The Telegraph (UK) reports:

The sale of imitation samurai swords could be banned by the end of the year, the Home Office announced today....

Collectors and martial arts enthusiasts owning or using genuine samurai swords would be exe[mp]t from the ban[.]

According to Home Office estimates, there have been at least 80 serious crimes involving the swords in England and Wales over the last four years.

It is currently legal to buy samurai swords -- which are freely available at martial arts shops and on the internet -- provided they are not brandished in a public place.

The Home Office now wants to ban their sale as part of a wider crackdown on knives and bladed weapons....

Quite similar, in theory and in their problems, to the bans on cheaper "Saturday Night Specials" that allow richer buyers to still get the weapons they want (and thus diminish the political opposition to the bans).

Thanks to Hamline lawprof Joe Olson for the pointer.