British judge suggests rounded knives could reduce knife violence

May 28 (UPI) -- A British judge this month called for a ban on knifes with sharp points in an effort to decrease knife violence in the country.

Speaking at his retirement ceremony, Luton Crown Court Judge Nic Madge pointed out that knife crime rose 22 percent in England and Wales during 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics. Madge said that rounded kitchen knives instead of the common style of sharp-pointed knives could help assuage the problem because other policies to prevent knife violence have had little effect.

"A few of the blades carried by youths are so called 'Rambo knives' or samurai swords. They though are a very small minority," Madge said, according to the Telegraph. "The reason why these measures have little effect is that the vast majority of knives carried by youths are ordinary kitchen knives. Every kitchen contains lethal knives which are potential murder weapons."

According to the BBC, the British government has launched a £1.35 million ($1.8 million) advertising campaign to discourage youth from resorting to knife violence. The campaign tells true stories of victims of knife violence between the ages of 10 and 21.

"You will never get rid of stabbings. There have always been stabbings, there always will be stabbings," Madge said. "All I'm trying to do it to reduce the numbers killed."