He said there would be exemptions for people out fishing, which was obviously our first concern too
Knife crime is a huge issue across the country, there is no doubt about that, but perhaps Conservative MP Scott Mann hasn’t quite dreamt up the solution we were all hoping for.
While the debate has so far been focused on, among other things, police funding, gangs, and drug trafficking, the representative for North Cornwall reckons every knife in the country should be monitored by GPS, presumably so the location of a stabbing could match up with a particular knife and owner.
“Every knife sold in the UK should have a GPS tracker fitted in the handle,” he tweeted.
“It’s time we had a national database like we do with guns. If you’re carrying it around you had better have a bloody good explanation, obvious exemptions for fishing etc.”
Every knife sold in the UK should have a gps tracker fitted in the handle. It’s time we had a national database like we do with guns. If you’re carrying it around you had better have a bloody good explanation, obvious exemptions for fishing etc.
— Scott Mann MP (@scottmann4NC) March 14, 2019
The thing is, people carrying knives around with them already require a “bloody good explanation” as possessing an offensive weapon without excuse or lawful authority is punishable under Section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953. The maximum sentence for being found guilty of this crime is four years in prison.
That’s before we get onto the fact that every home, restaurant and bar in the country possesses multiple knives, all of which will need an expensive tracker buried inside it.
In summary, the tweet at time of writing has a damning ratio of 150 retweets, 250 likes… and 1,600 replies – many of which said Mann’s comments are straight up Alan Partridge. We won’t argue with that.
