Why an assisted blade? If you are worried about the legalities of carrying an assisted blade knife, well, just don't carry one. They don't really provide any advantage over any other one hand opener, and your options are far greater with non-assisted knives. A knife with a flipper tab is just as good, some might even be better.
Have you considered the legal ramifications of actually using any knife of any size in a self defense situation? Stabbing or cutting somebody could end up with you being charged with far more serious offenses than carrying an illegal knife.
What makes you think a 2" blade would be any sort of deterrent? A knife is not a good choice for a self defense weapon anyhow, and a tiny one isn't any better. Just less blade to get stabbed with when the crackhead who takes it from you turns it against you.....
(This is a long post. I must apologize. But I wanted to address all of the different comments at one time.)
I tried looking up where you live on your profile, Arathol. But it doesn't show. I didn't want to insult you with a description of LA right now. If you already lived here. But its gotten alot worse. I've lived and worked here as a PI for many years. Particularly in bad areas of town. Good areas too. But sometimes even the good areas here are suspect now.
Alot of people lost work. That were living on the edge to begin with. And everyone seems to be much more agressive than I ever recall in the past. Not to mention severe gang activity.
They've actually started sending out teams of gang members to follow people to rob them. If they can't beat them up. They've actually tried running people over with their cars. And this is in better areas of town. These are just the ones that have been caught on video. Just a sign of how desparate some people have become to stay alive.
I'm not a wall flower by any means. A 6'3" 230 ex Marine. I've never had any problems. And I've worked doing surveillance in LA since about 1998. And I've never felt the need to carry a weapon in all these years.
LA just started giving out ccw's. Which I've begun the application process for. But in the mean time I've felt more comfortable with at least a knife on me. I won't go into long details. But I was recently followed to a post office. By a guy who obviously had a weapon in his waist band behind his back. I was able to talk my way out of the situation. And would have run first. Had he tried to use it. I'm not trying to be kung fu on the street or anything. Avoidance is the first best defense. But when you aren't allowed to carry a firearm. Your defense is limited. At least with a knife. Any knife. You've at least got some sort of last ditch defense.
But after carrying my Spyderco for a few days it dawned on me that it might actually be illegal. As there are so many ridiculous laws here. But its been difficult finding a specific law or case law to point at and say "Yes. Its obviously legal to carry x type of knife.". I hold a state PI license and a Federal Firearms Dealer license. I have held both for many years. And have alot to lose. I don't want to lose it over something so small as a pocket knife.
I sincerely appreciate everyones strong advice and opinions on this. But I need something in writing that I can point to if I'm ever pulled over. Or god forbid ever had to use a knife. I want to know I can point to some case law or ordinance or something that shows its legal to have what I have. And the cops here aren't always the brightest. I appreciate the hell out of them. But with so many unclear and different laws from the state to the county to the cities. Its just a mess here.
Lastly, I'm no knife defense expert. But the difference between even my Spyderco knife and the one assisted knife I have is night and day. I can deploy the assisted knife much smoother and faster than the Spyderco or any of my knifes with studs. So I was hoping I'd find something legal I could carry in an assisted knife.
(I'm also not sure everyone in this thread is using the same or correct terms as everyone else. Including maybe myself. When I say assisted I'm referring to a knife with a protruding knob on the top of the backend of the blade. That when folded allows you to pull that knob with your pointing finger. Which releases the spring assisted blade to open fully. Into its locked position.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I even bought this knife. As my collection is mostly ESEE, Spyderco, Benchmade and a few others. But this either came free to me or I bought it on sale for like ten dollars or something. But the one assisted knife I have is a S&W Black Ops. It's ridiculously cheap. I would never carry it. It looks like it would break if you tried to use it for anything. And I honestly never even fiddled with it. I had given it to my adult son. Who left it in a box of mine. And I recently started handling it. Marveling at how easily it opened. But this is it.
Smith & Wesson Black Ops SWBLOP3 7.7in S.S. Assisted Opening Knife with 3.4in Drop Point Blade and Aluminum Handle for Outdoor, Tactical, Survival and EDC
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003HGK6VW/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_FBFRZKG0XNY99XX0XTWS
Its so cheap. Maybe its not even a real assisted opening. But that is the extent of my knowledge into assisted opening knives. Maybe there is a thread on here that better defines the differences between all of these different spring assisted and/or automatic knives?)
After reading all the conflicting opinions on the internet. I was lead to believe that I "might" get away with an assisted if it was shorter than 2 inches. I feel better after reading the many responses here and links. But even if you read thru these there is conflicting information.
But with that said. If I do go with the assumption that an assisted is ok in CA. I still assume it would need to be shorter than 2 inches. Which also, I assume, is why so many companies make 2 inch and shorter knives. There must also be other jurisdiction that require this length of knife.
Unless I'm reading this wrong and everyone thinks a 3 inch assisted blade is ok(?).
In the meantime, I'm going to look at all these less than 2 inch assisted knives. Which has me very satisfied that there is such a great selection. I was only looking on amazon and google this morning and wasnt finding much. This is great. And thank you again to all that have taken the time to respond.
If my wife had not just recently had a heart transplant we would be moved to Montana by now. But hopefully in the coming months. And I wont have to deal with being quite so concerned with my safety. LA has just gotten out of hand.
