Free Republic

Ministers are planning a major overhaul to how knives are bought online after Southport triple killer Axel Rudakubana purchased weapons off Amazon before carrying out a sickening rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party. Rudakubana, who on Monday pleaded guilty to the murder of of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, bought the kitchen knife used in the attack from Amazon when he was 17 despite having a conviction for violence. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the House of Commons yesterday that it was a 'disgrace' that Rudakubana was able to buy knives on...

Any chef will tell you that you're only as good as your best kitchen knives despite your culinary skills. On top of that, if you have a top-of-the-line knife set, they'll quickly become useless if you don't maintain them and keep them sharp. It's kind of like a carpenter trying to frame a home with plastic nails or a hunter trying to take down a buck with a slingshot. Even if you don't step foot in a kitchen but use knives for other things like work or outdoor survival, you need to keep them sharp. The bottom line is dull...

High-end custom knives run from $400 to $40,000. Here's what makes them so expensive, and why they could be worth it. Buying an expensive knife won't turn you into an excellent cook anymore than going to the Container Store will make you an organized person. But well-crafted custom knives are things of physical beauty, and they can have a kind of talismanic power. Super-luxury chef's knives start at about $400, and go up from there. Famously, some custom knives, like those from legendary knife maker Bob Kramer, sell for upwards of $500 an inch. At auction, Kramer's knives often fetch...

Britain’s Poundland discount chain has announced it will stop selling kitchen knives in all of its stores to help tackle soaring youth violence. The company, whose stores have been a major fixture on UK high streets since 1990, is the first major retailer to go ahead with the anti-knife measure recently recommended by a judge, and other brands are expected to follow suit, according to the Birmingham Mail. As of Friday, kitchen knives are no longer available at any of its 59 West Midlands branches, Poundland said, noting that the ban will be extended to all 850 UK stores by...

It's time to ban long kitchen knives because they serve no good purpose except as weapons, write doctors in the British Medical Journal. The doctors, as part of their research into ways to reduce violence, say they consulted with leading chefs who said long knives were not needed for cooking.