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Would you arrest someone for walking down the road with a Leatherman?

Started by dakid, Nov 13 2012 10:33 AM

Best Answer *Matt*, 04 December 2012 - 11:40 PM

Look, Moxnil, there comes a point where you have to have some social responsibility. Knife crime is a problem, and people get stabbed and die, and the problem is growing. We are all aware of this.

Legislation is there to try to stop knives being on our streets at all, and our job as officers is to uphold that. It is unavoidable that it means some people who are responsible enough to carry a knife 'just in case' who would never hurt or threaten anyone, won't be allowed to. It is no different than to say I as an experienced 40 year old driver in a quality car may well be safe driving at 90 miles an hour on the motorway and safer than a new driver in a dodgy car who has only been driving a week. However, because a line has to be drawn somewhere in the wider interests of peoples' safety, it is not OK for me to ignore the law on the basis that I believe, or know, I am no threat. That is how the law works - a general legislation is there that is not tailored to the individual, but is a mean, a 'best fit as we can manage' to achieve the purpose, in this case, to keep knives and knife crime as low as possible.

I am perfectly willing on this forum to take you on your word and accept you in all likelihood wouldn't use the knife criminally. However, on the street I simply don't have that luxury - You may have no previous and be about to walk into the argument of your life. You could be going to stab someone who just slept with your wife. I don't know, and while I might have a general feeling one way or the other, that knife is coming off of you. It's not a power trip, an ego thing or any kind of complex, its a simple law that we all have to follow.

And that's it - the law applies to everyone, and all laws will not be fair for all people all the time. But you can't pick and choose this one any more than any other.

If what you want to say here is 'it's annoying that because of a load of knife wielding idiots I can't do my boy scout thing', then you are right. It's the same for all of us. I can't take my baton and cs home 'just in case' I see a crime on the journey, even though I know I could be trusted with only using it lawfully in the execution of my duty. That's just how it is, and flogging this poor pony that kicked the bucket somewhere on page 4 starts to become a load of trolling nonsense, because the concept is actually very straightforward, and underpins pretty much all the legislation there is.

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245 replies to this topic

#1 dakid

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Posted 13 November 2012 - 10:33 AM

I've carried a Victorinox Swiss-Army Knife since I was about 16 (now 35), and I probably use it on average once or twice a week (to cut open packaging, to tighten a screw, etc). I've found myself wishing for the last few years that I had pliers on me, as I regularly come across situations where they would be useful. The problem is that it's not proving simple to find a "good" multitool without locking blades.

I'm left with the choice of either carrying an just-adequate multitool that will just about do what I want, or getting a very good one that will very happily do what I want, but that has a locking blade on it, which we all know is technically illegal.

So, the question is ... under the anonymity of an internet forum ... would you arrest someone for carrying one of these? Not someone who can say "yes, I'm an engineer, I need it for work" or something similar, but someone who - like a good scout - has spent his whole life carrying around a Swiss-Army Knife and wants to always be prepared. To look at, I'd probably say I'm the antithesis of "chav" (middle-class white guy, living happily in suburbia with his wife, and who rarely drinks or goes out to pubs), and I'm certainly never going to be in a club, yet I would definitely walk down a High Street on a Saturday morning with my wife, carrying this in my pocket.

Your honest, subjective opinions would be very gratefully received :)

#2 Traffic Rat

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Posted 13 November 2012 - 10:54 AM

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