Violent Crime Reduction Bill

moved Amendment No. 132:"Page 40, line 31, leave out subsection (2)." The noble Earl said: Clause 38 proposes to raise from 16 to 18 years the age at which knives, and so on, may be sold to young people. The amendment would leave that age at 16 while accepting the remaining amendments to the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The provision in that Act relates to selling,"““any knife, knife blade or razor blade . . . any axe, and . . . any other article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed and which is made or adapted for use for causing injury to the person””." There is an exemption for small folding pocket knives and razor blades in cartridges. Within the prohibition will be household and kitchen knives. Many young people are married or cohabiting before they reach the age of 18 and will be prevented from buying their own table knives. Knives as diverse as putty knives, trimming knives, butchery knives, kitchen knives and skinning knives, together with axes and possibly tools such as chisels, are used by trainees in skilled occupations, such as chefs, plumbers, joiners, butchers, gamekeepers, stalkers and many more. Trainees in many trades, like the old-fashioned apprentices, are required to buy their own tools progressively as they near qualification. All these people and many more simply will not be able to do the job without a knife. Trainee gamekeepers and stalkers must have a knife for gutting, skinning and general use. The 17 year-old gamekeeper who holds a shotgun certificate will be able to walk into a gun shop and buy shotguns and cartridges, but will not be able to buy a new skinning knife. It will not be an offence to give a knife to a young person, so both those who need their knives for trade purposes and those who will use them for crime will be able to get an adult to purchase a knife and then hand it on. While the change will inconvenience the law-abiding it does not seem likely to affect criminals. The evidence quoted about knife crime in the regulatory impact assessment is incomplete and, in particular, does not identify the type of knife used. Anecdotal evidence indicates that knives used in crime are likely to be kitchen knives, hobby knives such as a Stanley knife, or home-made knives. Something as common as a Phillips screwdriver is particularly well suited to this purpose. Hobby knives appear to come into and out of fashion, but feature significantly in crime. Any young person wishing to carry a knife for use in crime has merely to walk into his own kitchen to be well armed. The proposed restriction will not impact on knife crime, but will be a cause of considerable difficulty and embarrassment to those in the affected age group. There is no justification for raising the age limit which, at present, coincides with the age at which many of those mentioned above will leave school. If it is to be raised despite that, it should be set at 17, in line with the general consensus on ages for firearms, imitations and so on. I beg to move.