Law change bans having deadly weapons in Hucknall and Bulwell

Tougher laws are now in force banning people in Hucknall and Bulwell from having deadly weapons, including ‘zombie’ knives, even in their own homes.
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It is now an offence to possess certain items such as knuckledusters, throwing stars, zombie knives, butterfly knives and telescopic truncheons due to changes in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019.

Previously possession of these weapons was only an offence if they were taken out in public.

Other sections of the act include an updated definition of flick knives to reflect changes in weapon designs, and the banning of private possession of flick knives and gravity knives.

New tougher laws are now in effectNew tougher laws are now in effect
New tougher laws are now in effect

Nottinghamshire Police has vowed to utilise the powers as they will allow officers to take even more deadly weapons out of circulation in Nottinghamshire and drive down knife crime even further.

Chief Inspector Kathryn Craner, Nottinghamshire Police’s knife crime lead, said: “I very much welcome these additional powers which will ensure we are even better equipped to tackle knife crime, enable us to take even more potentially deadly weapons out of harm's way and prevent them from getting into the wrong people’s hands in the first instance.

“Our officers have quickly been brought up to speed about these changes and will be making full use of the legislation during their proactive search activity.

"It will bolster the tireless work we do all year round with our partners to crack down on weapon-related crime and violence and to protect the public.

“The impact of knife crime can be devastating are we are absolutely determined to use all the powers at our disposal to keep violence levels down.

“Early intervention is vital and we continue to work hard to educate vulnerable young people about the dangers of knife crime and encourage them to make good life decisions, diverting them away from violence and criminality."

Other changes to the law will start later in the year, and will bring in new provisions for the control of goods sold online, as well as placing responsibility on to delivery companies to conduct age verification at delivery stage.

These important developments will help to address the growing issue of online sale of knives.