Protecting Our Communities
Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006
The Home Office has announced a comprehensive package of measures to combat violent crime. The Violent Crime Reduction Act will ensure that police and local communities have the necessary powers to reduce violent crimes involving imitation guns, knives and alcohol in their neighbourhood.
The Act includes new powers to ban the manufacture and sale of imitation firearms and toughen sentences for carrying imitation firearms, increase the age limit for purchasing to a knife to 18 and ban those individuals responsible for alcohol-related violence from specific areas for up to two years.
The Act:
-
Make it illegal to manufacture or sell imitation firearms that could be mistaken for real firearms;
-
Bring in higher sentences for carrying imitation firearms;
-
Create tougher manufacturing standards to ensure that imitation firearms can't be converted to fire real ammunition;
-
Increase the age limit for buying or firing an air weapon without supervision from 17 to 18;
-
Make it an offence to use other people to hide or carry guns or knives;
-
Increase the age limit for purchasing a knife from 16 to 18;
-
Introduce powers for head-teachers and other members of staff to search pupils for knives;
-
Introduce Alcohol Disorder Zones (ADZs) which will require licensed premises to contribute to the cost of alcohol-related disorder in specific areas where it has been identified as a problem.
-
Exclude individuals responsible for alcohol-related disorder from certain areas and licensed premises by imposing 'Drinking Banning Orders' which could run for up to 2 years;
-
Create powers for police to ban the sale of alcohol at licensed premises for up to 48-hours for selling alcohol to under 18's; and
-
Provide police with the power to exclude individuals at risk of carrying out alcohol-related disorder from a specific area for up to 48 hours.
for more details |
