Offensive Weapons Bill

Although it attracts much less attention, a lot of an MP's time is spent on detailed scrutiny of proposed new laws. Currently I am serving on the Offensive Weapons Bill committee, scrutinising proposals for new offences relating to knives and corrosive substances (such as acid attacks). The bill is a mixture of reserved and devolved competencies, and part of it is a response to the murder of Bailey Gwynne at a school in Aberdeen by a 15 year old who had purchased a knife online and had it delivered to a garden shed. This prompted calls from the Scottish Justice Minister for work to tighten laws on online purchase of knives, and this has been responded to alongside other welcome measures to prevent possession of corrosive substances such as acids in a public place.
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You can find out more about that work here - https://services.parliament.uk/…/2017…/offensiveweapons.html

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