What knife laws would you like to see Repealed?

fixer27

fixer27

Joined
Nov 17, 2004
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So which knife laws do you find to be the most overbearing in your state or
town? Or even in your own country?

On the national level the "switchblade knife" laws are so outdated as to be
archaic. And on the state level (NC) the law should be made clearer as to
what is legal to carry openly and concealed than they currently do.

Which ones bother my fellow forumties the most?
 
stevekt said:
Laws against balisongs and automatics should be lifted.
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I can totally agree with that. So if someone has a CCW permit, and has .45
tucked under their jacket (legally) but has a balisong in their pocket. They
are somehow more dangerous because of the bali song? Of course not.


But they are breaking the law in many states.
 
"gravity knives," the definitions for which are usually so idiotic they could apply to anything.

Federal knife laws (mainly switchblades as far as I know). The federal government has no legal authority to regulate this. It is also detrimental to interstate commerce, which the federal government should serve to IMPROVE if anything.

"Local" laws. Every state ought to ammend their constitution to prohibit local abuse of our rights. Tedious local regulations which change accross hundreds of invisible borders are contrary to modern metropolitan development. In many places it is even hard to tell when you leave one jurisdiction and enter the next. It is unreasonable to expect the citizen of any state to memorize or research the laws for hundreds of different counties and comply with them as they travel to their destination. On top of that, local police are widely known to lie about "weapon" laws. Being armed with the real laws regarding knives for so many different localities in order to defend against abusive police would be impossible. It's also ridiculous to think that so many laws differing in such small ways is in any way necessary or beneficial.
 
On an even stranger note, in Ohio and according to Blade magazine it is
legal to carry a knife as long as it is a tool. If one says that it is meant for
self defense, then you can be arrested.

So a knife cannot have two uses? And if you admit to one use and not the
other then you are legal, if you admit to both uses, then you may be placed
under arrest?

That is not a rational standard to any fair minded person.
 
fixer27 said:
On an even stranger note, in Ohio and according to Blade magazine it is
legal to carry a knife as long as it is a tool. If one says that it is meant for
self defense, then you can be arrested.
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I'm pretty sure that's how it is up here in Canada too. That's fine with me though, my knife is a tool.

I'm not sure which knife laws bother me the most. Because i don't think i even know what they are, and that is what bothers me. I've heard that over 6 inches of blade length is illegal in Canada, i've also heard that there are no blade length restrictions in Canada as long as it isn't a dagger.

I've also been told anything over 1 inch is illegal...

I can live with the no dagger laws and over 6 inch law (if it exsists) because i don't think a 7 inch dagger is something i'll often need.

But just make laws CLEARER.
 
For me, it has to be Illinois' supposed "less than 3" blades only" for carry law. I guess I can understand that they don't want people walking around with katanas strapped to their backs, but that means roughly 50% of the quality folders on the market are out and seemingly 90% of fixed blades. I mean honestly, while there's a few knives out there that small, three inches or less isn't exactly the industry standard. While I haven't really had a reason to look into it too deeply, I haven't heard of any other state that has a more restrictive blade limit than 3".

Also I suppose a lift on trying to ban specific blade types would be useful. I have to wonder if the the average LFO know the difference between a dirk, stiletto, and my kershaw, and if they did, how useful that information would be in the name of crime-prevention.
 
What knife laws would you like to see Repealed?
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All of them. Here's a thought; make it illegal to kill, maim, or threaten people. Punish the crime, not the tool. It should be irrelevant whether the criminal uses a $400 switchblade, or a dollar store steak knife, or a broken beer bottle.
 
The San Antonio, Texas law against lockblades of any shape or size. Even though the cops ignore it for the most part and dont go looking for it I could still get busted carrying a kershaw chive cause of the locking blade.
 
Cyblade said:
The San Antonio, Texas law against lockblades of any shape or size. Even though the cops ignore it for the most part and dont go looking for it I could still get busted carrying a kershaw chive cause of the locking blade.
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The whole idea behind the blade locks on folders is one that revolves around safety. I personally will not carry a folder that won't lock. Like one of the other brothers said: Punish the crime not the tool which was used. I am paraphrasing that of course but none of these gun & knife laws make much sense. The second amendment of the Constitution has to do with all arms. It clearly says that those rights will not be infringed.

They are simply taking our rights and turning them into privaledges :mad:
 
All of them.

All gun control laws should be eliminated too.

Base the laws on what people do, rather than what they have or what they might do with what they have.
 
I wouldn't mind at all if all knife laws were repealed as well.

However, I happen to know someone with the initials TBFH that, well - how shall I word this? - hasn't exactly paid a great deal of attention to the knife laws of any state that he has lived in or passed through.

But he's also a way cool dude that looks really handsome and everything as well, so LEOs haven't ever had to give him more than a passing glance (other than perhaps to admire him).

I'll stop now. I'm about to make myself throw up!
 
Well, I hate to say this in this crowd but the only knife law that exists in my state to restrict carry is that minors can't carry balisongs. I've been pulled over with a Benchmade model 31 balisong in my pocket and the officer only asked if it really was a Benchmade. Autos are street legal here, although technically you'd have to buy them from a dealer locally cuz dealers are the only ones that can legally bring them into the state due to interstate commerce laws. I can carry a fixed blade on my belt anywhere I want and not get in trouble.
 
MaxFisher said:
Well, I hate to say this in this crowd but the only knife law that exists in my state to restrict carry is that minors can't carry balisongs. I've been pulled over with a Benchmade model 31 balisong in my pocket and the officer only asked if it really was a Benchmade. Autos are street legal here, although technically you'd have to buy them from a dealer locally cuz dealers are the only ones that can legally bring them into the state due to interstate commerce laws. I can carry a fixed blade on my belt anywhere I want and not get in trouble.
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Wow...What sort of gun laws do you have there? And how is the weather? :) State income tax or no?
 
MaxFisher said:
Well, I hate to say this in this crowd but the only knife law that exists in my state to restrict carry is that minors can't carry balisongs. I've been pulled over with a Benchmade model 31 balisong in my pocket and the officer only asked if it really was a Benchmade. Autos are street legal here, although technically you'd have to buy them from a dealer locally cuz dealers are the only ones that can legally bring them into the state due to interstate commerce laws. I can carry a fixed blade on my belt anywhere I want and not get in trouble.
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Hey! You live in AMERICA! Sweet! :thumbup:
 
Carl64 said:
Wow...What sort of gun laws do you have there? And how is the weather? :) State income tax or no?
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Gun laws are pretty lax too. You have to be 18 to buy if I remember correctly. I believe you can carry anything out in the open and getting a concealed carry permit is just a matter of a background check and paying for the fees. The weather is not so great. This past monday we got 8 inches of snow and yesterday we got another 5 inches. Winter lasts most of the way through March here and we can get snow as early as Hallowween although that is rare. Absolutely no state income tax. Although the sales tax is 1% higher on restaurant food than everything else.

Edited to add:

I just looked up the gun laws here to be sure, you don't need a permit to buy anything but there is a 48 hour waiting period on handguns. You don't need to have any licensing to own anything. You need a permit if you're carrying concealed and concealed means TOTALLY hidden in my state.
 
So which is the better view?

A. A clarification of the laws that govern the ability to carry knives? even if that means they cannot exceed certain lengths or not be openable by a "flick of the wrist"?

B. There should be no laws concerning the open carry of knives no matter what there properties may be?

IMO a fair compromise would be carry knives openly of whatever length and to keep concealed knives under a certain length.
 
I'm not sure why open or concealed matters. WIth guns you are supposed to keep them hidden. With knives they are supposed to be visible. The fools out there can't decide if they need to be aware of all the scary people out there or if they want to follow their usual philosophy of burying their heads.
 
The reason why it matters is that Mr. Nowka got to add input to the new CA knife laws and what they were most worried about were knives that could be quickly opened and used to stab someone. That could be template for the reform of some of the really restrictive laws in most Northeastern states.


And yes, it is foolish to ban objects, it is the people who use them after all.
 
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