The UK government’s recent move to ban “ninja knives,” often associated with rising street violence, has sparked debate about the root causes of such crime and the effectiveness of weapon-specific prohibitions. Critics argue that this approach fails to address the underlying issues of violence and instead places further restrictions on law-abiding citizens. They contend that if the UK were to allow its citizens to buy, own, and use guns for self-defense, the dynamics of personal safety would shift dramatically. The logic is straightforward: law-abiding individuals, armed with firearms, could deter potential attackers, reducing the incentive for criminals to carry knives in the first place, as the risk of encountering an armed victim would increase.

Proponents of this view point to countries like the United States, where gun ownership for self-defense is legal in many states, and argue that the presence of armed citizens can act as a natural deterrent to crime. In the UK, where strict gun control laws have been in place since the 1997 Firearms Act following the Dunblane massacre, the absence of legal firearms for self-defense has left citizens vulnerable, they claim. Criminals, who by definition do not adhere to laws, continue to access illegal weapons—whether guns or knives—while law-abiding citizens are left with few options to protect themselves. Allowing responsible citizens to own guns could level the playing field, potentially reducing the appeal of carrying a knife for criminal purposes, as the risk of escalation would be higher for would-be attackers.
 

However, this argument overlooks several complexities in the UK’s social and legal landscape. The UK’s low gun crime rate compared to the US—where gun violence is significantly higher—suggests that widespread gun ownership might introduce more risks than it mitigates, potentially leading to an arms race between criminals and citizens. Additionally, the cultural context differs: the UK has a long history of policing by consent and a public generally opposed to widespread gun ownership, with polls consistently showing strong support for strict gun control. Rather than addressing the root causes of knife crime—such as socioeconomic inequality, lack of opportunity, and mental health issues—the push for gun ownership as a solution might simply replace one form of violence with another, more lethal one. While the ninja knife ban may not solve the problem entirely, it reflects a broader strategy of reducing the availability of dangerous weapons, which could be more effective when paired with social interventions rather than introducing firearms into a society unaccustomed to their presence.