After Dunblane in 1996 there was an attitude that it just must never happen again. Laws were put in place almost immediately have meant we've never had another school massacre, indeed only 2 other mass shootings, Cumbria and Plymouth, to my memory since. There just doesn't seem to be the same motivation around stopping knife crime, I don't know why. Obviously the weapon is easier to acquire, maybe that's it, but there has to be huge sentences dished out for carrying a knife in public, I don't know the answer but what we have isn't working.
Ive Removed my post ...it was in bad taste given the circumstances that have unfolded. Sorry if it caused any offence
We don’t actually know what the background or motive is yet, however I suspect there isn’t a deterrent in the world that can stop tragedies like this. I suspect this is a seriously deranged individual, potentially schizophrenic, who wouldn’t have been deterred in any way by any threat of punishment.
Most knife attacks/murders are still committed *within the home*. While there are problems with knife crime on the streets - which is still better than the gun crime in the USA for example - unless you completely ban knives you'll never stop knife crime.
You can never completely stop any crime. What you can do with regard to knife crime is limit the type of knives available for purchase. There can also be laws regarding promoting knives that aren't legal to buy. Youtube has thousands of videos promoting knives. Not having easy access to knives will reduce knife crime. We know this for certain as the evidence for restricting access to guns and a reduction in shootings is overwhelming.