British police faced backlash on Tuesday over the case of an 18-year-old student who was handcuffed as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer falsely alleged a racist attack.
Swiss army knives are also permitted in most places thanks to their lack of locking mechanism, iirc there’s a specific law in place about locking knives of any length, but I’m not going to trawl through pages of constabularyspeak to find out.
In Germany the law regarding foldable knives is summed up as such:
If it can be opened with one hand AND is lockable, it’s banned, regardless of length.
It can be lockable, or it can be opened with one hand, but not both of these features at the same time.
But that doesn’t lead to a general permission.
Other restrictions might apply as well, due to some other characteristics. There’s just a specific ban for lockable knives with a one-handed opening mechanism.
And since there are varying sizes and features of Swiss army knives, you’d have to judge them based on the specific model.
But again: this is specific to Germany. Even different EU countries have sometimes very different laws.
Swiss army knives are also permitted in most places thanks to their lack of locking mechanism, iirc there’s a specific law in place about locking knives of any length, but I’m not going to trawl through pages of constabularyspeak to find out.
In Germany the law regarding foldable knives is summed up as such: If it can be opened with one hand AND is lockable, it’s banned, regardless of length.
It can be lockable, or it can be opened with one hand, but not both of these features at the same time.
But that doesn’t lead to a general permission. Other restrictions might apply as well, due to some other characteristics. There’s just a specific ban for lockable knives with a one-handed opening mechanism. And since there are varying sizes and features of Swiss army knives, you’d have to judge them based on the specific model.
But again: this is specific to Germany. Even different EU countries have sometimes very different laws.