LORD Advocate Frank Mulholland and key Scottish legislators are to attend an anti-knife crime summit tomorrow.
The event is being organised by a group set up by the father of a stabbing victim and will be attended by a number of families who have lost loved ones in fights involving blades.
Inverclyde Anti-Knife Group, set up by 73-year-old John Muir, is behind the event at the One Up nightclub in Greenock.
Mr Muirk, whose son Damien was murdered by a knife assailant in 2007, hopes the conference will help lead to stiffer sentences for knife carriers.
He said: "We are looking for those who carry knives and those who commit serious acts of violence to receive harsher penalties for their crimes.
"There has been a number of cases recently where victims' families have spoken out at the sentences handed down to those who killed their loved ones"
He pointed to the case of student Reamonn Gormley, 19, who was murdered in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, in 2011. The two young people who stabbed him were sentenced to a total of 19 years in prison.
Mr Muir added: "The Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill recently raised the maximum tariff for knife-carrying from four to five years, but these penalties are rarely, if ever, used in courts.
"We also have concerns over the bail and parole guidelines, as too many violent people are allowed to remain our streets when they should be locked up."
Mr Muir also campaigns against bail criteria, which he claims do not adequately address offenders' potential for violence.
His son Damian was stabbed by Barry Gavin, who had previously been released on police bail despite being previously charged with knifing another man a few months earlier.
Mr Muir hopes the summit will give victims of knife crime and their families the opportunity to engage with policy-makers.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are taking a robust approach to enforcement with police carrying out a considerable number of stop and searches and prosecutors taking a zero tolerance approach."
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