Jail for those who carry knives, mandatory???

[mccaugm]

David Cameron has suggested that due to the increase in deaths from knife attacks (especially in the young) that those who are found carrying such weapons will be prosecuted and jailed.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/200807...u-fa6b408.html

What are your thoughts on this subject????

[STUDMUFFIN]

how do you differentiate between fishermen, tradesmen etc? i agree wholeheartedly but there must be guidelines put in place

[teenybash]

Today we live in a society where there are little or no consequences for bad behaviour and wrong doing. This has played a role in breaking down the structures and obscured the guidelines that communities, society and nations need to keep them healthy and functioning.
It is time we got back to the basics of creating and living in a safe and rewarding environment...................Question is, where does one start in putting things to right....time will tell if David Cameron is on the right road... and not blowing hot air like the rest of the politicians.

[lassieinfife]

Unless someone needs a knife in order to carry out their daily jobs I see no reason why anyone else should need to carry a weapon,make no mistake,that is exactly what knives etc are........ time the knife wielding community were brought to book

[unicorn]

I absolutely think there should be a mandatory prison term, but if they want a weapon they will use a screwdriver, baseball bat, lump of wood, glass bottle anything they can. Are there even enough police to carry out the checks to make a difference?

[percy toboggan]

You need to be careful, because those who legitimately carry a knife can be caught up in this.
Let's face it, this is a London problem. And over proportionately it's a problem of one particular 'communit-eee' .
Go in hard. Re-introduce stop and search. Jail those who are in posession whatever their background.

Wannabee gangstas and the real thing -whatever their ethnicity are becoming a menace in the capital (London) so the only cure is to sweep the streets and remove them from society.
I'd introduce manadatory third world service for a period of two years, preferably in some AIDS ridden African hell hole then some of these creeps could realise how lucky they really are.... and they'd have to pass a medical, and an intelligence test before re-admittance.

Contribute constructively...or ship out.

[percy toboggan]

Meant also to say the poll questions are poor, simplistic, and ill thought out. Sorry.

[MadPict]

Have to say that someone carrying a multitool (Leatherman, Gerber, Victorinox) would fall into this catch-all offence even if they were on the way to do some fishing or other task where they would have a use for such a tool.

So, would a adult walking down the street being stopped and found with a multitool on them, be treated differently to some teenager with a hoody and gang paraphernalia skulking around street corners? Not under this proposal apparently.

I would say that the punishment for youths carrying weapons needs to be reinforced - warnings or community service are not deterrent enough.

[Angela]

I would dearly love to see any legislation in place that would reduce the waste of (usually young) lives from knife crime. It's been a problem in parts of Scotland for long enough, usually fuelled by excessive alcohol consumption. A fist fight might end in a bloody -and maybe broken -nose, but when someone's carrying a knife the results all too often prove fatal.

About ten years ago, a young man, a student, was knifed during the night and left to bleed to death outside our house in a quiet part of town. I'll never forget that.

It doesn't need to be a knife of course -a glass bottle, a screwdriver, a hammer...where do you stop? Many tradesmen do quite legitimately carry tools which can, in certain circumstances, become a lethal weapon. A friend of ours got into trouble when he was routinely searched going into a football match - he's a middle aged joiner and had forgotten he had a chisel in his inside pocket...a more peaceful individual you couldn't imagine.

It's all well and good to say we need a law to combat a specific type of crime, but it needs to be a good law, a fair law, and one that the judiciary can implement.

As to jail -well, our prisons are already stuffed full. I'm not sure that the thought of a prison sentence, or indeed a spell in prison, would necessarily be much of a deterrent.

Sorry - I can't choose an answer to the poll as the questions stand.

[mccaugm]

Meant also to say the poll questions are poor, simplistic, and ill thought out. Sorry.

Thanks for that. The questions were based around the news item. I am aware that there are jobs where knives are needed and in this case exceptions must be made. The questions are just to get some debate going which is exactly what has happened.