E-Bay UK to ban knife sales

[Ian UK]

I have just woke up to read that E-Bay UK has announced it is to ban all knife sales on its British and Irish sites ASAP with the exception of Cutlery.

E-bays loss I say, do they not realise people will just use E-bay.com and buy from abroad.

Another knee jerk reaction from our rapidly becoming "nanny state" what next? :mad:

[The Deacon]

"Cutlery" as in kitchen knives? Aren't they the weapon of choice for what I believe you folks refer to as chavs? Know they account for a high percentage of knife crimes here.

I'd imagine this will impact those in the UK who sell knives on eBay more than those who buy. As you noted, a ban like that is somewhat easier for a buyer to get around, although, with the new "Paypal only" system, even that might not work too well as they may just not let you pay for a knife purchased from, for example, a US seller.

[type00rev]

I'm soooo sorry to hear that Ian....that is total BS if you ask me. I guess it's time for you to pack up the family and move to the US.

[ozspyder]

Oh dear, po;itical (in)correctness to the extreme. Next they'll want to ban air because it contains stuff that can kill people !!! WTF !

I can't wait until the Commonwealth nations follow their parent soon. It is just insane the way we are lorded over by those who believe that they can think and act on everyone's behalf. Should just be a communist state if that is the case.

eBay is just pandering again to political pressures that really are not a barometer to the wider populace. This is insane. I feel for you Ian. Hope it all works out in the end.

[zenheretic]

Seems like an opportunity for another person/company to open up an e-auction site...

[dialex]

I'm really sick to hear all this so called "polliticaly correctness" BS. Anyone who cares to look over statistics will notice that banning weapons of any kind didn't stop, nor even diminish criminalty. Only the regular, law abiding citizen is left more and more helpless - and he keeps paying for the incompetence of politicians and lawmakers... :mad:

[Ian UK]

Deacon

You are 100% correct the kitchen knife is the weapon of choice for "Chav's" "Slinks" "Scum" call them what you will, and even if they ban UK buyers from buying off US sites by blocking them I am sure many deals will then be struck outside the e-bay market with direct payment.

There are not many criminals using £40-50 GBP knives they buy cheap £2 ones from our equivilent of walmart as they have to be disposable.

Last year samurai swords were banned (mind you I pick a few cheapy's up in clearence sales) but only those with "Curved" blades... the straight bladed ones must not be as sharp :eek:

I sometimes despair of what makes these people tick.

[Wightknight]

We can thank BBC's Watchdog for this action from eBay.

If you want to see why, follow this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/200 ... bay_2.html

[kankryb]

This is truely F..... up but I hope that it will go into itself again and Ebay will stop playing police :mad:

[Cricket Bite]

Let me start off by saying I am not a huge fan of Ebay. Maybe there was some litigation that created this for them. You know the court systems (with a dumb lawsuit) might have warranted this with a ridiculous decision and they could be protecting themselves? Or they could just be a bunch of weenies.

[Netsquash]

Last year samurai swords were banned (mind you I pick a few cheapy's up in clearence sales) but only those with "Curved" blades... the straight bladed ones must not be as sharp:eek

What is the logic in banning a curved blade over a straight blade? I don't get why one would get banned but not the other?

[Lord vader]

The UK is trying to do a total knife ban.Click link,http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/200 ... s-now-too/

[Netsquash]

"Since it began in the Spring, 150,000 people have been searched, 5,370 people arrested and 3,242 knives seized. "

If my math is correct it seems like 2128 people were carrying knives that could not be seized but still allow them to be arrested. WTF?

They can take the knives away but they won't fix the problems. People will just get other non-bladed blunt objects that can inflict harm.

Just wait until they start carrying around sharpened car antennas, hammers, wrenches, and retractable batons. Not to mention steel toed boots

I think the long term solution is to cut off everyone's hands. Without hands you can't carry a weapon. Remember, you have to cut off BOTH or they will just go to the US and start carrying auto and assisted openers.

[Lord vader]

"Since it began in the Spring, 150,000 people have been searched, 5,370 people arrested and 3,242 knives seized. "

If my math is correct it seems like 2128 people were carrying knives that could not be seized but still allow them to be arrested. WTF?

They can take the knives away but they won't fix the problems. People will just get other non-bladed blunt objects that can inflict harm.

Just wait until they start carrying around sharpened car antennas, hammers, wrenches, and retractable batons. Not to mention steel toed boots

I think the long term solution is to cut off everyone's hands. Without hands you can't carry a weapon. Remember, you have to cut off BOTH or they will just go to the US and start carrying auto and assisted openers.

Thats true,People are going to do whatever it takes.

[GoMeR]

"I think the long term solution is to cut off everyone's hands. Without hands you can't carry a weapon. Remember, you have to cut off BOTH or they will just go to the US and start carrying auto and assisted openers."

I think you may be onto something, at least concerning the United States......Without our hands we cannot vote and won't be able to elect weak frightened politicians who are afraid of law abiding citizens! :D

[spydutch]

That really sucks big time :mad: :mad:

And since we're surrounded with countries with those stupid restrictions , have no positive hope for our future as well :eek:

Maybe Texas doesn't sound too bad after all :p

[Netsquash]

I put some though into this knife issue in the UK. Knives are not a problem in the right peoples hands. The people who desire to inflict harm will find a means to do it anyway.

Even if folding knives are not available there are still kitchen knives (as others have said, they are the preferred weapon to thugs), utility blades available at any hardware store, and plenty of home made knives and shivs. Even with a reduction in availability of knives any halfwit can sharpen a piece of metal, wood, glass, or anything with a relative hardness in 5 minutes. Even without a sharp edge there are still weapons available. Any blunted object can become a weapon (have they never played clue?). Before the bronze age there was stone. Stone can be turned into weapons, sharp or blunt. I can turn a piece of rope and a rock into a highly effective weapon in about 2min if I want. Removing knives will not reduce the number of deaths, it will just change the method of killing.

A person who is willing to commit murder is not detoured by laws against carrying weapons. To carry a knife as an offensive weapon takes precognition. That same thought can be applied to carrying other weapons in its place.

The removal of knives simply limits the ability of good people to use a highly versatile tool.

If the law makers of the UK want to reduce the number of knife deaths produced by concealable "potential" weapons they can pass laws around the design of a knife. They already ban lock backs, why not add more design limitations if they feel the need to do something about industrial produced knives.

I don't think a non-locking knife really does much to prevent harm inflicted on others. I think it just allows for more potential harm to come to a user, but there are other things law makers can do to reduce the lethality of a knife tool.

My suggestions would be to require a knife to be two hand deployed, with a non-curved (no hawkbills), non-serrated sheep foot blade. Like I have said before. The people who want to cause harm will still find a way, but at least a knife of this design would reduce the lethality of a blade and allow it to be used still as a tool (although highly limited) and carried legally. In fact as a folder this knife would be highly limited as both a defensive and offensive weapon as opposed to a fixed blade.

My suggestions are last resort. I would not want to have these implemented on myself, but if they must pass laws to make them appear as if they are doing something these are what I would suggest over an outright ban.

Just my opinion, I may be wrong.

[markg]

The UK is trying to do a total knife ban.Click link,http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/200 ... s-now-too/

Oh my gosh read this from the above link...

"Tough enforcement measures, a high detection rate and millions of pounds being spent on anti knife crime initiatives had not stopped the rate of killing rising sharply from 17 in 2006, 16 each in 2005 and 2004, and 15 in 2003. But the latest drive has significantly curbed the rate of killings in London in the last three months."

Now I don't want to down play loss of life... but 17 people. And the "rate has risen sharply"

If I do the math TWO more people were killed in 2006 than in 2003. I would not call that sharply!!!

British journalist should be imprisoned for incompetence and irresponsibility.

[jabba359]

I just got done reading the BBC article and the comments posted there and was left scratching my head. These people are scared that these knives could kill people and want them all banned. They might as well make steak and kitchen knives illegal too.

Recently, British movie star Robert Knox (of Harry Potter fame) was stabbed to death. The article says that the assailant "was not only an habitual knife carrier but also someone who would quite happily deploy and use knives as weapons." The news seems to be implying that knife carriers are violent by nature. Yet his weapon of choice for this particular murder? "Two kitchen knives" (emphasis added).

Ban guns and people will use knives. Ban knives and people will use crowbars. Ban crowbars and people will use cricket bats. Ban cricket bats and people will use hammers. Ban hammers, people will use their fists...and so on and so forth. Are we noticing the common denominator here people?

Of course, I'm preaching to the choir, as we all know that knives are tools and that any tool can kill, maim, and dismember if the user decides to use it so. For examples, see any Jackie Chan movie and how he can turn a chair, garden hose, shoes, and even chop sticks into deadly weapons. The problem isn't the knives, it's the people.

[cobrajoe]

...

Ban guns and people will use knives. Ban knives and people will use crowbars. Ban crowbars and people will use cricket bats. Ban cricket bats and people will use hammers. Ban hammers, people will use their fists...and so on and so forth. Are we noticing the common denominator here people?

...

I'm sorry, but I was laughing quite hard at the "Ban hammers" :p

I agree completely with what has been said here. How long before they ban toothbrushes? They can be sharpened to be pointy... Pointy can kill... Not to mention that they're also cheap, disposable, and non-metallic (will get past metal detectors).