Should UK self-defence laws be reformed?

Stu999

Stu999

Stu999

Soldato
Joined
3 Aug 2015
Posts
9,278
With knife, chemical and dog attacks (and rare shootings) in the news on a seemingly regular basis should self-defence laws and particularly rules around weapons / less lethal options be changed? Do you think people should be allowed less lethal options like pepper / OC / para spray be allowed? What about knives? Firearms?

The flip side of course is not to consume too much media. I believe violent crime is overall on a downward trend so there would simply be less fear of these types of incident if people didn't watch as much TV news or read the internet news.

Also, with there being no 'right' to bear arms in the UK there could be a wide range of controls put in place that don't apply to the US. For example, cannot be sold to over 21s, criminal background checks meaning they cannot be sold to people who have committed certain types of crime and psychological evaluations / review of medical records by an independent body (I say independent because apparently some GPs refuse to sign off shotgun certificates on principle).

What do you think?

Poll options:
Yes - less lethal options only
Yes - Less lethal + knives
Yes - Less lethal + knives + firearms
No - the current status quo is fine
No - I object to any form of violence
Give me Bovril
 
The law and rules around self defense these days are adequate especially after the Tony Martin unfortunate incident. If I attack an intruder in my home and use an object to defend myself I know the law does offers enough protection for me in that situation.

Carrying self defense weapons around your person because you think you might get mugged or something is a bit different. Things like knives are a no-no and all the stats show just carrying a knife with you makes you more likely to be a victim of knife crime but pepper spray I could see a valid reason for especially for women who are alone.
 
Completely adequate laws already, although the selling of certain knives should have been banned years ago.

We need a functioning Police and visable Police who actually attend crimes and a justice system that prosecutes people in a sensible time frame.
 
Quartz said:
I'm told that it is men who are more likely to be attacked. Unfortunately my attempts to provide a cite seem to bring up sexual assaults which are a different kettle of fish.
Click to expand...

Men are more likely to be randomly attacked, women more likely to be sexually assaulted.

The problem with arming "normal" people is that unless you train regularly with your weapon of choice you're just as likely to have it taken off you and used against you. Plus the obvious side effects of criminals being more likely/willing to be armed (and use it) due to the increased chance of their victims having a weapon.

I'd rather be threatened at knifepoint and hand over my wallet, than be stabbed without warning because the mugger didn't want to give me a chance to draw my own knife/gun.
 
Last edited:
Pepper spray will never happen given it's governed under the firearms act 1968 which is a bit of a weird one. What i believe we actually need is much more robust and just sentencing for offenders which could act as a deterrent to others. In light of the recent chemical attack persons here on Asylum should never be allowed to remain in country If they have committed an offence and served their time they should be removed. If their country is dangerous? should have thought about that before putting the residents of this country in danger by means of their own actions. It's also hard for people to judge in distressing situations what is and isn't reasonable which often leads to over exertion of force/aggression. "your in my house *domes head with cricket bat*" absolutely not reasonable though understandable.
 
Last edited:
Everything is fine.

I object to a nanny state where we need a birth certificate to buy a kitchen knife or a packet of Stanley blades. To introduce more rules is allowing these people to change society in a bad way.

Arming the public is a very bad idea. However, I don't think the public should be barred from buying and carrying things like camping knives. The laws should be clarified, I am pretty sure that the police should be able to tell the difference between a vandal and a camper!

I do wonder about pepper spray. Although it can be used as offensive, I would rather be pepper sprayed and robbed than knifed in the ribs and robbed.
 
CapitalOne said:
Exactly :)

Plus, can you imagine the carnage in regional town centres on Saturday nights? I doesn't bear thinking about!
Click to expand...
There wouldn’t be carnage - use whatever tool you have inappropriately once and you lose your right to have it plus potentially end up in prison. There could also be laws about their use under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

@Haggisman - you’d also have to have some rules around reporting thefts along with some serious consequences if you don’t.
 
SpellowHouse said:
However, I don't think the public should be barred from buying and carrying things like camping knives. The laws should be clarified, I am pretty sure that the police should be able to tell the difference between a vandal and a camper!
Click to expand...

The public aren't barred from buying and carrying things like camping knives for good reason. I could go down to my local camping shop right now and perfectly legally buy a 6" camping knife.

The laws are pretty clear tbh.

SpellowHouse said:
I do wonder about pepper spray. Although it can be used as offensive, I would rather be pepper sprayed and robbed than knifed in the ribs and robbed.
Click to expand...

Only a guess, but I reckon someone robbing you would be more likely to preemptively use the pepper spray. Since it's "less lethal", there's no reason for them not to use it surely? obviously still preferable to being stabbed, but worse than not being pepper sprayed!

Stu999 said:
@Haggisman - you’d also have to have some rules around reporting thefts along with some serious consequences if you don’t.
Click to expand...

I meant in the situation you're needing to defend yourself with it - there's a reasonable chance they could get it off you and use it on you
 
Last edited:
Freddie1980 said:
The law and rules around self defense these days are adequate especially after the Tony Martin unfortunate incident. If I attack an intruder in my home and use an object to defend myself I know the law does offers enough protection for me in that situation.
Click to expand...

I do think more awareness to the public of what you can and can't do to defend you/your family/your home needs to be made though. You tend to hear a story hitting the news when a homeowner has walloped an intruder (not Tony Martin style) maybe just a whack as they've come up the stairs, and the homeowner has initially been arrested, but later de-arrested when the police realise a clear self-defense motive. But the fright of getting arrested will terrify most law abiding citizens into doing nothing if their home is broken into out of fear of being arrested.

jigger said:
No, we need to tackle the issues driving these types of offences.
Click to expand...

That's a massive can of worms though. Even if you doubled the size of the police force, or had unlimited budget for public services, you're always going to get people who want to break into someone's home to steal something. Or even looking at knife crime, these are very much gang related and some young kids either really want to be in a gang, or are coerced by other members in the gang to join.
 
Semple said:
I do think more awareness to the public of what you can and can't do to defend you/your family/your home needs to be made though. You tend to hear a story hitting the news when a homeowner has walloped an intruder (not Tony Martin style) maybe just a whack as they've come up the stairs, and the homeowner has initially been arrested, but later de-arrested when the police realise a clear self-defense motive. But the fright of getting arrested will terrify most law abiding citizens into doing nothing if their home is broken into out of fear of being arrested.



That's a massive can of worms though. Even if you doubled the size of the police force, or had unlimited budget for public services, you're always going to get people who want to break into someone's home to steal something. Or even looking at knife crime, these are very much gang related and some young kids either really want to be in a gang, or are coerced by other members in the gang to join.
Click to expand...

We shouldn’t ignore our issues and definitely shouldn’t add to them by arming the public.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom