The Irish Government has banned samurai swords in Ireland, and anyone caught importing or selling the weapons could face a jail sentence of seven years.

Crimes involving Samurai swords have risen in recent years, and the fact that some of the swords are available to buy on the street for about $90 dollars has raised concern in government circles.

On January 13, 2008, Charles Russell sliced off the hand of Peter Rogers with a Samurai sword at the Deputy Mayor Pub, Meekstown, Dublin and incidents of young men wielding the dangerous weapon in the country have surfaced.

The Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act was amended to include samurai swords as they were being used on a widespread level to commit crimes in the country.

Exemptions to the law apply to custom swords made before 1954.

Knife crime has spiraled out of control In Ireland and this has forced Justice Minister Ahern to implement legislative changes.

“Back in February we indicated that we would be bringing forward legislative changes, which had been recommended by the Gardai based on a review that they did based on the issue of knife crime,” said Ahern on RTE radio.

“One of the things that we promised back in February is that we would increase the maximum prison sentence for possession of a knife from one year to five years, and also that we would give the Gardai extended powers of search without warrant when the guard has reasonable ground to suspect that a person is carrying a knife.

“We also said we would ban samurai swords. We did that in July of this year before the Dail recess.”

That legislation came into effect on September 1.