Offensive Weapon

An offensive weapon is a tool that is made, adapted or intended for use in inflicting physical injury on another person, a definition that covers three kinds of objects: items made for causing injury, ordinary items adapted for that purpose such as a bat fitted with nails, and everyday objects a person merely intends to use as a weapon, such as keys held between the knuckles or bleach carried to throw at someone. In England and Wales the offense is governed by the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 and the Criminal Justice Act 1988, which name prohibited items including knuckledusters, butterfly knives, zombie knives, push daggers, blowpipes and swordsticks, while New Zealand defines an offensive weapon broadly as anything that can be used to cause injury and South Australia Summary Offences Act 1953 lists specific items such as rifles, guns, pistols, knives, swords, clubs, bludgeons and truncheons.