Memorandum submitted by The British Association
for Shooting and Conservation
1. With over 127,000 members the British
Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) is widely regarded
as a leading UK representative body for sporting shooting. BASC's
expertise on firearms licensing matters is widely recognised and
we are routinely consulted by a variety of government departments
and agencies (including the Home Office, DEFRA, LANTRA, the Health
and Safety Commission) and other statutory and non-statutory bodies,
eg the Association of Chief Police Officers and police firearms
licensing departments. We work closely with the Home Office on
matters of firearms legislation, and have contributed—both
by memorandum and oral evidence—to a number of the Home
Affairs Committee's previous inquiries on firearms related matters.
We also advise and liaise with the police service on the interpretation
of the current firearms laws and the administration of the licensing
process.
2. BASC believes that all who shoot should
conduct themselves according to the highest standards of safety,
sportsmanship and courtesy, with full respect for their quarry
and a practical interest in wildlife conservation and the well
being of the countryside.
3. In making this submission, BASC has concentrated
on the lawful use of knives during shooting activities. Most people
who shoot in the countryside carry a knife as an essential part
of their equipment.
4. BASC supports the view that the public
needs to be protected from those who routinely carry knifes for
unlawful purposes. However, we believe that much of the current
legislation—which has developed piecemeal—is no longer
fit for purpose and requires urgent review. Equally the application
of the law by the police is often inconsistent and is all too
often based on the misconception that anyone who is found with
a knife in a public cannot have a good reason for doing so. Both
the police service and the Crown Prosecution Service needs better
guidance in order to able them to differentiate between wrongdoers
who carry knives and those who carry them legitimately.
5. Knives and other bladed implements are
carried by people who shoot in the countryside for the following
main purposes.
— Preparing game meat. It is important
to bleed and eviscerate a deer as soon as possible after death
otherwise the meat will be spoilt by decomposition of the blood
and fermentation of the stomach contents. (The same applies to
rabbits and hares).
— General utility. Cutting string,
cutting a stick, preparing tinder for a fire, cutting food etc.
— First Aid. A knife is an invaluable
tool whilst administering first aid—both human and canine.
— Larger bladed implements such as
billhooks and machetes are carried to clear rides in forestry,
for hedge maintenance and to build camouflaged hides from which
shooting takes place.
6. The following types of knives are routinely
carried.
— Hunting knives—fixed bladed
knives (up to about 6 long) with a wide variety of blade profiles.
Some knives incorporate a device known as a gut-hook. Whilst this
may give the knife a fearsome appearance, this is actually a safety
device which allows the user to make the initial incision in an
animal without risk of cutting the fingers or piercing the animal's
intestines.
— Folding pocket knives—eg Swiss
Army knives. There is a statutory defence for possessing these
items in public providing that the cutting edge of the blade is
less than 3 and that the blades are capable of being folded at
all times.
— Folding knives with locking blades—also
known as lock knives. The locking mechanism, engages automatically
when the blade is opened. In order to fold the blade again, a
catch has to be released. This is a safety device to prevent the
blade closing on the fingers and causing injury.
— Larger knives such as billhooks or
machetes—see 5 above.
— Specialist knives for dressing game
in the field.
— Multi-purpose tools which incorporate
knife blades, eg the Leatherman range of multi-tools.
— Rescue knives. These are special
knives designed to be opened with one hand. They often incorporate
a punch for breaking glass and are carried in 4X4 vehicles for
use in accidents when off road.
7. BASC's experience is that the majority
of knife crime is committed with kitchen knives. They are attractive
to criminals for the following reasons:
— Readily accessible (found in every
kitchen drawer).
— Inexpensive. The cost of a small
kitchen knife is minimal and examples may be bought for £1
or less. Specialist knives at 6) above are much more expensive.
— Available from a wide variety of
sources.
— Fixed blade—immediately available
for use without further action, eg unfolding etc.
The sharpness and flexibility of their blades
gives them a much greater potential to cause injury than any of
the knives listed in 6) above. For example a vegetable knife with
a 3 blade is capable of causing a lethal injury because it has
a good penetrator profile, is very sharp and its flexibility allows
it to be diverted around bone, eg the ribs. In terms of its blade
length, it is easily capable of penetrating vital organs in the
chest cavity or major blood vessels in the neck such as the jugular
vein or carotid artery. It is no accident that this type of blade
was chosen by the Royal Military College of Science (Cranfield
University) to develop the standard blade profile for testing
stab-resistant body armour. (The dramatic X-ray of the skull of
a teenager stabbed in a south London robbery clearly shows a kitchen
knife embedded in his skull. Daily Telegraph 1 October
2008).
8. The statutory defences for carrying a
knife—for work, religious observance or as part of national
dress—at Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 are
generally helpful and BASC supports their retention. However,
they are somewhat restrictive and would benefit from the addition
of a defence for carrying a knife whilst shooting wildlife as
part of estate management. Although most shooting takes place
on private land, the passage of the Countryside Rights Of Way
Act 2000 has seen an increase of shooting on land which is a public
place.
9. The general defence at Section 139(5)
of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 for a person to show that he
had "good reason" for possessing a knife in public is
also useful. However the reverse burden of proof does not sit
well within the English legal tradition. This creates a heavy
onus on a defendant (Godwin -v- DPP 1993) and even if the
Crown does not contradict any explanation offered, then the presumption
of innocence is not resurrected. In our opinion, this is not good
law. The case of DPP v Gregson 1993 requires that any defence
must be related to the specific place where a knife is used. This
is sensible as it provides evidence to reinforce the good reason.
(For an example when the police and the Crown Prosecution Service
failed to exercise proper judgement in a case where "good
reason" was the issue, see the Daily Mail 10 October
2008. Peter Drew—a gardener—was prosecuted for having
a scythe, two axes and knives in his van. When the matter came
to trial, the Crown offered no evidence. The learned judge (HH
Judge Darlow) directed the Crown to make a public apology to the
Defendant.)
10. BASC is aware of several cases where
the good reason defence has been claimed in relation to a knife
with a locking blade (see 6) above). This is often rejected out
of hand by police officers who mistakenly believe that lock knives
are prohibited weapons. In fact they can be freely sold, subject
to age restrictions. In some instances, people whose intention
in carrying such knives was entirely innocent, have been threatened
with prosecution or coerced into accepting a caution. (See the
case of builder Colin Read cautioned for possessing a small lock
knife. Metro paper 29 July 2008). This is probably as a
result of misunderstanding the cases of DPP v Harris 1993 &
DPP v Fehmi 1993. In what can only be described as a perverse
judgement, the Divisional Court ruled that for a knife to be considered
a folding knife, it had to be capable of folding at all times.
Again, this appears to be bad law, particularly when viewed in
light of the locking mechanism being fitted as a safety device.
As any immediate change in the law seems unlikely this becomes
a matter of training and advice for the police service. Officers
need to be steered away from the mindset that lock knives are
prohibited and need to be reminded that there is a defence of
good reason.
11. In Scotland where knife crime has reached
near epidemic proportions, the Scottish Government has decided
to licence the sellers of what it describes as "non-domestic
knives". Those who sell domestic knives are not subject to
the licensing requirement. BASC's view is that this is mere window
dressing, given that the majority of knives used in crime are
kitchen knives. Under current suggestions in the consultation
exercise on conditions for knife dealers, it would be unlawful
for a dealer to display a 2 bladed hunting knife in his shop window
but quite legal for him to show a kitchen knife with a 12 blade.
BASC confidently predicts that the Scottish Government's new laws
will prove ineffective in striking at knife crime and strongly
counsels against their translation to England and Wales.
12. From time to time, amnesties have been
held to encourage the surrender of knives and other bladed items.
The amnesty held in 2006 suggests that whilst these initiatives
may bring in large numbers of knives (c 90, 000) they have no
effect on knife crime. A 2006 report by the Centre for Crime and
Justice Studies at King's College London concluded that "The
amnesty has had a negligible impact on the opportunity for people
to carry and use knives in crime". During the five week amnesty
period, 23 fatal stabbings occurred and robberies involving knives
rose by 73%. On the strength of that evidence, BASC suggests that
it is inappropriate to hold any further knife amnesties.
13. BASC is committed to supporting those
who wish to own weapons of all types for heritage preservation.
On that basis we support those who collect bayonets, swords and
spears as collector's items and recommend that no further restrictions
be placed on these individuals. Existing law is more than adequate
to regulate the legitimate activities of this community.
14. BASC asserts that there is no evidence
to add any existing object to the Offensive Weapons Order 1988.
We recommend that this be subject to expert review to determine
if the items currently included within it pose any significant
threat to public safety. In making this recommendation we are
reminded of the unfortunate situation earlier this year where
the government was obliged to alter the definition of a "samurai
sword" after Home Office officials ignored expert advice.
The subsequent "U Turn", made after strong representation
from heritage and collectors organisations, demonstrated that
although government Ministers were prepared to listen, they had
been badly advised by their civil servants in the first instance.
There is a wealth of expert advice available—without charge—to
the government from the collecting community and BASC recommends
that an expert panel be created to ensure that this is made available
to Ministers. BASC holds itself ready to assist in this respect.
15. The law concerning knives has developed
on a piecemeal basis since 1953. Whilst it generally includes
proper checks and balances to protect the legitimate user and
punish offenders, it is complicated and widely dispersed. BASC
recommends that the provisions relating to knives found in a variety
of Acts should be drawn together in a consolidation act. Once
this has been achieved there should be a root and branch review
of the legislation to determine if it is fit for purpose.
16. Some commentators have suggested that
there should be mandatory custodial sentences for those convicted
of carrying knives in public without good reason. BASC does not
support mandatory sentences and believe that the trial judge is
the person best empowered to determine the appropriate sentence
for a convicted person. The concept of mandatory sentences does
not sit well with English law which generally requires that each
case be determined on its merits. This is particularly the case
where statutory and general defences exist. If a Defendant claims
a defence—in good faith—and it is rejected by the
court, he then faces a mandatory spell in gaol even though there
may have been no mens rea in the matter. This appears to be contrary
to natural justice.
17. Much of the law relating to knives is
directed to restricting access to certain specific types. BASC
believes that this approach is conceptually flawed. For example,
the ban on pistols in 1997 has made little impact on their use
in crime. Similarly, it is impractical to restrict kitchen knives,
the type of knife most used in crime. The correct approach is
to target inappropriate behaviour in order to deter the carriage
of knives—of whatever type—for criminal purposes.
Legislation which focuses on objects rather than those who misuse
them is doomed to fail. A multi-disciplinary approach is needed
rather than more restrictions.
18. For many people knives are simply tools
used for work or recreation. For others, they are valuable heritage
objects which merit study proper preservation. The legitimate
interest of these groups must be preserved whilst providing measures
which strike against those who use them in crime. The current
legislation appears not to be able to achieve this balance.
October 2008
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