Now in force, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019’s responsibilities on retailers and delivery companies during the online sale and delivery of knives and corrosives, as packages containing these items are now only handed over to the recipient when it has been verified that the customer is over 18. The sale of corrosive substances is now banned to anyone under the age of 18.
The Home Office has also made possessing a corrosive substance in a public place an offence. Home Office Minister for Crime and Policing, Kit Malthouse, said: “Too many lives have already been lost to youth violence and we are doing everything we can to stop young people accessing, carrying and using dangerous weapons. The measures coming into force today will help prevent these weapons getting into the wrong hands and will give the police extended powers to ensure that potentially dangerous weapons such as knives and acids are taken off our streets.”
And Graham Wynn, Assistant Director for Consumer, Competition and Regulatory Affairs at the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said: “The BRC has been working closely with the Home Office and welcomes the commencement of these measures introduced in the Offensive Weapons Act. We have been working with retailers to ensure they are ready to implement the guidance. We strive to protect the public and close all loopholes which allow young people to access prohibited products and this guidance will support us to do this.”
Laws around the possession of knives or offensive weapons on school premises have been extended to cover sixth form colleges and other further education colleges as well. Also included in the law change are enforcement powers for trading standards bodies.
Ben Kinsella’s Trust CEO Patrick Green said: “Knife crime has an impact on us all, and it is vital to do all we can to remove knives from our streets. The importance of this act in helping to do this cannot be overstated. It will put in place measures to ensure that irrespective of whether you buy a knife on the high street or online, you will be subject to an age verification process. Alongside this, the act will also ban the sale of some dangerous knives and increase police powers to seized knives. These are critically important changes to the law that will help in our fight against knife crime.”
