A Bad Guy with a Knife

CPP

CPP

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Sep 8, 2014
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Living not far from Boston–a city with what most forum members would likely agree has restrictive knife laws–I sometimes wonder how those laws are put into practice. The most relevant restriction is the limit of blade length to 2.5 inches a rule which impacts some of my knife purchases even though those laws only apply to me in the event of me going into Boston. With this in mind I read this in the local online newspaper:

[The perpetrator] had a folding knife protruding [from] his jacket, according to a statement from Boston police.

Police attempted to take the knife from Villalona-Torres and discovered that he also had a Glock 22 .40 caliber firearm loaded with six rounds of live ammunition, 12 plastic bags containing marijuana, as well as an undisclosed amount of cash, officials said.
​
I don't always carry a knife, especially in settings where it is unlikely that I'll need one and especially in places where carrying a knife could land me in trouble. And, were I to work in the city of Boston again, I would carry an SAK classic or a small traditional or my Foelholter Frikky if i were to carry a knife at all. Even in my heavily wooded suburban town I only carry my larger knives on my property as that is where I need and use them and carry a smaller knife if I'm hiking or some similar activity.

How do knife laws affect your decision to carry a knife and which one to carry?
 
I live in MA (which has no length limit that I know of) but spend a lot of time in RI (which has a 3" limit), so I do take that into account. Just recently got the CS AD-15, and would love to carry it more, but it is 3.5"+, so I tend to carry my 3" Grik instead.
 
They don't really.
I'm not allowed a locking knife over 3 inches, and I better have a damn good reason to carry a knife if I'm not working/hunting/fishing.

But
Cops around don't stop people on the street and search them just for no reason, and since I generally have my knife in a pocket without using the clip, I'm good.
And if I've got a fixed blade on me, I'm either working or innawoods.

So in general I buy and carry what I want.


Edit: I'm not actually 100% on local laws. Length may not matter.
 
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My BIL gave me good advice... only break one law at a time.

I travel to Boston regularly and most times am carrying a Buck 110 or Opinel 9 in my right rear pocket. It's the one law that I break (besides the speed limit).

IMO, some of these knife laws are designed to give cops the ability to make apprehensions, much like they use broken tail lights as an excuse to do a sobriety or DWB stop. In this sense, walking in an urban area with a visible sign that you're carrying a knife is sort of like driving around with a broken tail light. It just gives the cops a reason to stop you.
 
pinnah said:
My BIL gave me good advice... only break one law at a time.

I travel to Boston regularly and most times am carrying a Buck 110 or Opinel 9 in my right rear pocket. It's the one law that I break (besides the speed limit).

IMO, some of these knife laws are designed to give cops the ability to make apprehensions, much like they use broken tail lights as an excuse to do a sobriety or DWB stop. In this sense, walking in an urban area with a visible sign that you're carrying a knife is sort of like driving around with a broken tail light. It just gives the cops a reason to stop you.
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This^^.
 
I live in So.Cal. at the moment. Amazingly, state law is pretty mellow with regards to folders.
I don’t have any autos (prohibited state-wide unless under 2”), even though there’s a few I’d like to pick up.

I don’t go to Los Angeles often, but I used their local under 3” restriction to buy a few knives—hahaha.

Concealment of any fixed blade is prohibited state-wide, so I never carry my Guardian 3, which is a bummer because it’s a sweet knife!

When I go to my kid’s school, I leave my knife in the car. Occasionally I forget and subsequently tuck it into my pocket so the clip isn’t showing.

I use my knife in public fairly often. Sometimes when I pull it out a few eyebrows are raised until folks see I’m using it for the task at hand (to actually cut something!). Then they could care less and go back to whatever they’re doing. I imagine if I walked around brandishing it needlessly there might be a different reaction. I’m also a fairly well groomed nonthreatening looking guy.

Good comments in this thread so far, BTW.
I feel sorry for you guys with really restrictive ordinances.
 
In the suburbs, the restrictions are limited. Generally, I carry a folder between 3" - 3.8" (3.25" tends to be my favorite). Specifically, I carry these lengths because they are good for cutting tasks that pop up throughout the day. When I go into the city, I change to what's legally permissible there (2.5" and under).
 
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GermanyChris said:
I tend not to worry about knife laws
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Rykjeklut said:
They don't really.
I'm not allowed a locking knife over 3 inches, and I better have a damn good reason to carry a knife if I'm not working/hunting/fishing.

But
Cops around don't stop people on the street and search them just for no reason, and since I generally have my knife in a pocket without using the clip, I'm good.
And if I've got a fixed blade on me, I'm either working or innawoods.

So in general I buy and carry what I want.
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Hi

Same here in Vienna, Austria

I carry everything from a Spyderco Dice to a ZT 0560

Kind regards
Matt
 
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I was in Boston on Saturday evening, and I carried my little Kershaw Antic clipped to my pocket. I bought this one specifically for trips to the city. The blade is well under the legal limit, and it's relatively non threatening.

I also like how the paper had to specify that he only had six live rounds of ammo. Did he have more that weren't live? I want to know. Also the picture in the story most definitely isn't a Glock 22

JDwpeEO.jpg
 
i live in ma, i am under the impression there is a 3" carry limit. individual towns/cities may have different limitations ? there are grey areas also, what you can carry may change according to the activity you are doing. for instance the knife you have on you when fishing is no problem, but that same knife would be illegal while shopping at wal mart.
 
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I don't believe Mississippi has any restrictions on length. They do on concealed fixed blades, but I don't have any so no big deal to me. So I carry whatever I want at the time. Kershaw cryo or spyderco persistence? Sure! Spyderco resilience, Kershaw natrix cf xl... No problem! I mostly carry in the 3 inch range though. My wife already gets on to me for fidgeting with a Para 3...if I started messing with the natrix xl, she'd kill me with it!

But it's Mississippi...
 
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Silent H said:
Also the picture in the story most definitely isn't a Glock 22
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Looks like a Glock 22 with some kind of aftermarket frame to me.....


Pomsbz said:
Why on earth did he only have 6 rounds? :p
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Having not fully loaded guns is very common with criminals. They lack discipline and structure in their lives and it is reflected in their possessions.



Rykjeklut said:
Cops around don't stop people on the street and search them just for no reason, and since I generally have my knife in a pocket without using the clip, I'm good.
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For the most part this is true. However, one never knows when something unfortunate might happen resulting in unintended contact with law enforcement. I had this happen in 2010 when I was attacked by a nutjob neighbor of mine. When the police arrived they detained both of us, which meant they also searched both of us. I was carrying a Benchmade AFO (not legal to carry in CA) which was not involved in any way (brandished, threatened, referred to, etc....) in the altercation. The knife was given back to me at the end of the detention, but to this day I believe the only reason I didn't get in trouble was they were showing me some "professional courtesy." They could easily have charged me with carrying the knife and caused me all kinds of havoc with my own agency since there is no law enforcement exemption to knife laws here. I had been carrying that AFO daily for 12 years, but due to that incident, I switched to a Spyderco Military the next day and never carried the AFO again.
 
I am lucky in that where I live is rural and has fairly lax laws or enforcement unless you are acting like a fool ...

also here my CCW permit covers knives and other weapons not only firearms ... and allows me to carry almost anything including a switchblade (which I have never felt the need to own) ... the only restriction is size and that is bigger than anything I would carry unless I was in the woods ...

there is always the issue of each city being able to circumvent laws by setting their own size limits or restrictions ... which I believe is the biggest problem with knife laws and gun laws also ... IMHO ... there should be a uniform federal law covering both ... or at least a set in stone law for each state so people don't drive through an unfamiliar area and get caught up by BS city regulations that are far more restrictive ...

so I carry what I want 99% of the time ... the only times I worry about my knife carry is to go onto a school campus or federal building ... and those I do respect their restrictions (although not happily) ...

but none of this affects my buying trends ... I just have some SAKs and a few smaller knives to have when needed ...

and hopefully with Doug Ritter and all of his hard work (and hopefully all of us knife lovers support) ... can someday reach a "one set of laws covering every state and not allowing independant cities to make more strict regulations ...

and call me a dreamer but again hoping someday there will be a federal law that each and every state have one set of legal firearm carry for those with CCW permits so you can travel and know what it expected in your home state is exactly what is expected in any state you travel to ... and not allow states or cities to create stricter laws ... that most people don't know or check at all ...

I am fairly lucky that I get to use my permit in most states ... and being as I still have a professional permit it allows a bit better situation ... but still not fool proof ...

now the shameless plug to say I hope everyone that carries knives and or guns supports the organizations that are working hard to fix this loopholes in city to city and state to state differences.
 
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I’m thankful I live in rural Southern Illinois, i bought my Benchmade auto from the local gun shop and the Chief of Police in my town works there. He also teaches conceal carry courses at the gun shop.
 
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