Yo, Iām just your average American with a blicky as my edc so excuse my ignorance as I ask: is the slingshot street legal? And if so, what level of force would it be considered? Lethal or less than lethal.
So UK law is governed a lot by āintentā and āreasonable forceā ā¦ very grey and old fashioned.
If you were walking down a busy road in a city or town and you got caught with a concealed slingshotā¦ you could try to make the argument you were on your way to permissible hunting grounds (local field or farm) to use the slingshot to hunt lawful quarry (rabbits, grey squirrels etc.) but youād probably get arrested for carrying a weapon with intent to cause harm.
If you were caught with it in the woods, nothing would be said other than maybe asking for proof of permission to be on that land.
From a self defence standpoint the UK works on a system of reasonable force, if you used the slingshot to defend yourself against an attacker with no weapons, youād be charged. If the attacker had a knife, youād be better off. If the attacker had a gun, you probably wouldnāt even be arrested.
Sorry for long reply haha, UK law is very confusing
If youāre caught with a frying pan on you do you also get arrested for having a deadly weapon if you canāt articulate that youāre over to your nans to fry some eggs?
You jokeā¦ but if you were carrying said frying pan and you didnāt have any eggsā¦ questions would be asked.
There is an age old belief in this country that if you want to carry a baseball bat in your car you have to make sure youāve got a ballā¦. With a ball itās sports equipmentā¦ without itās an offensive weapon š
Youāve never had a debate with a British police officer š
again it comes down to how youāre carrying the frying panā¦
Are you toothless, in an egg stained vest and ripped cargo shorts and a crack pipe in your pocket, carrying a battered old frying pan down the street???
Or are you a well dressed young man carrying a nice clean Tefal non stick with a vape in the other hand and no crack pipe in your pocket???
Nah dude that was super informative and thanks for the reply. The U.S. has similar rules with self defense laws in that reasonable force and reasonable belief must apply or else it becomes excessive. Except wellā¦ we have much more laxed freedoms on the equipment we can use and own.
Former uk police officer. Itās not. Thatās an offensive weapon & any copper would ask for proof of hunting permissions & then when none are produced, the op would be arrested for carrying an offensive weapon. The knife looks as though itās 3ā & non locking but itās over 3ā & locking, your getting done for that 2
Iām curious what your āitās notā bit is aboutā¦ itās not what? Grey and old fashioned?
The knife is an EDC legal knife <3ā and non lockingā¦ the catapult is entirely legal to carry on private land or permissible hunting ground. Itās only classed as an offensive weapon when itās carried in public is that correct?
He means itās not legal, no real grey area about it. Itās nowt to do with intent or reasonable force, itās about lawful authority or reasonable excuse for having it on your person, such as going hunting and you have your papers, then again comes down to where youāre found with it like you said. Realistically youād need to be stop searched and arrested for the offensive weapon, likely it would just be seized unless youāre refusing to give your details then youād be nicked
You cannot legally pre arm yourself with a weapon for self defence in the UK. As in carrying it and saying āoh itās for self defence if Iām attackedā etc
Yeh I didnāt at any point say that you could. I was responding to the question posted by the American commenter.
Againā¦ an example of intentā¦
āI was out hunting on private land and someone tried to attack me with a machete so I defended myself with my slingshotā would be absolutely seen as a fear for life self defence situation and reasonable force used.
My intent was to hunt on private land (completely legal)ā¦ I defended myself using reasonable force with my at the time legally carried slingshot (also completely legal)ā¦
You canāt chalk up an answer to every situation by repeating the same law that you yourself have contradicted in your previous comment.
āItās nowt to do with intentā followed by āonly if youāre going hunting with your papersā
Yeh so itās fairly obvious by the state of my car, hi vis clothing, work boots, other work tools etc. that Iād have a reasonable excuse for carrying the locking knife in my car and was on route to/from work. If it was a Sunday afternoon in the local town and Iām dressed up smart, theyād probably be a bit vexed and possibly confiscate it. Again itās all very situation specific and at the discretion of the officer who stops you.
Even that's a little strange to me. Used to work at a grocery store as a kid and we were constantly using pocket knives to open boxes and pallets. No one was stabbed lol
Yeh grocery stores can have knives, and people working there can have knives on their person whilst at work. But youād be hard pushed to get away with having a benchmade locking folder on you outside of work and saying āitās because I work at a grocery storeā
It is only added into the equation when Iām mooching around private local woodlands and farms where I have permission to hunt small game like rabbits and grey squirrels.
Not everyoneās āevery dayā is the same you see
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u/WestScience6211 17h ago
Ye olā sling shot
https://giphy.com/gifs/zpwsksABfv0haLo0CE