Labour wont do anything, it will stay the same.
But true, you can't really ban knives. Only having one on you.
Which is basically what the law is already.
IIRC what has been changing very slowly is that an increasing number of the "showy but useless for practical purpose" type knives have been banned from sale, even though it's still sadly easy to get hold of a lot of them because various online retailers don't actually care much*.
Unfortunately IF this is mental illness, and I'm going to stress that it would likely be something really severe and untreated of one of the rarer types (and even then only a tiny percentage of those cases) there isn't much you can do to stop people from doing it without a lot more governmental support than has been the case for years. I'm also going to stress that the vat majority of mental health issues are far more of a risk for the person with them than anyone else.
I am just about old enough to remember the utter shambles that was "care in the community" when a lot of people that had previously been in secure/semi secure mental health facilities were released onto the street because most of them didn't actually need to be basically locked away, unfortunately the government of the time did it largely as a cost saving measure and didn't ensure there was sufficient support/professional help on hand 24/7 to supervise those that needed it, and worse not enough to deal with emergencies or follow up on urgent alerts from people concerned about the very small number that were potentially a danger not just to themselves. I remember a number of killings resulting from that back then, and the uproar and that was well before the days of 24/7 news or anti social media nonsense.
I can see exactly the same thing has been happening for years now, and know from first hand experience how hard it is to get help for someone whose condition affected their mental abilities, even with a doctor trying to arrange assistance.
For all we know at the moment the family of the guy may have been raising the alarm/trying to get help and not getting anywhere, which is one of the reasons I think it's utterly stupid for people to be blaming religion, skin colour, where someone's parents/grandparents came from, or what pizza topping they had before there has been any actual investigation.
Really legally can carry 3 inch blade? I can't think of any legitimate reason anyone needs to carry. Some trades for 'bladed' items I guess, those could be through permits.
Others especially large knives/machetes, etc should be tough sentences
Not poncy stuff
IIRC some hobbies or crafts can also require large knives, but the law already require you have a good reason to have them on you and generally speaking that would mean proving you're carrying them to/from the place you need them (and iirc ideally out of sight/in a suitable container or bag).
In theory there is already a mandatory sentence from memory.
*I had to prove proof of age to an amazon driver for a tiny (IIRC the smallest)
swiss army knife, and a "
patio knife", but not for things like large box cutters or various other bladed items (including a different patio knife).
