s 6 Carrying offensive weapons in public places
6.—(1) Any person who in any public road or place carries or has in his possession or under his control any offensive weapon otherwise than with lawful authority or for a lawful purpose shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years and shall also be liable to caning.[Act 21 of 2025 wef 17/08/2026] (1A) However, where the offensive weapon involved in the commission of an offence under subsection (1) is a prohibited weapon within the meaning of the Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act 2021, the person committing the offence shall be liable on conviction instead to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years and shall also be punished with caning with not less than 6 strokes.[Act 3 of 2021 wef 01/07/2025] (1B) For the purposes of subsection (1) only, “lawful purpose” includes —(a) for use at work; (b) for religious reasons; (c) for use in a theatrical production or film‑making for entertainment; (d) for an ornamental display; (e) for the slaughter or hunting of wild animals authorised under written law; and (f) for use in gardening, or in animal husbandry or primary production.[Act 3 of 2021 wef 01/07/2025] (2) In any prosecution for an offence under subsection (1), the onus of proving the existence of a lawful purpose shall lie upon the accused. (3) A weapon shall be presumed to be carried with lawful authority if it is carried —(a) by a member of the Singapore Armed Forces or of the Singapore Police Force or of any visiting force lawfully present in Singapore under the provisions of any law relating to visiting forces; or (b) by any person as part of his official or ceremonial dress on any official or ceremonial occasion. (4) An offence under subsection (1) shall be deemed to be an arrestable and non‑bailable offence.