Chamber and committees

Knife dealer licensing is a licensing scheme which allows for the sale of relevant weapons whilst helping minimise risks to public safety. It is a criminal offence for a person to sell the types of weapons covered by the licensing scheme without a licence.

Knife dealer licensing applies to any retailer including any online retailer based in Scotland. The licensing scheme requires a licence to sell certain weapons. These weapons are:

• All knives other than folding pocket knives whose blades do not exceed 3.5 inches (8.91 centimetres) in length and knives designed for domestic use;
• All daggers other than kirpans or skean dhus whose blades do not exceed 3.5 inches (8.91 centimetres) in length;
• All knife blades other than those designed for domestic use;
• All swords
• Any other article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed and which is made or adapted for use for causing injury to the person.

Knife dealer licensing is operated by local authorities in Scotland. The issuing of a licence includes background checks on the person seeking the licence. Conditions will attach to a licence including keeping written records of transactions for three years, records kept can be at any reasonable time looked at by the police on request and – for physical retail locations - no display of articles visible from the street or public entrance and signage indicating age laws that apply. These requirements apply in addition to other more general offensive weapon laws that apply such as restrictions on the age of purchasers.