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Post by Ninjadave89 on Jul 13, 2011 23:45:52 GMT
Does anybody know if it is legal at the moment to import a mainz or fulham type gladius from the US to UK. I was quite set on getting a custom mainz gladius but don't know if it would clear through customs. The law over here seems to change quite regularly so if anyone has any up to date info that would be appreciated.
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Talon
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Senior Forumite
Posts: 2,554
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Post by Talon on Jul 14, 2011 5:03:44 GMT
at the moment its perfectly legal to import any straight bladed sword into the uk.curved swords are ok aswell as long as they are classed as being hand forged as apposed to machine made (yes i know its ridiculous)
so yeah you're good to go dave,i've imported a few straight blades from the states,so far no worries at all
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Post by Ninjadave89 on Jul 14, 2011 9:53:03 GMT
OK thanks, didn't know about the hand forged bit. Seems i've got some buying to do.  |
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Post by william m on Jul 14, 2011 12:36:57 GMT
Hi,
With straight swords you don't need them to be hand forged at all. You can have a stainless steel gladius if you want.
The law is only for curved single edged swords.
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Post by craigd on Jul 14, 2011 13:30:07 GMT
As mentioned, straight swords are fine. If you are the kind of person who would use a sword with criminal intent a Longsword/Claymore etc. obviously isn't going to do the job. /rolleyes
Hmm.. are you sure, I remember it as ANY curved blade over 50cm.. one sec..
here we go:
"A sword with a curved blade of 50cm or over in length; and for the purpose of this sub-paragraph, the length of the blade shall be the straight line distance from the top of the handle to the tip of the blade"
However you can use various defenses (e.g. religious ceremony), but the most relevant one if you don't have an appropriate license (i.e. BKA or similar) is:
"applies by virtue of paragraph 1(r) to show that the weapon in question was made before 1954 or was made at any other time according to traditional methods of making swords by hand."
Now... the problem is how you define traditional methods. It is generally accepted to mean hand-made but I imagine if the CPS really wanted to, they could make quite a good case for most hand-forged blades not being 'traditionally made'.
That all said, I imported a Hanwei Tori Elite and a Hanwei Musashi XL about 9 months ago before I got my license and they went through with no problems, it largely depends on who you get and what kind of day they are having I think.
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Talon
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Posts: 2,554
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Post by Talon on Jul 14, 2011 18:03:21 GMT
personally i would only buy a curved blade from a uk vendor (just to be sure) it may indeed be a hand forged blade,but that wouldn't stop a customs bod from deciding it was possibly suspect,as i and everyone else said though any straight blade sword should have no problems (luckily im euro orientated) ,i imagine they'll clamp down on straight blades in the future,thats why im building up my collection while i can |
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Post by Ninjadave89 on Jul 14, 2011 18:31:30 GMT
Thanks guys, I guess the only way to get a nice mainz gladius is to go straight to the top and have a look at some Albions Only thing is that ever since I saw the tangs on Albions gladii I just don't have a lot of confidence in them. Their medieval blades are awesome but I have never seen a hands on review of one of their gladius with cutting demonstrations. No worries though, I could still get a nice custom pompeii style sword to add to my collection! Attachments:
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