B.C.’s Attorney General calls for machete regulation to protect civilians

B.C.’s Attorney General is asking the federal government for better regulation of machetes and other machete-like weapons to protect civilians due to recent violent attacks.

In a letter to the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General of Canada’s House of Commons, B.C.’s Attorney General Niki Sharma says she is very concerned about recent reports of incidents involving “machetes and long-knives in urban centres” and says the federal government’s Bill C-48, bail reform, has not been enough to address the problems of repeat offenders.

“These bladed knives are particularly dangerous weapons, capable of inflicting life-altering and life-ending injuries. They serve no legitimate purpose on modern Canadian city streets, yet they are readily and cheaply available without restrictions,” she said in her letter addressed to Justice Minister Virani.

The attorney general says England and Wales are criminalizing the possession, manufacture, importation and sale of machetes and zombie knives starting later this month, and their police will have powers to seize and destroy them too. She’s urging the Canadian government to do the same.

“Something akin to public safety seizures for firearms or changing the scope of the dangerous weapons provision (section 88 of the Criminal Code) should be examined,” she said.

“Amending the definition of ‘prohibited weapon’ in section 84 of the Criminal Code to include knives with machete-like characteristics or prescribing them as a ‘prohibited weapon’ by regulation would be consistent with how other dangerous knives are currently prohibited.”

Sharma says she would like to discuss other law reforms to address the issue.

1130 NewsRadio has reached out to the Attorney General for more information.