the news media and the police are hyping it up by reporting that the govt. wants all people found carrying a knife to go to jail. the police conveniently promoted the 'sword ban' without mentioning the exemptions as they wanted every one to be turned in, illegal or not. the news always leave out the word illegal when mentioning carrying knives, that is the govt. & politicians usually say 'the illegal carrying of knives' or some such qualification, where the liberal media prefer simplify it by implying all carriage is illegal. it is not.
any non-locking folding knife with an edge length under three inches can be carried for whatever reason you deem necessary by someone over the age of 18; a fixed, or locking folding knife, or one over 3in. edge can be carried if you have a reason acceptable to the police, like you are fishing, on the way to work, where you need it to open boxes, etc. (note it is the police who decide if a reason is acceptable, not you).
having said that, i'll not take any of my legal little folders into london as the 'security' manning the metal detectors on train and subway stations probably can't use a ruler even if they knew the law and if they confiscate it, even in error, it's gone. like in the states, they don't man them with their brightest sparks. rulz iz rulz.
as someone mentioned earlier, in the elizabethan age when most people wore knives routinely, most murders were done with a cudgel.
luckily i am old and infirm and require a walking stick to enable me to walk at all.
NOT
