Do something about knives

[vanhelds]

And do it now. Take a look at this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7877688.stm

What I find particularly disturbing is the slogans, platitudes and other sound bites that they trot out.

eBay, this is not about protecting your buyers. It is about protecting us - members of the public - from your buyers. And just because it is legal to sell lethal weapons on auction sites in the US, does not mean that you ought to be doing it.

eBid, you do not seem to be any better than eBay. I can pick up a potentially lethal carving knife for just £5.89, with no questions asked. Please do something about it.

Better still, ban the sale of knives altogether. These should be sold over the counter. At least then there is some chance that they will not end up in the wrong hands. Sure, not all knives are potential weapons. But I would prefer to put up with the inconvenience of having to buy my craft knives in a shop, rather than risk being shanked up by some teenager.

[madelaine]

I think this is a good idea.. sorry to those who sell kitchen or craft knives.

[kengillam]

Knives are available in every kitchen drawer in the country, so whilst I can understand the sentiment, it would have no practical effect to make knives only available for purchase through shops. It is education that we need, the breakdown of family values, lack of male role models in many homes are all contributing factors. Until respect is taught and if parents don't respect each other as seen in so many relationship breakdowns what message does that give children. Todas society is "All about Me" my wishes are paramount and I'm entitled to pursue them, even at the cost to others. Self discipline, sacrifice are sadly long forgotten.

[KIRSTRICH]

*Dons tin hat*


Why do the majority of honest, decent people have to be treated like criminals because of a lack of respect and disipline?

If I want to buy a knife, I should be able to do so without having to jump through hoops and wonder if others are expecting me to start running amoke and attacking people.

ANYTHING can become a lethal weapon if someone is seriously intent on doing harm.


*Leaves thread, taking soap box*

[PoppyGrove]

Whilst I agree with this in part - I hate the implication that if I should ever buy a new carving knife on eBid - that I would be branded a criminal because of it. Or should I have the need for a new craft knife - I am not able to buy it because the listing rules for knives is taken way beyond sensibility.

Lots of items can have the potential to become weapons - hat pins, any large solid ornament, stilletto heels, plastic food bags, even the common old rolling pin - to name some. Should there be restrictions on the sale of these??

A lady wearing large stoned rings on her hand can pack just as good a punch as a bloke with a knuckle duster. Does that mean that ladies are potential thugs because they wear rings??

It isn't the knife thats the danger - its the mind of the numbty that the knife is in - and as previously mentioned - its the education that is lacking - people learn by example and when all they see is violence and theft in their district, in newspapers and on the tv - its no wonder that there is as much violence as there is.

Its bad enough that the criminal has more rights than the victim, without making us all criminals because we want to carve our sunday roast with a new knife.

[raindropsies]

And do it now. Take a look at this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7877688.stm

What I find particularly disturbing is the slogans, platitudes and other sound bites that they trot out.

eBay, this is not about protecting your buyers. It is about protecting us - members of the public - from your buyers. And just because it is legal to sell lethal weapons on auction sites in the US, does not mean that you ought to be doing it.

eBid, you do not seem to be any better than eBay. I can pick up a potentially lethal carving knife for just £5.89, with no questions asked. Please do something about it.

Better still, ban the sale of knives altogether. These should be sold over the counter. At least then there is some chance that they will not end up in the wrong hands. Sure, not all knives are potential weapons. But I would prefer to put up with the inconvenience of having to buy my craft knives in a shop, rather than risk being shanked up by some teenager.

Sorry I mainly disagree with this, why ban the sale of all knifes? If you order a set of knifes from argos, qvc, tesco etc they are not sold over the counter if delivered to your home are they? Where will this stop? putty knives? first aid kits? screwdriver sets? protractor, compass stationary kits?
Common sense is needed I think

The only part I do agree with is stopping the sale of items that are banned by law in relation to knifes.

[damian_steele]

Let's ban the sale of house bricks.
Each year there are hundreds of accidents involving house bricks - some even result in deaths. Police figures show that house bricks have been used in crimes ranging from burglary to murder.

Let's also ban the sale of motor vehicles.
Each year there are thousands of accidents involving motor vehicles - many of which involve multiple deaths and long term injuries. Police figures show that motor vehicles have been used in a wide range of crimes from thefts to murders. Each year millions of pounds are spent on efforts to reduce the risk of injury to pedestrians from motor vehicles yet still thousands of lives are wrecked by these dangerous items.

Let's also ban DIY.
Each year, particularly around bank holidays, there are thousands of accidents - and some deaths - which have been caused by people attempting DIY. DIY is dangerous and involves the use of multiple potentially life threatening items, substances and practices. Despite millions of pounds being spent on trying to make DIY safer it still proves to be a real threat to our society.

While we're at it, let's also get rid of water.
Each year thousands of people require saving after coming into contact with water. This nasty substance has been cited as the cause of thousands of deaths, yet still millions of people expose themselves to its effects.


By now you probably either think I am an idiot or I have made my point.
It doesn't matter how much we legislate or how many things we ban, there will always be some people who use items in ways which harm other people. Guns were banned so the people in a quite limited number of areas started using knives. Remove the knives and they'll use baseball bats, cricket bats, golf clubs, bricks, screwdrivers, lumps of wood, crowbars, sledgehammers or something - anything - else.

[gazza]

A very tricky subject. Everyones input will be welcomed on this subject.
What sort of knives?
How do we determine when a knife should be allowed or not?
Do we put a blanket ban on all knives?

The most obviously deadly knives we have had a ban on for a long time off our own back but where do we set the limits.

Gazza

[bykimbo]

A very tricky subject. Everyones input will be welcomed on this subject.
What sort of knives?
How do we determine when a knife should be allowed or not?
Do we put a blanket ban on all knives?

The most obviously deadly knives we have had a ban on for a long time off our own back but where do we set the limits.

Gazza

The UK laws on sale of knives is already ridiculously restrictive, and imposes constraints only on the honest and law-abiding. As long as eBid does whatever it needs to do to stay within the law, I'd hate to see it go further than it has to in the spurious name of "safety".

[JudesNiceThings]

Richard Ambrose ( who I'm sure most people know represents Feebay T & S) has just stated on Watchdog, that feebay had 'make a mistake' in allowing illegal knives to be sold on their site.
He also stated that they would have a blanket ban on all knives except household cutlery "in a matter of weeks".