• tal@lemmy.today
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      5 days ago

      This “Ninja sword” is apparently a straight sword:

      2.4. The legal definition that we tested as part of this consultation was as follows:

      A fixed bladed article with a blade between 14-24 inches (the length of the blade being the straight-line distance from the top of the handle to the tip of the blade) with:

      (i) A single straight cutting edge; and;

      It sounds like most katanas and such, what I think people probably normally think of when they think of a “ninja sword”, are already banned under existing legislation, as they’re curved-edge, rather than straight-edge:

      https://www.katanamart.co.uk/content/27-uk-samurai-sword-law

      Samurai and other curved Swords

      On April 6th 2008 a law came into effect banning samurai and other curved swords with a blade length of 50 cm or more; there are some exceptions for registered martial artists, re-enactors and even certain genuine Japanese swords.

      Here is to the law:

      https://www.gov.uk/guidance/import-controls-on-offensive-weapons#importing-knives-swords-and-other-offensive-weapons-into-the-uk

      An amendment to this act was passed, which came into effect on the 1st of August 2008. It allows curved and samurai swords which are handmade using traditional forging/production methods to be sold without a license.

      Apparently the Japanese did use straight swords for a while.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chokutō

      Maybe the issue here is that importers avoided their previous restrictions by selling straight swords, and they’re making a new class to catch those and for God-knows-what-reason are calling it a “Ninja sword”.