Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41484909

Hmmm... not sure this will make much difference. Is it only U18's who commit these crimes? In any event, there's nothing to stop people over 18 buying them for their younger chavvy chums or prevent kids stealing acids etc. from their own households or anywhere else for that matter.

A better answer would be to increase the penalties possible for carrying and using such substances but that clearly won't solve the problem either.

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

what exactly would a legitimate buyer do with acid ?

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

I was surprised to see it in a DIY store with the drain unblocking chemicals.

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

Vinegar is an acid, no more for their chips then. :)

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

Car batteries are full of sulphuric acid. Not exactly difficult for chavs and thugs to get hold of if they want. Not sure how comparatively dangerous the sort of cleaning products you can buy freely in the shops are though. Obviously they're not good to come into contact with, possibly much more so via the eyes and ingestion than just contact with the skin. :shrug:

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

Strong alkalis will do the same damage, and they are on open sale. Don't they think these things through?

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

I've used said product. It's very effective. Just... don't spill it on yourself for obvious reasons :)

---------- Post added at 19:27 ---------- Previous post was at 19:26 ----------

True, bases can be every bit as bad.

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

White wine vinegar with bicarb is very useful for keeping the shower unblocked.:)

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

They should make it an offence to carry corrosive chemicals in other than original marked packaging

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

How about just licencing these products?

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

Sadly, I don't think any of this is going to make much difference to those who're inclined towards using these chemicals to attack others. The sale of knives to younger people has been banned for years and there are anti-knife campaigns and messages everywhere yet it really doesn't seem to have made much difference. What we need to get to grips with is the youth/gang culture which is behind most of these problems and the longer we kick that can down the road the harder it'll be.

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

Acids can be used in art for etching etc. We used to put acid in the pool in RSA to balance pH with the chlorine.

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

Can't we do both? Just saying it won't work doesn't get anything done unless we try and get behind sorting it out in a multi-pronged manner.

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

We can and we must but clearly tackling the root of the problem is what's required sooner or later. You can't ban or restrict everything that a thug can turn into something dangerous so yes we have to do both, not just what's easiest.

Re: Sales of acid to u18's to be banned
 

It's just a start..it's up to the public to complain long and hard to their MPs if it doesn't sort the issue.