DECRIMINALIZATION OF KNIVES AS A VARIETY OF COLD WEAPONS: CRIMINAL LEGAL ASPECT

Abstract

The article considers the issue of decriminalization of knives in Ukraine as a type of cold steel. Legal, moral and special arguments are given regarding the fact that the knife is a multifunctional device and is not intended only for inflicting bodily harm and committing other criminal offenses. The author of the article points to the fact that among the types of cold steel there are specially adapted items exclusively for inflicting bodily harm or committing other criminal offenses. Among such items, the author notes sabers, swords, swords, bones, fists, nunchakus, bows, arrows, crossbows, various types of metal melee weapons. But knives, in particular, which belong to the category of hunting melee weapons, etc., are multifunctional and can be used both in everyday life and to perform the functions due to which they have a certain name (hunting, military, sports, etc.). After all, today in various retail chains you can freely buy any knife, and not the fact that according to the established criteria of cold steel, it will not be just such a weapon. In order to substantiate the proposal, the author provides statistics on the commission of crimes (bodily harm, murder, etc.) with ordinary household knives (kitchen, stationery, etc.), in particular, indicates that the number of criminal offenses using household knives is many times greater than using knives related to cold steel. Thus, the author of the article proposes to consider the commission of a criminal offense with the use of any knife as an instrument of crime, even that does not belong to the type of cold steel, a qualified criminal offense and as an aggravating circumstance. Consequently, the very fact of carrying, making, repairing or selling a knife should not constitute a crime, because the knife itself is the subject of the material world, but poses a public danger only when the knife is used as an instrument of a criminal offense. As for the instrument of the crime, it can be any purely household knife, such as a kitchen or stationery knife, which officially does not belong to the type of cold steel. In our opinion, the decriminalization of the knife as a melee weapon can solve many issues related to the use of this item in tourism, business, etc.