Ninja sword ban will 'impact limited number of situations', warns crime commissioner
Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber has criticised the decision to ban ninja swords as he says most weapons used are 'normal household knives'.
It comes after the Home Office introduced new legislation which came into force at the start of this month, meaning it is now illegal to possess, manufacture, import or sell ninja swords in England and Wales.
Anyone caught in possession of this kind of weapon in private could face six months in prison, to be increased to two years under the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill.
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Those caught with a ninja sword in a public place already face up to four years in jail.
But Mr Barber warned that 'we should not lose sight of the fact that most weapons used by criminals are normal household knives'.
In a statement issued on Saturday, August 2, he said: "Whilst this new ban will make a difference in providing the police with additional powers to remove these deadly weapons, we should not lose sight of the fact that most weapons used by criminals are normal household knives.
"Dealing with individual types of weapons is helpful, but there is no substitute for a robust policing response and continued work to prevent people carrying knives in the first place.
"The ban will undoubtedly assist the police in keeping our streets safe, but the new legislation will only have an impact in a limited number of situations.
"We should be cautious of governments, of all shades, seeking to create the impression of action through announcements and bans, rather than applying a razor-sharp focus on tackling the root of the problem.
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"In Thames Valley I have deliberately focussed our efforts on knife possession to ensure robust police enforcement and early intervention to prevent young people carrying weapons."
The ban on ninja swords is the first part of the government's manifesto commitment to introduce Ronan's Law, and latest step under the pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade.
It comes after at least a thousand deadly weapons were handed in following the country's largest weapons surrender scheme.
A knife amnesty bin (Image: TVP) Launched in June, the Home Office developed this scheme with members of the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime to provide a broader range of ways the public could surrender weapons outside of police stations.
This saw Faron Paul, CEO of FazAmnesty, driving a custom built and fully secure surrender van, across London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, and Words4Weapons supplying 37 new surrender bins, all funded by the Home Office.
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