Are pen hidden knives, with the blade being under 3 inches allowed in the U.K. to carry around for self defence?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “hidden knifes“
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Are pen hidden knives, with the blade being under 3 inches allowed in the U.K. to carry around for self defence?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “hidden knifes“
About Amara
Not even a razor blade can be carried for “self defense” purposes. A 3 inch blade can be carried for whittling plug tobacco ,or stripping insulation off a cable ,or for gardening … These are legitimate reasons.
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Simple answer is No.
More complicated answer is still no but with an explanation.
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 made it an offence for anyone to have in their possession an item with a blade or which is sharply pointed, their were exemptions to this rule for practical purposes. These are that the item is a folding pocket knife with a non-locking blade length under 3.5 inches, (This is the only part of the legislation where blade length matters) however a pen concealed knife isn’t a folding pocket knife so this exemption doesn’t apply. The other 3 reasons are that it’s for use at work (Chef or Builders for example) that it’s for religious purposes (A Sikh with a Kirpan) or that it forms a part of a National dress (A Scotsman in full national dress with a Sgian-dubh in his sock). The legislation makes it the responsibility of the suspect to prove this defence. Nowhere in the legislation is self defence listed as a reason for carrying a pointed or bladed article and based on the example you have given this would be a Culpability A, Catergory 2 Harm Offence for the sentencing guidelines (assuming you are just in a public place and not a School or at a time/place where there is a risk of serious disorder?) this has a starting point of 6 months in prison with a range of 3 months to a year dependant on mitigating/aggravating factors.
Due to the fact that it’s a knife described as something else it would also fall under the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 as an offensive weapon, however since the Criminal Justice Act was amended to are the sentences the same under either Act I woul expect you to be tried under the former.
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No.
The UK is a police state. Its subjects are not free to carry any potentially dangerous object whatsoever without a good reason. Protecting your life, let alone your property, is not a good reason.
Only the lives of the rich and aristocratic, who can afford to hire a bodyguard, merit armed protection. Commoner’s lives are of lesser value and not worthy of protection.
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Under U.K. law, a concealed weapon is a concealed weapon
There are guidelines about blade lengths but no hard and fast rules.
If I’m carrying a potato peeler with intent to cause harm then I can be taken into custody
And if I’m lugging around a bloody great cleaver because it’s the tools of my trade, no one will bat an eyelid.
I used to own and carry a swordstick.
It followed me here 20 years ago, and I never carried it.
I could have. Had I needed to use it, I would have. But the subsequent question would have been “why did you severely harm or kill several people with a concealed tool, and why did you have it in the first place?”
If I could adequately answer that, mostly all good.
It’s not like pulling out a rulebook, pointing to page 334, paragraph two and going “aha! Murdering someone with a 2.5 inch blade is legal!”
The judge will look at you and your useless barrister, solicitors and other counsel, and probably lock the lot of you up before melting down the key.
If you said “I carry ten illegal grenades on the off chance I need to use them” you are going to be in some trouble though.
But generally no one is going to bother you unless you start using them
I have a multitude of things in my bathroom, kitchen and garage which are very deadly. Most of them were bought at supermarkets
Except they are not and never will be unless I employ them in such a manner.
Until then they are innocuous
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The short answer is:- No.
More detailed answer (but still not the full story): – By the Criminal Justice Act 1988, s. 141, read in conjunction with the Schedule to the CJA 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 (as amended) such a device is defined as a “disguised knife”…
“…that is any knife which has a concealed blade or concealed sharp point and is designed to appear to be an everyday object of a kind commonly carried on the person or in a handbag, briefcase, or other hand luggage (such as a comb, brush, writing instrument, cigarette lighter, key, lipstick or telephone).”
Such knives are ordinarily unlawful to manufacture, sell, hire, offer for sale or hire, expose or possess for the purpose of sale or hire, and equally unlawful to lend or give to any other person, or of course to carry in public. They are also offensive weapons within the meaning of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953. There is legislation on the books, but not yet in force (Offensive Weapons Act 2019, s. 46), that will make such knives illegal to possess, even at home, but it is taking a long time for any commencement order to be made. Have they forgotten all about it?
There are one or two exceptions, e.g. in relation to antiques – but you still cannot ordinarily carry them in public.
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You can carry a pocket knife but you can’t carry a knife “for self defence”
Knives are rubbish for defence and most people would question who do you think your going to need to stab?
If it’s terrorists your an idiot.
If it cause dem streets are harsh bro, ( said in a fake jamaican accent)
Your still an idiot who needs to get a job and away from dem streets.
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In the novel, Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, a teenage gangster called Pinkie carries a razor blade for self-defence. Although a razor blade is very small, it is a felony to carry a razor blade, or any kind of blade or sharp object with the intention using it as a weapon. In the novel, Pinkie puts the razor blade under his thumbnail which he intentionally keeps long for the purpose.
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No knives, or any other object or substance, are allowed if the point of carrying them is offensive .
To work out whether self defence is a legitimate excuse for using anything as a weapon, or even in a threatening manner, is a legal minefield, and none of the above are taken lightly.
However concealed blades of any kind are highly unlikely to be considered to be a legitimate item to have on your person should you be stopped and asked to turn out your pockets.
See Selling, buying and carrying knives for guidance.
If in doubt, don’t even try.
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You are not allowed to carry knives over three inches and not with a locking blade. I think if you said it was for self defence you’d be in trouble.
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It is permissible to carry small folding knives.
Given the time it would take to retrieve one from a pocket, unfold it and the fact it could only be used in close combat, mean that one offers no real defence against an assailant and would actually place you in greater jeopardy.
Running away would be very much safer.
You would need to have a valid reason for carrying a penknife (such as a work tool, or a sporting activity such as fishing), otherwise you could be charged with carrying an offensive weapon.
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I’m not sure what you’re asking but folding knives are allowed, provided that they don’t lock. Flick knives are not allowed, as I understand the rules, even if they don’t lock. However, with a good reason for possession, you can carry most types of knife. For instance, if it’s a tool of your trade and you need to transport it between sites or to and from home, then it is allowed.
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Not for “self defence“. You aren’t allowed to carry any weapon, or something that could be used as a weapon, so basically anything – “without good reason ” and “self defence is not a GOOD reason.
So, if you are carrying a penknife, especially one with multi-tools “in case I need to cut something” that’s fine. Carrying a bunch of keys clenched in your hand is fine. Carrying a baseball bat as you walk to a game is fine. Carrying a penknife, which is closed is fine. Carrying a bottle of spray deodorant in your pocket is fine – carrying it in your hand so you can spray an attacker in the face is NOT. But if you say “Oh it’s for self defence” then you are going to be arrested and charged with carrying an offensive weapon in all of these cases.
And come off it, a penknife which is closed and in your pocket Or hanging from your belt is NOT going to be a lot of good if you do get attacked, now is it?
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No, because carrying any sort of knife for “self defence” is illegal.
I have no idea what you think “pen hidden knives” are.
A folding knife with a non-locking blade (i.e a “ penknife ”) of less than 3-inches can be carried legally for general purpose use.
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Are pen hidden knives, with the blade being under 3 inches allowed in the U.K. to carry around for self defence?
If you mean one of those knives which hides inside a pen, basically a spike? The answer is two fold. Firstly it is classed as a disguised knife or point. Possession of which is an offence, even at home. Secondly you would be carrying an offensive weapon, another offence.
The 3 inches is completely irrelevant if you do not have a good reason* to carry it. Self defence is absolutely no good reason if this came to court.
*Good reason in this situation is about a defence to a charge. This is not the same good reason as that which applies to the initial application and ownership of a firearm.
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My gut says no. The idea is that you should avoid people and alleys when possible where this kind of self defence would be necessary in the first place, and in the event you find yourself in that situation, run and/or contact relevant authorities to handle it for you.
Realistically I wouldn’t imagine you being strip-searched for such weaponry very often, and I suppose a hidden blade would be harder to find than a “common” one (of a more classic, obviously-a-knife variety).
In either case I feel like carrying a blade (or any kind of weapon) brought with any kind of offence/defence in mind does something with the way you see the world, and makes it seem like less of a friendly place. You wouldn’t bring along such a thing without imagining using it, and the imagery may make you act precariously where you shouldn’t.
There’s a reason why there’re posters all around London asking you to leave your blades at home. Being armed in such a way exposes you to risks you might both consciously avoid without it, and aggression where being unarmed may spare you of it.
Life isn’t a video game either – a good swing with the right aim may maim whoever with various dubious lasting consequences, death included, ahead.
I’d leave it at home if I were you, lest there be a more legitimate reason for you to have one (work-related ones, for instance).
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English law does not accept ‘self defence’ as an excuse for possessing an offensive weapon. As far as I know, this is also the case in the rest of UK.
For more information, do an on-line search for ‘definition of offensive weapon UK’
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