What Weapons Are Legal In the UK?

Question

I live in the UK, and just want to know what weapons are legal.

What's the deal on Guns? And on Knives?

And what happens if you're carrying a Martial Arts weapon-- eg. Nunchaku around? are they legal?

thanks :)

Answer 1

if you go in to a public place with a gun any gun or knife over a 3" blade its classed as an offensive weapon!

if you carry martail art gear around and are stop by the police but you are actually going to class then thats ok proving you are not swinging them about.

Don't carry a gun or knife put a bit of 2x2 in your boat of your car and carry that it was left over from the weekend when you were working in the garage yeah.

If you want a gun get a gun but do the job probally get a sawen off or a waltham cp88 converted to 9mm.

don't get caught or your get 5yrs in jail for carry a fire arm

Answer 2

Firearms:

Firearms are controlled by legislation. It's illegal to own a gun without a licence. To get a licence you need a good reason to have one, such as being a member of a shooting club etc. Licence are divided into different types, with different requirements, depending on the weapons involved.

Knives:

Nothing illegal in owning a knife although there are controls on sale to underage persons. Carrying an article with a blade or a point in a public place without a good reason or lawful authority is illegal (except for knives with a folding blade under 3" long - a penknife ). This is especially important at the moment. Good reasons would be going camping, having just bought it and being on the way home. Carrying it for "protection" is not a good reason.

Other stuff:

Possession in a public place of an Offensive Weapon is illegal. An offensive weapons is an article either a) made, b) modified or c) intended, to cause harm to others, without good reason or lawful authority.

There are a good many things that are deemed to fall within a), including swordsticks (walking stick with a blade concealed inside), flick knives, extendable batons (and non-extendable ones come to that) I believe Nunchaku would be classified as a). You might have a good reason to carry them i.e. going to a martial arts club that uses them, but you'd need to have some proof of membership, and have them packed away in a bag or similar.

With many of the a) things I think it's also illegal to purchase, sell, lend or import them.

I believe that the only martial arts weapon which is actually blanket illegal is the Shuriken (sp) or throwing star.

There are likely to be issues with metal-bladed, curved swords, because of an ill conceived piece of delegated legislation aimed at banning cheap semi sharp mass produced "samurai" swords (which were used in a tiny number of well reported crimes). It's currently being amended to provide an exception for "hand made" swords.

Answer 3

You need a license for a Gun, you can't carry this gun around with you unless you have a concealed weapon's permit. You also have to keep the weapon in a Gun Cabinet and the Ammo in another lockable cabinet away from the Gun.

Knife's and all Martial Art's weapon's are illegal to carry around with you, if your caught with thees you will be charged with either Carrying an Offensive weapon or Carrying a Deadly Weapon. Maximum sentence for this is 14 year's.

Answer 4

About the only weapons you can use in the UK are harsh words and mean looks.

Unfortunately the socialists have created such a level of paternalism that the only way to throw off that yoke and for teh British to become citizens and not subjects is to take a lesson from the likes of Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Richard Henry Lee.

Answer 5

Basically, just about anything that can be used as a weapon is illegal.  

A useful exemption applies to items that are used as part of your job - If you're a carpenter, carrying a bag with hammers, chisels, cutting tools, etc. is ok.  If you're a chef then a case of kitchen knives would be reasonable.  

Obviously you can't wave these around in the street, and if you had to defend yourself against an attacker with them, you'd have to face the music in court.