Rejected petition Make "going equipped" with a weapon, a serious crime equivalent to manslaughter.
Change the existing laws on possession of bladed implements and firearms to include the element of intent, when carrying any such weapon in public. Successful prosecution for such offences should carry custodial sentences.
More details
We have existing laws of "going equipped" for theft, stealing, burglary, to create criminal damage etc.
UK society is becoming more violent with increasing numbers of stabbings and deaths involving the use of weapons, particularly knives. Any person carrying a weapon should be treated as having intent to use it. "Defence" is no excuse. They should be facing penalties similar to that of manslaughter. Eg. up to 6 years confinement, or more. Non custodial sentences are inadequate.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.
We think you want the Government to replace existing offences relating to the possession of offensive weapons with a new offence of "going equipped" with a weapon, but it's not clear how you want this to be defined. Your petition says this offence should include the element of intent, but then goes on say that any person carrying a weapon should be treated as having intent to use it. This would imply that you don't want proof of intent to be required.
You could start a new petition explaining clearly what you would like the Government or Parliament to do. For example, if what you want is for the penalties for possession of an offensive weapon to be increased, we could accept a petition requesting that.
We have published the following petition, which you might like to sign:
Introduce tougher sentences for knife crime: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/633328
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.