Knife sale licensing plans must be axed

The Home Office wants to put police forces in charge of a proposed licensing regime for the sale of all knives, warns Conor O’Gorman.

I have seen plenty of eyebrow-raising government proposals over the years. Many never saw the light of day. Often, this was thanks to intervention by BASC. Near the top of that list is a current unworkable Home Office proposal. It would subject hundreds of thousands of people and businesses to an unnecessary and costly licensing regime. It will likely fail to address knife crime.

Just before Christmas the Home Office launched a consultation. It is on a proposed licensing system for businesses and private sellers of knives and bladed items in England and Wales. It closes on 24 February (News, 14 January). It will cover the sale and import of every type of knife and bladed item. This includes cutlery sets, kitchen knives, gardening tools, antique knives, and importantly to us, the various knives we use in shooting, fishing and other countryside activities.

Delusional

The consultation documentation asserts that “the best body to administer the licensing system for knife and bladed article sellers is the police”. It also states that “the police have the relevant experience of running the firearms licensing scheme for registered firearms dealers and can carry out the relevant suitability checks”. Given the state of firearms licensing, this is delusional stuff. And it gets worse.

The mooted charges to achieve full-cost recovery per licence range from £250 to £466 for a three-year period. They would apply to both face to face and online sales. That might be reasonable for the likes of Tesco. But what about everyone else?

Let’s say you are a parent wishing to sell on an unused Thomas The Tank Engine cutlery set for £2 online. Will you need to apply to the police for a £250-£466 selling licence? If you are selling that set at the school fundraiser will you also have to pay a possible admin fee of £30 per event attended? It is ridiculous, yet there has been very little in the news on this.

If you are selling knives at dozens of trade fairs and country shows annually, those admin fees will stack up.

Putting disproportionate costs to one side, the last thing the trade needs is yet more costly red tape. It would be managed ineffectively and inconsistently by 43 separate police forces in England and Wales. If these knife sale licensing proposals were delegated to firearms licensing departments, it would certainly be an effective way to destroy an already fragile system. This is without even considering proposals in the mix to merge shotgun and firearm licensing systems.

A Local Government Association briefing for a House of Commons debate on knife crime in October 2025 stated that the rise in knife crime has been attributed to a wide range of factors. These include social inequality, gang-related activities and reductions in youth services.

When the consultation launched, BASC emailed its trade members asking for feedback. Suggestions included a code of conduct for knife sellers. They also included better education for enforcement agencies, traders and the public on what the existing rules are.

Social issues

It was pointed out that the estimate of 50,000 licences in the consultation is too low. It is more like 250,000. Also, licensing is the easy option so the Government can be seen to be doing something. It is also a potential cash cow for the police. However, it ignores the underlying social issues around knife crime.

Also, targeting sales ignores the obvious uncontrollable ease of access to knives in every home in the country. These number in the hundreds of millions.

BASC opposes the Home Office proposals, given concerns about the impact on the trade. This is especially the disproportionate burden that licensing fees and paperwork would have on smaller retailers and private sellers of handmade, bespoke knives.

If the Government wants to tackle knife crime, it needs to drop these proposals. It must address the root causes of some young people using knives as weapons.

The consultation runs until 24 February and if you are impacted I would encourage you to email your response to KnifeLicensingConsultation@homeoffice.gov.uk making it clear that you oppose the licensing proposals and why. Please copy me into your response at conor.ogorman@basc.org.uk

Is a Government proposal to license knife sales simply an easy way to been seen tackling crime?

Dr Conor O’Gorman is BASC’s head of policy and campaigns. He has over 25 years of experience in conservation and land management and a keen interest in wild grey partridges. Contact him at: conor.ogorman@basc.org.uk