Debate on the regulation of "high-damage knives" in the group of primitive weapons

The draft Law on Management and Use of Weapons, Explosives and Supporting Tools (amended) is being reviewed by the Ministry of Justice , proposing to add the provision "highly lethal knives" to the group of primitive weapons.

Request for clarification on "highly lethal knives"

Commenting on the draft, the Ethnic Committee pointed out that ethnic minorities in mountainous, remote and isolated areas often hand-forge sharp and pointed knives, 20cm or longer, to serve their work and production. This is consistent with their culture, customs and economic conditions.

"If these types of knives are understood as high-damage knives (primitive weapons) and require owners to carry out declaration procedures as prescribed in Article 33 of the draft law, it could lead to many shortcomings in practice," the Ethnic Committee stated its opinion.

Ethnic people's jungle knives are being sold on social networks (Illustration photo).

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also proposed clarifying the regulation that "a highly lethal knife is a sharp knife, a pointed knife, a sharp knife, with a blade length of 20cm or more, or a knife with a blade length of less than 20cm but converted or assembled to have the same function and effect as a highly lethal knife".

With that description, according to the Ministry, there will be many types of knives used in household activities (such as fruit knives), production labor can also be primitive weapons.

From there, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested the drafting agency to research and evaluate carefully to ensure feasibility, distinguish knives considered weapons (with high lethality) from knives used for labor, production and daily life purposes to have a suitable and feasible management mechanism.

In addition, this agency believes that it is necessary to clarify who is allowed to own knives as weapons, regulate where people are allowed to carry knives but must be open, and are prohibited if they intentionally conceal them; places where people are not allowed to carry knives, including regular knives, such as at airports, on airplanes, schools, offices, historical and cultural relics, cinemas, diplomatic missions, etc.

For places where knives are allowed to be used openly such as markets, restaurants, food stores... there should be rules and regulations on knife use to ensure safety and minimize the risk of knives being used for criminal purposes.

In the draft law dossier sent to the Ministry of Justice, the drafting agency (Ministry of Public Security) said that it had accepted the above comments and revised the draft accordingly.

The Ministry of Public Security said that those who use highly lethal knives for illegal purposes will be strictly prohibited under Article 5 of the draft law and, depending on the severity, will be subject to administrative or criminal sanctions.

The draft law also stipulates that the Ministry of Public Security shall issue a list of primitive weapons, including highly lethal knives.

The Supreme People's Procuracy has not agreed

The Supreme People's Procuracy analyzed that the current Penal Code clearly differentiates the level of damage for each type of weapon: military weapons and primitive weapons correspond to different levels of punishment.

The proposal to add regulations on swords, spears, lances, bayonets, knives, machetes, clubs, fists, maces, crossbows, and darts (currently classified as primitive weapons) with high lethality to military weapons (along with current military weapons with very high and very fast lethality such as guns, bombs, mines, grenades, etc.) will make it very difficult to ensure the differentiation of cases in handling criminal liability when the Penal Code is not amended or supplemented.

The Supreme People's Procuracy assessed that the regulation that "highly lethal knives" used to cause harm to human life and health illegally are military weapons is forced. The nature of military weapons is that they are weapons manufactured and produced to ensure technical standards and designs of legal manufacturers, and are used specifically in specific fields such as ensuring security, national defense, and performing official duties.

"Knives are commonly produced and used in daily life, production, and common customs, but when they are used to illegally endanger human life and health, they do not satisfy the nature of military weapons," the agency stated.

The murder weapon in a case was seized by the police (Photo: Ben Cat Police).

Broadly speaking, according to the Supreme People's Procuracy, in addition to knives, there are many other dangerous objects and weapons such as bricks, stones, iron rods, etc. When used for the purpose of causing harm to human life and health illegally, are they considered military weapons? Meanwhile, the Penal Code and its guiding documents also have the concept of "dangerous weapons" to deal with criminal acts using these objects, including knives of all kinds.

In cases where it is necessary to severely punish those who use homemade guns, primitive weapons, and highly lethal knives, the Supreme People's Procuracy recommends considering the proposal to amend and supplement the provisions of the Penal Code for appropriate and effective handling.

Responding to the above viewpoint, the Ministry of Public Security proposed to keep the draft law as it is, because the reality of fighting crime shows that criminals often use swords, spears, lances, bayonets, knives, machetes... to commit crimes and resist law enforcement officers. However, according to the provisions of Article 306 of the Penal Code, it will not be handled immediately.

In the draft law, the Ministry of Public Security affirmed that highly lethal knives are not considered weapons when owned by people for use in labor, production, and daily life.

The new draft regulation regulates the behavior of knife users without causing harm to human life and health. Furthermore, the management of the production and trading of highly lethal knives ensures convenience, simple procedures, and no administrative procedures arise.

Manufacturing and business establishments only need to declare the quantity and types of knives to the commune-level police and not include them in the business investment lines with conditions on security and order.

Knife crimes are becoming more and more complicated.

The Ministry of Public Security affirmed that crimes using homemade guns, primitive weapons, weapons similar to primitive weapons, knives and knife-like means to commit crimes are becoming very complicated.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/tranh-luan-ve-quy-dinh-dao-co-tinh-sat-thuong-cao-vao-nhom-vu-khi-tho-so-20240126190340658.htm