UK Curved Sword Law

SUMMARY


Alongside members of the Antique Weapons Advisory Group, we have put together THIS GUIDANCE for the public and also to help police and other officials. There are many reasons why it is perfectly legal to own a curved sword, and these are essential to enable the continuation of sports, heritage displays, antique preservation and ceremonies.



It is illegal in the UK (under section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, most recently updated in September 2024) to own a curved sword with a blade over 50cm, but there are several EXEMPTIONS and DEFENCE EXEMPTIONS to this if the curved sword is either:


  • Antique weapons, over 100 years old, are EXEMPT from section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988
  • of historical importance
  • traditionally made
  • to be used for historical re-enactments
  • to be used for sporting activities
  • for use in film and theatre
  • possessed on behalf of a museum or gallery, or lent or hired by a museum or gallery for cultural, artistic or educational purposes
  • possessed for religious purposes
  • the blade is blunt (this is a new addition as of September 2024)


Any of these must be demonstrable. Some of these are more difficult to prove or demonstrate than others. My recommendation to people involved in martial arts, sport or historical re-enactment, is to have personal public liability insurance, or a membership card for an organisation with such insurance. This, alongside antiques, are probably the most cast iron and easily demonstrated defences/exemptions. This is also the easiest to prove to Border Force or Police.

In recent years, I have been contacted increasingly frequently by organisations and individuals in need of assistance in navigating the confusing and messy legislation on curved swords brought in by the Home Office in 2008 and 2019 (updated 2024). There is confusion among the Police, courts and hobbyists and sports, and I want to help reduce this. Very frequently I see examples of officials who simply do not understand or know the law. In their defence, it has changed many times in a short space of time, and not been well communicated by government.


This page is a useful first point of reference (though as of January 2025, is a little out of date already!):

https://nbcc.police.uk/business-support/knife-guidance/offensive-weapons-act


If you have found this page and work for a law firm or the police, and you need assistance, I might be able to help. I have so far provided advice to various police forces and several dozen law firms, to advise on the legality of specific curved swords (where they might be antique, traditionally made, or have another legal defence for ownership).


I now provide reports for law firms at a reasonable rate, and will work pro bono for the police in most situations. I am of course not a legal professional, but I am an antique and edged weapon professional, working with museums, TV/Film and other organisations. I can advise on any aspect of a sword's age, historical importance, or method of manufacture. I appreciate that even for lawyers, courts and the police, the current laws are very confusing, and I am now very acquainted with them (unfortunately!).


I cannot unfortunately provide individual advice to collectors, because I simply don't have the available time to respond to the volume of emails I get on this topic. Collectors should read everything on this page, see my videos, and acquaint themselves with the law as best they can.

Police and law firms can contact me at scholagladiatoriachannel@gmail.com 

Why the law needs to change: My opinion


The curved sword ban has had no demonstrable beneficial effect on violent crime since 2008, but has disadvantaged hundreds of thousands of people engaged in lawful hobbies, cultural & heritage activities, sports and businesses in the UK. Numerous businesses have closed down or moved abroad as a result. It also places a burden on Border Force, the Police and Magistrates' courts. In my opinion, it should be reversed to the pre-2008 status.


All officials I communicate with agree that this law is a mess and of negligible benefit to anyone, only creating confusion and higher workloads. It has done nothing to reduce knife crime (which has gone up!), and only inconvenienced law-abiding citizens and officials.


The tragic statistics made for hard reading (and the stats only seem to get worse with time) and the Home Office had to respond with new strategies. The politicians went for the easy-win low-hanging fruit of 'ban something', rather than looking to the fundamental causes of rising violent crime, such as poverty, gang culture, job opportunities, and the drugs trade. With decades of bans, knife crime has continued to rise. Sword/knife bans don't seem to work. It is time for new thinking and not simply repeating the mistakes of the past.


Every house contains readily-available kitchen knives and these are used in the vast majority of cases. Kitchen knives will always be available to criminals. Even the homicides carried out with zombie knives and machetes are dwarfed by the number carried out with kitchen knives:

Source data: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/appendixtableshomicideinenglandandwales?_ga=2.228027736.472681568.1719476530-1205554490.1719476530


Despite endless object bans, the available statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) do not seem to demonstrate that any of these strategies have worked:
"In recent police recorded crime figures published by the ONS which showed a 9% decrease in the number of knife and offensive weapon offences recorded from 38,728 in year ending March 2020 to 35,217 in year ending March 2021 followed by a 16% increase to 40,920 in year ending March 2022."

(source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/knife-and-offensive-weapon-sentencing-statistics-year-ending-march-2022 )


Swords are incredibly rarely used in murders and violent crime, yet they are used by literally hundreds of thousands of UK citizens in hobbies, sports and cultural activities. Statistically, swords are essentially irrelevant in recorded crime, to a similar degree as wood chopping axes available in hardware stores, and far less than things like kitchen knives or screwdrivers.


The government needs to drastically rethink their strategy and reverse some of the poor decisions of the last few decades. The government needs to stop punishing the law abiding, and deal with the causes of violent crime.



Who uses curved swords in the UK?

 

  • fencers (in schools, universities, holiday camps and clubs)
  • historical re-enactors (everything from medieval, to English Civil War, Napoleonic & Victorian)
  • martial artists (Asian and European martial arts)
  • actors and drama students
  • fight choreographers
  • stunt performers
  • theatres
  • movie sets
  • public displays (parades or shows)
  • museums
  • experimental archaeologists
  • artists and galleries
  • dancers (eg. belly dancing)
  • traditional Indian ceremonies
  • Collectors and researchers
  • Makers/sellers of Armed Forces parade swords (military are exempted, but not their families or suppliers)
  • The British Army and Navy (who are exempted, but not once they retire from service and still own their parade sword)
  • Retired Armed Forces officers
  • Police dress swords
  • Antique sword collectors, historians & researchers (antiques are exempt, but the police are not able to ID antiques themselves)

 

In addition to the above, there are many items which are not typically considered as 'curved swords', but which might get captured by this law, such as garden tools, like hedging bills, sickles, machete and pruning saws. Also large butcher, fishmonger and kebab knives, used in everyday work applications.

Regarding the defences, the .Gov website states: 

“Restricted offensive weapons may also be imported:


• for the production of films


Swords with a curved blade of 50cm or more may be imported where the weapon:


• was made before 1954

• was made by traditional hand sword making methods

• is only available for the purposes of use in religious ceremonies or for martial arts

• is for use in a historical re-enactments or sporting activity for example a martial arts demonstration for which public liability insurance is held”


(Source: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/import-controls-on-offensive-weapons )


Note that in September 2024 the law was updated to include a defence for blunt blades, meaning that no blunt fencing, theatrical or reenactment curved swords should be seized or treated as prohibited.


Antique Curved Swords


Antiques (over 100 years old) are explicitly exempt from the Offensive Weapon Act, and curved swords additionally have an explicit defence if made before 1954, or by traditional methods at any other time.


However, the police are not antique experts and they are known to have seized antique swords, which must then be identified by antique experts before they will be released back to the lawful owners. This causes a huge amount of expense, takes up administrative time in the legal system and for the police, and is very stressful for the legal owners. The UK antiques trade is the second biggest in the world after the USA, and we are also internationally renowned for our museums, heritage, castles, stately homes and archaeology. It is imperative that UK police stop treating antiques as illegal.


The 'spirit' of the law abused


While this law was intended to prohibit 'samurai swords', unfortunately the precise wording of the law after going through various committees means that it has been applied to all sorts of objects which are absolutely not 'samurai swords'. This is highly problematic for a wide range of professions, industries and hobbies, and indeed also for police and courts. For example, I myself write reports for solicitors on the legality of seized knives and swords, and in one case I have seen an antique French model 1866 Chassepot bayonet seized. This is NOT a curved sword, certainly not a 'samurai sword', and being antique is exempt from this law anyway. I feel that the original law was intended to be applied to 'samurai swords', not to European sabres, bayonets and various other objects which were never supposed to be prohibited.

Did you know?

 

  • MOST curved swords in the UK are legal to own, either for being antiques over 100 years old, or being traditionally hand forged, or by virtue of being blunt. Most curved swords are either antique, owned for sports and martial arts, or blunt replicas. These are all legal.
  • Curved is not defined AT ALL in the law. If a straight sword gets bent in use, does it become a curved sword and therefore illegal? This needs defining in law.
  • Certain types of garden, outdoor and trade tool can fall under curved sword laws, for example scythes (being curved blades over 50cm). Despite repeated calls to rectify this issue, the Home Office has not moved forwards with a defence for garden/agricultural tools.
  • Historical re-enactors use many types of curved sword, covering many historical periods, from the Roman era until the modern day. There are tens of thousand of such swords being used lawfully in the UK and they are intrinsic to British heritage.
  • Martial artists use both blunt and sharp curved swords for a wide variety of traditional cultural arts, from across the world.
  • Several types of Army and Navy officers' swords are curved, and while they are exempted when serving, they are not when they leave the service. Nor are their families exempted when buying them a sword as a gift.
  • Many famous statues are wearing or holding curved swords.
  • Many public shows and parades involve the carrying and display of curved swords. For example the Lord Mayor's Show.
  • Many of the most iconic characters from film and TV use curved swords. These must be manufactured and stored as props.
  • No mention in the law describes the material of the curved sword, so it could perhaps even be used to prohibit plastic or foam toy swords.



Elephant in the room: What are "traditional hand sword making methods"?

One of the legal defences for owning, buying, selling and importing curved swords is that the sword be made by hand, by traditional sword making methods. That is absolutely explicit in the words of the Act and is published on various government websites.


Tens or hundreds of thousands of swords have been imported under this legal defence, and have passed through HMRC, Border Force and the Police since this law was brought in, adding recognition, legal precedent and validity to that defence. I lieu of more specificity in the written law, we must rely on case examples and case law.


So, what exactly are traditional sword making methods?


Before we answer that question, it is important to note that various people have sought greater clarity on this point from the Home Office, but they have so far not shared any details more widely on the matter. It is therefore left up to us, the police and  the courts to establish a consensus.


This consensus has already started to solidify, thanks to the many thousands of swords which have been seized by Border Force and the Police, and subsequently released back to their owners when proof of traditional craftsmanship was demonstrated (at great time and cost to all involved unfortunately).


Traditional sword making in history:


Swords have been made by many diverse methods over the centuries, and these methods vary by both date and geography/culture.


However, there are some general features which absolutely everyone involved in the history of sword making would agree upon:


  • Sword blades are generally made of metal (usually iron, steel or bronze)
  • Iron and steel have been traditionally forged by hand or assisted by power/trip hammers for hundreds of years, but were also occasionally rolled in machines during the 1800s. Various types of steel have been used traditionally
  • Bronze blades have traditionally been cast in a mould
  • Once the approximate shape of the blade is achieved, the blade is usually worked on a grinding wheel, or filed, to bring it closer to the final form
  • Steel sword blades are often quenched (eg. in oil or water) to achieve hardness and often tempered to give resilience, though in a variety of ways dependent on the steel type and the culture. These various ways are all traditional and all historical
  • Once the final shape of the blade is achieved, the blade is usually polished, often with the assistance of machines
  • The hilt is then fitted to the tang of the blade and secured by various means
  • Finally the sword is sharpened


This is a very general and brief overview, but one of the important points to note is that for hundreds of years, various forms of machine have been involved in sword making around the world. Whether it was hand-operated bellows, water-driven trip hammers, or grinding wheels, or various forms of powered polishing devices. Steam power was also used extensively in the 19th century. Water, steam, gravity, animal and other forms of powered machine have been used in sword making since Roman times and perhaps earlier. The use of machines in sword making, or any traditional craft, is not new.


With the above in mind, it should be pointed out that the vast majority of swords being produced today in any country in the world are being made with 'traditional hand making' methods. Sword makers in Europe, China, Japan, India and Thailand, for some examples, are generally making sword blades by forging, grinding, polishing, hilt-mounting and sharpening by hand, in very similar ways that they have done for hundreds of years.


So perhaps the remaining question is, which are the curved swords NOT being made by hand according to traditional sword making methods? I am not sure. None of the sword manufacturers I work with use a modern form of sword production that is different to what people were doing 100, 200 or 500 years ago. Cost certainly does not dictate 'traditionally made', because workers' wages in China or India are on a very different level to those in Europe of course.


This question remains as an elephant in the room.


Here is a video of blade making in Sheffield, filmed in 1979, showing how knives were 'traditionally made by hand' then in the same way that they had been for hundreds of years. Below are historical examples from Europe and Japan, going back to the 14th century.

The Sept 2024 update to the Offensive Weapons Act 2019


In September 2024 the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 was updated to redefine what a 'zombie knife or sword' is. During that process, the useful opportunity was taken to clarify was 'traditionally handmade' covered, and also to add a new defence for blunt blades. This is great news, because it means that most blunt fencing, re-enactment and theatrical weapons now have a more robust and clear legal defence. This new defence and the addition to traditional manufacture was made for 'zombie knives', but also extended to cover curved swords with blades over 50cm.


For reference, here is is the text of the law (taken from https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/583/made )


  • 5D.—(1) It is a defence for a person charged—


(a)with an offence under section 141(1) or (1A) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988; or


(b)with an offence under section 50(2) or (3) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979,


in respect of any conduct of the person relating to a weapon to which section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 applies by virtue of paragraph 1(sa) to show that the weapon was made by hand.


(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), a weapon is made by hand if the making (including construction, finish and decoration) of the weapon is accomplished predominantly by one or more of the following methods—


(a)hand labour;


(b)manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design and finish of each part of each weapon (including the use of hand-controlled power tools).


  • 5E.—(1) It is a defence for a person charged—


(a)with an offence under section 141(1) or (1A) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988; or


(b)with an offence under section 50(2) or (3) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979,


in respect of any conduct of the person relating to a weapon to which section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 applies by virtue of paragraph 1(r) or (sa) to show that the weapon in question is blunt.


(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), a weapon is blunt if it does not have any of the following elements—


(a)a thin edge adapted to cutting;


(b)a sharp point adapted to piercing;


(c)any other element adapted to cutting or piercing.”

What do we want and what can you do?

Firstly, it's important that we all respect the law and the reasons it was put in place. We want to help reduce violent crime, where it is demonstrated that a law can help do so. We want to help upkeep the law and comply with it. 

We also don't want to see people convicted of a crime needlessly, where they believed they were acting lawfully. This can ruin lives and cause great damage to society, not to mention great cost financially and in resources for the administrative and legal systems.

We want to help reduce the very onerous burden that has been placed on officials such as the Police and Border Force, by finding ways of reducing their workloads in implementing this somewhat vague piece of legislation. 

We want to see the law and its administration clarified. The legislation is very poorly thought out and lacking in detail, especially when it comes to applying the legal defences. It is very ambiguous and captures items, people and activities that it was never supposed to. It means that a stage actor during lockdown, a school fencing club, or a retired Army General can be found in possession of prohibited Offensive Weapons. We believe that this is unfair not only to the public, but also to officials.

We want to keep carrying on with our popular and beneficial legal activities, such as fencing, re-enactment, shows and film making, without perpetual fear of prosecution. These are fantastic for personal well being, health and culture, as well as creating jobs, wealth and entertainment. Millions of people from around the world travel to see these cultural activities in the UK every year.

We call for curved swords to be REMOVED from the Offensive Weapons Act forthwith. The Act needs to be reviewed urgently by MPs and a select committee, to analyse any demonstrable benefits (if any can be identified at all), weighed against the drawbacks to the public, sporting and cultural activities, businesses and officials, in terms of rights, cost, time and stress.

We are open to input, suggestions and dialogue. We want to improve the currently confusing and contradictory legal situation that many of us are having to live with.

We welcome support and collaboration from people who these laws affect and interest. If you have anything to offer, from moral support by writing to your MP or the media, or by offering copyright free photos to the campaign, or legal advice, then please get in contact.

This is just the start.


Lord Clive 'of India', positioned between the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and His Majesty's Treasury, in Westminster, sporting a curved sword with a blade over 50cm long. Is a metal sword on a statue illegal? If Clive were alive today he would be breaking the law by owning a curved ceremonial sword:

Generic cover letter (Word doc) which you can tailor to your own needs for importing curved swords into the UK. You need to provide your own legal defence exemptions and show evidence of those. Your letter and documents should be attached to the OUTSIDE of the box to facilitate easier import.