Measures to ban the sale of acids to under-18s, prevent children
purchasing knives online and restrict access to dangerous
firearms will be among a series of legislative changes to be
included in a public consultation on offensive weapons, the Home
Secretary has announced.
The plans, unveiled by , underline the government’s
determination to stamp out serious violent crime, and follow a
recent rise in police-recorded knife and firearms offences, and
an apparent increase in acid attacks.
Among the measures on which the government will consult are a new
offence of possession of a corrosive substance in public and
restricting online sales of knives so they cannot be delivered to
a private residential address and must be collected at a place
where age ID can be checked.
also revealed plans for a new
Serious Violence strategy for improving public safety and
preventing violent offending, which will be published in early
2018.
The new offence of possession of a corrosive substance in public
without a good or lawful reason will place the onus on the
individual caught in possession to explain why they were carrying
it, rather than on the police to prove that it was intended for
use as a weapon. The Poisons Act will also be reviewed with a
view to including sulphuric acid on the list of restricted
substances.
The Home Office will consult on legislative proposals to restrict
the online sale of knives so they cannot be delivered to a
private residential address and must instead be collected at a
place where age ID can be checked.
Other measures included in the consultation include:
- amendments to threatening with a knife or offensive weapon
offence to lower the standard of proof for prosecutors
- moving two firearms (.50 calibre and certain rapid firing
rifles) from the general licensing arrangements to the stricter
provisions of section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968
- updating the current legislation on the definition of flick
knives
