Welcome back, today we talking about knife law in the United States compared with knife
law in the United Kingdom but first of all if you're just new to our legal community
I'm a practising barrister if you've got questions of your own make sure you like this video
comment down below and subscribe to the channel that helps me grow and make sure that you
don't miss out in future videos so there's a lot of debate as to whether knife law actually
reduces knife crime and I'm not really going to get into that debate today but what I would
like to do you just draw some comparisons between the United States and the United Kingdom
and obviously the law differs from state to state where as in the United Kingdom knife
law is broadly the same for everyone although there are some separate acts of Parliament
that relate to Scotland so starting with a recap of United Kingdom you'll remember from
my previous video it is an offence to carry a bladed appointed article without good reason
unless it comes within that exception of a folding pocket knife now let's compare some
of the laws in the United States first of all it will be useful to go through a bit
of terminology as to how the law is applied so will make more sense as we go through some
of the states the first term is carry law this dictates what you are allowed to carry
outside of your home next we have ownership law this might forbid something to own even
at home just as an ornament to look at next the law might refer to a fixed blade this
is as it sounds anything that doesn't fold so even kitchen knives will be considered
a fixed blade where is obviously a folding knife is self-explanatory it has some kind
of folding mechanism usually where the blade folds into the handle we have something kind
of in between that's an assisted opening knife that's a knife that does fold but it requires
some level of force to be able to open it using that be some kind of spring mechanism
that requires some level of force to open it and these were specifically exempted in
the switchblade act in 2009 coming onto switchblades is just a reminder that these are a form of
band knife in the United Kingdom but in the United States it's a little bit more complicated
United States various attempts to legislate for switch blades has generally created a
very slightly different definition of what a switchblade is and this has been made even
more complicated by the manufacture of such blades coming just barely within legal definitions
or just outside of the legal definition for example the 1958 federal switchblade act which
is the only federal knife law defines them as follows the term switchblade knife means
any knife having a blade which opens automatically either 1) by hand pressure applied to a button
or other device in the handle of the knife or 2) by operation of inertia gravity or both
so gravity knife as I explained in another video is a knife that comes out with some
kind of inertia movement or gravity so for example the blade is within the handled and
you flick the knife downwards or upwards and some kind of force or gravity movement inertia
makes the blade come out so that comes within this definition under the federal switchblade
act of a switchblade next we have Bowie knife which is just taken to mean any large fixed
blade knife made famous by the designs of Jim Bowie and it is generally made for fighting
this is now taken to be any form of large fixed blade stiletto knife is any kind of
long and thin knife which is designed for stabbing and finally a dagger this is taken
to be a knife that is sharpened on both sides one final definition is not a knife but it's
how the laws apply without getting too much into the differences between the legal system
in the United Kingdom and the legal system in the United States I will refer to statewide
pre-emption this is where the supremacy clause in the US constitution hold the matter is
of such national rather than local importance the federal laws will pre-empt or take precedence
over the local state laws another word where the supply is a state cannot pass a law that
is inconsistent with federal law so with those definitions in mind it might be interesting
to compare some of the state in the United States with the United Kingdom let's go so
first up Arizona drop your comments down below what you think as owner anything goes no critical
dimensions no restricted knives and concealment by individuals over 21 is not restricted but
there is a duty of disclosure although this doesn't apply to pocket knives there is a
statewide pre-emption in Arizona and deadly weapons may not be possessed in a polling
place on election day or on school rounds and there is no pocketknife exception for
school grounds or polling places on election day in Washington it's a gross misdemeanour
that is more serious than a regular misdemeanour be carrying with the intent to conceal some
kind of dagger all switchblade or gravity knife but as a minor exclusion here where
the blade is biased towards closure in other words it is more likely to want to close than
it is to open there is no statewide pre-emption in Washington and neither of course prohibited
in school if the state of New York where things get a little bit more complicated you see
in New York any knife can become a dangerous knife and result in a criminal conviction
there is no statewide pre-emption and the laws apply to both concealed and non-concealed
knives there are also various restricted knives such as switchblade ballistic knives cane
swords and things of this nature also the possession of daggers dirt stilettos machetes
dangerous knives all razors by anyone that intends to use them unlawfully against another
person New York is also a maximum blade length that applies of 4 inches in the state of Oregon
has no statewide pre-emption and the concealment of certain knives is prohibited for example
the concealment of any automatic knife assisted knife dirt or dagger are prohibited there
are no general restrictions on what knives you can own in the state of Oregon and again
of course knives are prohibited in schools in Nebraska the concealment of any knife over
3 1/2 inches is prohibited Rose encounters a person may carry a knife of any length whether
it's concealed or not of course with the common prohibition of having it on a school premises
or in jail or somewhere like that in Oklahoma possession and carrying a knife with a concealed
or not is again generally unrestricted in Texas there is no restrictions on concealment
although there is a maximum blade length of 5 1/2 inches unless specific conditions apply
in Minnesota concealment is not an issue and there are no specific restrictions on dimensions
and the list goes on with subtle variations here and there but the trend is that concealment
is generally not an issue except in certain states the size becomes an issue and obviously
the general provisions of having an inner school and certain places that would be obvious
but you shouldn't be carrying a knife generally apply in each of the states that I looked
at certain states have legislated to restrict certain kind of knives with the United Kingdom
has a long list of banned knives that I discussed in another video the outright prohibited you
can't own them you can't buy them you can't sell them this does bring us into the debate
as to whether or not strict knife laws will lead to lower knife crime the United Kingdom
has certainly taken the approach to heavily restrict the possession of knives and yet
the statistics show that knife crime is significantly rising that I don't have all the statistics
and even if I did I think it will be really difficult to draw hard conclusions between
legislating for knife law and knife crime statistics for example has been reported that
there's been a significant decrease in police stop and search which itself might be responsible
for the increase in knife crime is a popular interview question to anybody embarking on
a law degree or for a training contract or pupillage as we call them in the United Kingdom
these are training courses that are the final step towards becoming a practising lawyer
the question is often put in such a way to ask the interviewee to argue that legislation
does not help to reduce crime statistics I think when it comes down to it that this is
the real skill of a good lawyer any lawyer should be able to argue for or against a given
point of argument so I'm not here to say that the laws are too restrictive or not restrictive
enough or that they work or that they don't work or that it's better in the United Kingdom
or it better in the United States this debate could go on and run in circles for a long
time drug your comments below it interesting to read your thoughts and your arguments and
your experiences was a useful insight into the comparison between our respective legal
systems make sure you subscribe that really does help my channel growth let me know what
topics you want in the future thanks for watching and see you next time