'It's a stunt' caller brands weapons buy back scheme 'garbage'
11 December 2020, 07:45 | Updated: 11 December 2020, 15:37
'Two quid wouldn't cover the bus fare to the police station'
"Stunt" was how this caller branded a scheme by police to offer compensation in exchange for handing in certain offensive weapons.
Caller Dominic told LBC he thought a scheme by police across the UK to buy banned weapons was "a load of garbage" branding the move a "pantomime to keep the pearl clutchers happy."
He said the "kind of people who carry flick knives, knuckledusters, bats, on the street are not gonna hand them in for two quid, that wouldn't cover the bus fare to the police station."
The conversation comes after owners of weapons including zombie knives and knuckledusters are being offered compensation to hand them into police.
Items soon to be outlawed when the Offensive Weapons Act comes into force next year can be surrendered under a three-month Government scheme in England and Wales launched on Thursday.
It was already illegal to possess a knife or offensive weapon in public, but the new law makes it unlawful to possess certain rapid firing rifles, specific types of knives and other offensive weapons in private.
The list includes zombie knives, cyclone knives, knuckledusters, death star knives, flick knives, gravity knives, batons, disguised knives, push daggers and other offensive weapons.
Lawful owners can claim compensation for handing them in to police if the total value of the claim is more than £30.
A form available on the Government's website values a knuckleduster at £2, a zombie knife at £10, a blowpipe at £14 and a lever release .308 rifle at £5,105.
