American oversupply of guns, particularly in the hands of teenage boys is nutty, but I can see that the nuttiness can go the other way. Is there no way to win a fight legally in England?


most.
josh

It is illegal for "teenage boys" (under 18) to buy handguns, but not rifles or shotguns. Most guns used in crime are obtained outside the law. There is no more an oversupply of guns here than an oversupply of swords (or axes, hammers, etc.) in the UK. Thank God for the 2nd Amendment!

bbjw