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Knife crime is a horrible crime affecting our towns and cities right now. I think it is such a cowardly crime too. I don't know what the answer is, but maybe there needs to be a crackdown on the availability of knives etc and shut down the outlets that sell knives on line. I gather that a lot of dangerous weapons are also brought in from overseas, so there should be more searches at airports, ports etc. There needs to be a zero tolerance approach to carrying knives or for anyone caught in possession of a knife. Sentencing must be much tougher too.

I think education is also part of the answer. Young people need to be made much more aware of the consequences of knife crime, maybe they would think twice about carrying a knife if they met or spoke to the families of people affected by street stabbings. I sometimes think that PC games are partly to blame - so many young people seem to live in a cartoon type environment where they are used to killing and shooting or stabbing characters in video games. These characters can bounce back to fight another day, but in real life a person slumped in the street after a stabbing is dead for ever. I think people need to learn to respect each other more, be more tolerant and put a greater value on human life. People need to take more personal responsibility for their actions and families should be supervising youngsters more. Youngsters should not be allowed out on the streets with a weapon in their pocket.

Alcolhol and drug use also seem to contribute to knife crime. There needs to be a crackdown on underage drinking - in pubs and off licences and maybe the drinking age should be increased to 21. After saying all that I really don't know what the answer is and if I had a young lad or lass I would be fearful for them when they left the house.