Elwood Shelton

England has had an uptick in knife crime in recent years, including the horrible incident costing three young girls their lives in Southport. Certainly, crime of any kind deserves scrutiny and solutions so that society can conduct its daily affairs in a safe and secure environment. Unfortunately, it’s never the calmer heads that prevail when dark winds blow.

Case in point, the utterly asinine suggestions emanating from the host of a BBC documentary on UK knife crime.

From the New York Post:

“Actor Idris Elba announced amid his forthcoming knife crime documentary that the United Kingdom must consider “innovative” prevention methods such as blunting or banning knives.”

Let that sink in… blunting or banning knives. And he’s not talking about neutering simply what might be considered “scary” knives—tactical fixed blades, karambits and the like. No, it’s the whole megillah.

He said in the Post article:

“The truth is that kitchen knives are perhaps 25% of the knives used in most terrible crimes. That’s one of the stats in the film. And those kitchen knives are usually a domestic situation,” Elba warned. “So kitchen knives… of course, it’s very difficult. They’re a domestic knife.”

This walks hand in hand with other extreme actions that have taken place in England regarding knife sales. One of the more atrocious, ID requirements and live video sales to purchase knives online. Why, the next thing you know there’ll be a proposal for licensing knives.

Well, you don’t have to wait long for that either.

Elba thinks this might be the panacea for his country’s woes, banning nearly everything, and licensing those scant few deemed worthies to own their family’s cherished sword or knife.

“So let’s ban them all, and if you have one of those knives, get a license for it,” he suggested of people wanting to keep family heirloom swords. “Simple as that.””

And if you think this sentiment is contained to one crackpot actor, well you’d be wrong.

According to The Telegraph:

“A ban on the sale of pointed kitchen knives has been backed by the Church of England, judges, top trauma doctors and psychiatrists, the police and victims as they argue that it would make life-threatening injuries far less likely.”

It’s unfortunate England has endured an uptick in knife crime, yet this isn’t the license for it or certain segments of it to go off the deep end. I know it might sound crazy, but perhaps the English should address the root of the problem—the perpetrators.

The harsh truth is this: no amount of blunted blades, banned kitchen knives, or bureaucratic licensing schemes will stop individuals hell-bent on violence. You can’t legislate evil out of existence by targeting inanimate objects. England doesn’t have a knife problem—it has a people problem. A system problem. A failure-to-act-when-it-matters problem.

Axel Rudakubana—the perpetrator of the Southport killings—wasn’t some shadowy figure hiding in the margins; he was a neon warning sign flashing in plain sight. Reported repeatedly, known to authorities, radiating red flags—and yet, nothing substantial was done. But instead of holding systems accountable for their glaring incompetence, the knee-jerk reaction is to demonize cutlery.

Blaming knives for violent crime is as absurd as blaming spoons for obesity. The issue isn’t the tool; it’s the hands that wield it—and the institutions that refuse to act until it’s too late. England doesn’t need another ban. It needs accountability, courage, and the will to confront the real problem: violent individuals, not the utensils in their kitchens.

More on Knife Laws:

• Why Are Switchblades Illegal?
• Three Ways to Support Knife Law Changes
• Massachusetts Supreme Court Strikes Down Switchblade Ban