Part 4: Possession etc of certain offensive weapons Section 44: Prohibition on the possession of certain dangerous knives
Section 44 makes it an offence to possess any knife under section 1 of the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 (e.g. gravity knives and flick knives) and the equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland. The offence applies to possession in both public and private.
	Subsection (2) amends the 1959 Act to insert the new offence and sets out the penalties for the offence in England and Wales and Scotland. The maximum penalty on summary conviction in England and Wales is 51 weeks imprisonment or a fine or both and on summary conviction in Scotland is six months imprisonment or a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or both. The 51 weeks 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.
	Subsection (4) provides for various defences to the existing and new offences relating to flick knives and gravity knives under the 1959 Act which will enable museums and galleries to possess, lend and hire such knives.
	Subsections (5) to (7) amend Article 53 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 to insert the new possession offence, new defences to enable museums and galleries to possess, lend and hire such knives and penalties in Norther Ireland. The maximum penalty on summary conviction is 12 months imprisonment, a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both and on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years or a fine or both.
	This section forms part of the law of the United Kingdom.