What are zombie knives and why has the UK banned them?

It might sound like something out of a horror movie, but it’s a very real danger. The British government has announced that it will ban the importation, manufacturing, sale and possession of so-called ‘zombie knives’.

‘Zombie knives’ are blades designed to look intimidating, akin to those seen in post-apocalyptic movies and television shows.

Machetes, as long as they don’t have a practical use, will also be banned under the new law.

Image: @frayb_ / Unsplash

The so-called ‘zombie knives’ were first added to the list of prohibited weapons in 2016, however, this was not seen as enough.

According to British newspaper The Sun, the current law restricts any knife that is more than eight inches (20 centimeters) in length with a plain cutting edge and sharp point or either possess a serrated blade or more than one blade hole.

The UK government also announced that the British Police have been given powers to seize and destroy blades that they reasonably believe that could be used to commit a serious crime.

The maximum penalty for the importation, manufacturing, sale and possession of these prohibited knives has gone from six months to two years.

The government crackdown on ‘zombie knives’ and machetes is a bid to try to decrease street violence in UK cities.

“Knife crime is appalling, it disproportionately affects young people and we should be doing everything we can to stamp it out”, decried Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as quoted by The Guardian.

“I’m pleased that knife crime is down since the pre-pandemic levels but we’ve got to keep going to root out this awful crime. Today’s powers will make a big difference”, the British PM added.

According to the BBC, the Labour Party criticized the measure, arguing there was still a loophole when it comes to online shopping.

Labour politicians accused the Conservative Party of failing to address the situation in the past few years, given the government’s instability, with five Prime Ministers since 2016.

London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley told the BBC that 60% of all murders in the British capital were caused by knives.

“60% of murders in London are knife enabled, and probably two-thirds of those are zombie knives and machetes”, Rowley declared to the BBC.

Overall, knife crime increased in the UK 9% in 2022, with some 45,000 instances of criminal offenses recorded by authorities.

With 282 knife-related homicides between 2021 and March 2022, fatal stabbings are at an all-time high in the UK since statistics began to be recorded in 1946.