CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
The Victorian Government is going above and beyond to rein in knife crime this week, with Premier Jacinta Allan even going as far as banning the sale of machetes from service stations and corner stores.
Once considered an everyday household item, the humble machete has been stigmatised in recent years.
According to the premier’s media release, retailers have been told to remove machetes from shop shelves by midday this Wednesday
This follows yet another embarrassing incident yesterday afternoon, where emergency services were called to a shopping centre in Preston shortly after 2.30pm – following reports of opposing groups of young men fighting, some armed with knives.
Much like John Howard’s gun control laws, the machete ban will also includes an amnesty scheme, set to begin on 1 September.
From that date, machetes will be classified as a prohibited weapon in Victoria. Which they haven’t been until now. Exemptions will be available only for legitimate uses, such as old fashioned sugar cane farming.
After the amnesty ends, anyone found in possession of a machete could face up to two years in prison or fines exceeding $47,000.
Allan is under pressure to explain why she didn’t ban sales of machetes earlier and why Victorians have to wait until 1 September for the ban to come into effect.
Machete rights groups are already mobilising, claiming that Allan’s government are conducting a draconian over-reach in their attempts to add even more controls to lives of innocent broad-blade owners.
“Machetes don’t cut people, bad guys do” said a senior spokesperson from RMOAPR (Responsible Machete Owners Against Pointless Restrictions).
“Machetes have been on sale at counters of service stations and supermarkets for a hundred years. These new restrictions are nothing more than the actions of an unpopular government attempting to win votes”
“These bans won’t stop bad people from getting their hands on machetes – all you are doing is preventing ordinary people from accessing very useful household items”
“What’s next? Banning the sale of serrated edge hunting knives?”
