You think you are in the 21st century think about the 16th century. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_hunt
Are they actually called Ninja Swords in the legislation because if so, that’s hilarious.
Submitted 4 days ago by cyrano@lemmy.dbzer0.com to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/27/ninja-sword-owners-paid-surrender-weapons-banned/
You think you are in the 21st century think about the 16th century. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_hunt
Are they actually called Ninja Swords in the legislation because if so, that’s hilarious.
Yes, they are literally called Ninja swords in the legislation.
Yes, it is hilarious.
“This is a samurai sword, I’ll have you know. 😤”
Last amnesty a company handed in 1.5 million machetes and claimed the compensation for them despite importing the weapons themselves in the weeks before the ban. Pure profiteering.
I hope the police have learned something but somehow doubt they have.
I hope they haven’t.
Ninja swords are not actually a real thing, so what exactly is this banning?
2.4. The legal definition that we tested as part of this consultation was as follows:
A fixed bladed article with a blade between 14-24 inches (the length of the blade being the straight-line distance from the top of the handle to the tip of the blade) with:
(i) A single straight cutting edge; and;
(ii) A tanto style point - by tanto style point, we mean a point which is created by the cutting-edge changing direction in a short (relative to the overall length of the blade) straight line, with an angle (between the primary long cutting edge and secondary short cutting edge at the tip) greater than 90 degrees and continuing up to form a point of less than 90 degree, where the secondary short cutting edge meets the spine. The secondary short cutting edge should not deviate in length more than 5% more or less than the width of the blade immediately after the hilt; or
(iii) A reversed tanto style point – by reverse tanto style point, we mean a point which is created by the cutting-edge changing direction in a short (relative to the overall length of the blade) straight line, with an angle (between the primary long cutting edge and secondary short cutting edge at the tip) less than 90 degrees and continuing up to form a point of greater than 90 degree, where the secondary short cutting edge meets the spine. The secondary short cutting edge should not deviate in length more than 5% more or less than the width of the blade immediately after the hilt.
So what about blades 13 inches or 25 inches in length?
Why are they banning knives and swords category by category (e.g., zombie knives, ninja swords) instead of a broader ban?
To just piss off a small group at a time
They are responding to crimes being committed. This helps, and minimises the scope of the law. But, it doesn’t solve root cause.
Because you don’t want to take the risk in case Excalibur is still out there somewhere.
Performance art.
Anything in the UK carried for the intent to harm another person is a weapon. I do lots of low impact woodland/forest work. Axes, saws etc. in my bag. If I carried them to a Birmingham park to murder someone they would be weapons and not allowed. If I carry them into a woodland I have a contract to manage, they are tools and allowed.
These extra rules/laws don’t change the above. The swords could still have been outlawed as weapons by the legal system.
But… doing this means the perl clutches can sleep easy knowing “something is being done”
It just occurred to me maybe the headline is about sword-owners who are ninjas, which totally changes the meaning.
For the first time in my life I am truly incentivised to go on a quest to steal a sword.
I’m sure there a strange woman lying in a pond somewhere that can be of assistance.
So does mean samurai swords too, those decorative ones I have on a three tier mount like these?
Googled what a tanto end is and I’m unsure if it applies to them. Help?
As a curved blade I think they’re all already banned, so this law does nothing to you
If they’re blunt or made before 1954, you’re good.
shani66@ani.social 4 days ago
Man, the uk is a silly place
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 4 days ago
Yeah, i mean if someone really wants to decapitate someone they can just go to the next best hardware store and get a chainsaw. This is so pointless.
Obi@sopuli.xyz 4 days ago
Playing devil’s advocate, chainsaws are used for cutting trees and other tasks, they are not inherently a weapon unlike a sword (these are similar arguments to the ones used about gun control). I do find it silly to ban weeb swords, but mostly because I don’t think they’re ever really used for crimes? Or did I miss some info about a wave of ninja murders in the UK?
tal@lemmy.today 3 days ago
archive.is/52YjV#selection-515.0-533.242
I will bet you that Parliament would be willing to impose a ban on possession of a chainsaw without just cause.
MurrayL@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Why? Is there a legitimate reason for anyone to own or be able to easily purchase a ninja sword?
Zachariah@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Why would you need a reason—legitimate or otherwise—to justify owning a sword?
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 4 days ago
yeah, decoration/recreation (or do you want to ban the bow and arrow too? maybe ban boxing gloves?)/historical preservation
banning swords is absurd, if anything you want miscreants to use swords because they’re fucking massive and obvious, you can’t conceal a katana.
meanwhile if someone wants to kill and not make that fact visible, they can just… keep a screwdriver in their pocket and stab someone, and you’re never going to ban screwdrivers.