A utility knife is any type of knife used for general manual work purposes. Such knives were originally fixed-blade knives with durable cutting edges suitable for rough work such as cutting cordage, cutting/scraping hides, butchering animals, cleaning fish scales, reshaping timber, and other tasks. Craft knives are small utility knives used as precision-oriented tools for finer, more delicate tasks such as carving and papercutting.
A knife is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools. Originally made of wood, bone, and stone, over the centuries, in step with improvements in both metallurgy and manufacturing, knife blades have been made from copper, bronze, iron, steel, ceramic, and titanium. Most modern knives have either fixed or folding blades; blade patterns and styles vary by maker and country of origin.
The right to keep and bear arms is a legal right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, as well as hunting and sporting activities. Countries that guarantee the right to keep and bear arms include Albania, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Ukraine, Mexico, the United States, Yemen, and Switzerland.
In the United Kingdom, access by the general public to firearms is subject to some of the strictest control measures in the world. Subject to licensing, members of the public may own rifles and shotguns. However, most handguns have been banned in Great Britain since the Dunblane school massacre in 1996. Handguns are permitted in Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man which have their own legislation. Scotland imposes an additional licensing regime on airguns, which is not mirrored in England and Wales.
Brass knuckles are a melee weapon used primarily in hand-to-hand combat. They are fitted and designed to be worn around the knuckles of the human hand. Despite their name, they are often made from other metals, plastics or carbon fibers and not necessarily brass.
A switchblade is a pocketknife with a sliding or pivoting blade contained in the handle which is extended automatically by a spring when a button, lever, or switch on the handle or bolster is activated. Virtually all switchblades incorporate a locking blade, where the blade is locked against accidental closure when the blade is in the open position. It is unlocked by a mechanism that allows the blade to be folded and locked in the closed position.
A balisong, also known as a butterfly knife, fan knife or Batangas knife, is a type of folding pocketknife that originated in the Philippines. Its distinct features are two handles counter-rotating around the tang such that, when closed, the blade is concealed within grooves in the handles. A latch sometimes holds the handles together; typically mounted on the one facing the cutting edge.
The sgian-dubh – also anglicized as skene-dhu – is a small, single-edged knife worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress. Originally used for eating and preparing fruit, meat, and cutting bread and cheese, as well as serving for other more general day-to-day uses such as cutting material and protection, it is now worn as part of traditional Scottish dress tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the upper portion of the hilt visible. The sgian-dubh is normally worn on the same side as the dominant hand.
A ballistic knife is a knife with a detachable blade that can be ejected to a distance of several meters/yards by pressing a trigger or operating a lever or switch on the handle. Spring-powered ballistic knives first appeared in books and press reports on Soviet and Eastern Bloc armed forces in the late 1970s. Commercially-produced ballistic knives briefly gained notoriety in the United States in the mid-1980s after they were marketed and sold in the United States and other Western countries. Since then, the marketing and sale of ballistic knives to civilians has been restricted or prohibited by law in several nations.
A swordstick or cane-sword is a cane containing a hidden blade or sword. The term is typically used to describe European weapons from around the 18th century. But similar devices have been used throughout history, notably the Roman dolon, the Japanese shikomizue and the Indian gupti.
The kirpan is a curved, single-edged blade that Khalsa Sikhs are required to wear as part of their religious uniform, as prescribed by the Sikh Code of Conduct. Traditionally, the kirpan was a full-sized talwar sword around 76 cm in length; however, British colonial policies and laws introduced in the 19th century reduced the length of the blade, and in the modern day, the kirpan is typically manifested as a dagger or knife. According to the Sikh Code of Conduct, "The length of the sword to be worn is not prescribed". It is part of a religious commandment given by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, founding the Khalsa order and introducing the five articles of faith which must be worn at all times.
An assisted-opening knife is a type of folding knife which uses an internal mechanism to finish the opening of the blade once the user has partially opened it using a flipper or thumbstud attached to the blade.
A push dagger is a short-bladed dagger with a "T" handle designed to be grasped and held in a closed-fist hand so that the blade protrudes from the front of the fist, either between the index and middle fingers or between the two central fingers, when the grip and blade are symmetrical.
Knife legislation is defined as the body of statutory law or case law promulgated or enacted by a government or other governing jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, or restricts the otherwise legal manufacture, importation, sale, transfer, possession, transport, or use of knives.
An offensive weapon is a tool made, adapted or intended for the purpose of inflicting physical injury upon another person.
A gun buyback program is one instituted to purchase privately owned firearms. The goal of such programs is to reduce the circulation of both legally and illegally owned firearms. A buyback program would provide a process whereby civilians can dispose of illicitly owned firearms without financial loss or risk of prosecution. In most cases, the agents purchasing the guns are local police. A gun buyback program can either be voluntary, or it can be mandatory with penalties for failure to sell.
A grapefruit knife is a special type of knife designed specifically for cutting grapefruit. Grapefruit knives are small with a curved serrated blade, designed to hug the curves of the grapefruit. This is used to separate the outer edge of the segments from the rim of the fruit. The term "grapefruit knife" can refer to a type of knife with short, serrated twin blades about 2mm apart, used to separate the sides of each section from the dividing membrane. Some grapefruit knives incorporate both types, a double-sided curved blade on one side and the parallel twin blades on the other. Another type includes an angled tip and double sided serrated blade. When both types are used, the result is an intact-looking fruit with sections which lift out easily - especially if a "grapefruit spoon" is used.
The Criminal Justice Act 1988 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act addresses crimes related to acid attacks ; knife crime prevention orders; the sale of, delivery and possession of knives and other offensive weapons; and introduced further restrictions on firearms. It was introduced to Parliament as a government bill by Sajid Javid and Baroness Williams of Trafford of the Home Office.
The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which reformed criminal practice and procedure in Scotland. The act was intended to "modernise and enhance the efficiency of the Scottish criminal justice system".
