Part 4: Possession etc of certain offensive weapons Section 46: Prohibition on the possession of offensive weapons
Section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 ("the CJA") provides that it is an offence to manufacture, sell, hire, offer to sell or hire, possess for the purposes of sale or hire, import, lend or give weapons to which that section applies. The weapons to which that section applies are set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988, and include items such as a knuckleduster, handclaw and swordstick.
	Section 46 creates an offence of possession in private of a weapon to which section 141 of the CJA applies. In private is defined in the new subsections (1C), (1D) and (1E) of section 141. In England and Wales, this is any place other than a public place, school premises, further education premises or prison.
	Subsection (2) inserts new subsections (1A) to (1F) into section 141 of the CJA. New subsection (1A) provides that any person who possesses a weapon to which the section applies in private is guilty of an offence and liable:
on summary conviction in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks or a fine or to both, or
on summary conviction in Scotland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to both,
on summary conviction in Northern Ireland a term of imprisonment not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both and on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years or to a fine or to both.
	The 51 week maximum sentence in England and Wales is contingent on section 281(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 coming into force and until that time the maximum sentence will be six months (new subsection (1B)).
	New subsections (1C) to (1F) set out relevant definitions, including the meaning of possession in private, domestic premises, further education premises and school premises.
	Subsections (4), (5) and (7) insert new subsections into section 141 of the CJA to provide defences for private possession of items of historical importance, for possession by museums or galleries and for educational purposes.
	Subsection (17) adds the new offence under section 141(1A) of the CJA to the list in Article 29(1)(l) of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. This means there will be no right to elect for trial by jury in Northern Ireland for this new offence.
	Subsections (18) and (19) make contingent provision in the event that section 46(2) of this Act (the new offence of possession of offensive weapons in private) is commenced before section 60(1)(b) of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007 comes into force.
	This section forms part of the law of the United Kingdom.