The relatively new Offensive Weapons Act makes it a revolving question whether our messers and swords can be purchased by those living in the UK.
The short answer is yes, you absolutely can order and import any of them!
Of course, the story is not that simple. The heavily legal wording of the act does very little to help ordinary people, to decide how and if the act is applicable to purchases. So we did the best we could to clear up at least part of the matter and aside from checking the act ourselves, we consulted with legal experts about the problem.
We were pointed at two parts of the act regarding the legitimacy of these purchases:
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| First; an offensive weapon according to the definition of UK laws, can be placed into the following three main categories: |
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- "...an article made or adapted for use to cause injury to the person, or intended by the person having it with him for such use..."
In each of our product descriptions, the intended use is defined as follows:
"...The weapon is a practice Messer/Dussack/Swords/Bauernwehr for sparring and technical drills, perfect for Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA)..."
By definition, we do not make swords and messers for the intended use of causing harm or injury and neither do we support any modification of the products for such purposes. This prevents all of our blunt products from falling under the given definition.
In the case of sharp blades, our definition and intended use of the products is the same: to be used for sporting purposes and historical reenactment.
Even our largest curved bladed kriegsmesser is not produced to cause injury, and should not be used with such intent.
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Second; the Offensive Weapons Act of the UK government explicitly states:
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- "...Offensive weapons act - Part 3 / Section 40 / Article 6 - "It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under section 38 to prove that they reasonably believed that the buyer bought the bladed product for use for relevant sporting purposes or for the purposes of historical re-enactment..."
While at first glance, this article seems to defend only the vendor, it explicitly states that swords and knives can be legitimately sold, therefore possessed, and be used for martial arts and living history representation (historical re-enactment)!
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We've sent many orders to the UK containing messers and kriegsmessers without any problem, regardless of the size or type of the product. Our parcels are always labeled as "Martial Arts Equipment" to help you and authorities as well to determine the intended use of these products.
Share your experience with the import process in the comments! Not just with us, but with our fellow swords and messer lovers to help them!
Do you live somewhere else but think your experience would help others in your area? Leave it in the comments as well!
