Knives are heavily regulated and <sorta'> banned in the UK. I only know this because straight razors (shaving razors) are generally 3 1/2" long and the limit on at least some knife regulations kicks in at 3" long. In buying or selling straights going to or coming from the UK, it is always a risk that the someone official on the UK side will discover what it is and it is never seen again.
From an American point of view, this sucks because we are generally trying to buy old razors, and quite a few of them are prized and somewhat valuable.
The odd thing about it is that a straight razor has not ever been used in any crime that I know of and would make a truly terrible weapon; a straight unlikely to do great damage 'cause it will just pivot back, is as likely to damage the holder as the intended victim, and cannot be used for any type of plunge cut no matter what. Then again, I guess if they were accepted, they would instantly be the weapon of choice and one- thousand ways would be found to alter them and make then useful as a weapon.
Brian
Yep. So then knives are banned. So then they switch to cars and just running over people. So next you can ban those...
Axes, tire irons, baseball bats, brass knuckles, slingshots, box cutters, razor blades, rocks, ballpoint pens, hands.... so many wonderful things to be banned! Eventually it will just be war with pudding.