[Ian Chin]

Hi to all

I suppose you are all aware of the proposed sword ban in the UK by the government. This is supposed to take effect somewhere in April. As it stands. The government are proposing a ban on Samurai swords. There are no indications of other swords on the banning list as yet.

Still, it is bad news for Samurai sword collectors in the UK. Does that mean you will require a licence to keep your present collection? So far information on the intended ban is still unclear.

I have included a link where a petition to stop the banning of swords is currently in force. So far the response is good but we still need signatures. unfortuneatley, only Uk residents or Ex-pats can only sign the petition. But I ask and urge any Uk forum members of this site to please consider signing the petition.

I have also included a link to a Uk bbc news article on 'The Banning Of Swords'. You will find the information interesting. Also in the UK you can no longer purchase Air weaopns through mail order. A new law which came into effect on October 30th last year. Instead, you ahve to purchase the weapon in person through a respected outlet. The government are now proposing a ban on de-activated firearms. I wonder whatelse will be left for weapon enthusiasts?


regards


Ian Chin



http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/banonsords/#detail

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7139724.stm

[Robin Palmer]

I spoke to the home office on the 23 of jan and they still had no idea of what they were going to do more important how they were going to do it. As with most of these things the problem was created by a politician looking for a sound bite and dumping the mess into the officials laps without considering how it was to be implemented. I suspect without caring either he or she had their name in the press I do know it is driven as much by the police as anyone.
There is a genuine problem with cheap re pro swords in the hands of criminals a problem which has been aggravated by several less than well judged police operations which resulted in the deaths of several people. The police answer is ban the swords then they wont be placed in the position where their foul ups result in deaths and bad press simpler than getting it right first time?
As of time of writing the matter is still in limbo as I understand it there is a major problem defining a samurai sword in a way which is usable in law.

[Nathan Robinson]

The topic title was renamed so as not to be in ALL-CAPS. This is hard to read and looks like SHOUTING on the Internet.

[Rob Miller]

of the respondents to the proposal a massive 85% were against a Ban on 'Samurai' swords,leaving just 15% in favour.If we had any form of proportional representation in this country the Home Office would have abandoned this idea after the initial Public Consultation.
Defining 'Samurai sword' was one of the issues.
Having been involved in the Scottish Legislation issues i am coming to believe that this typr of move is generally made in order to generate a news item,giving the impression that swords are illegal,this seems to have worked,as several well known tourist crap shops have given up on their window displays.