Naughty Naughty...illegal carry?

[Gatekeeper]

Has anyone had the misfortune of having their favorite "slightly-larger-than-legal-length" folder confiscated? Crack fiends need not reply to post. I want to hear from the honest law abiders who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thanks!

THE GATEKEEPER

[J Smith]

I have had local police tell me that they won't say any thing about an automatic as long as the person does not look like a trouble maker. I am not sure what the legal
size is here but on the way hunting last year I carried a case marine fighting knife exposed in a 7-11 in front of two police and had nothing said.I guess being in a small town the police are a little more understanding.



J Smith

[Tightwad]

Interesting post. When I first got interested in knives beyond my military campknife I sat
down with our local police chief to get some idea of what was "legal". The jist of the discussion
came down to what the officer "judged" as intent. Made sense to me for if you look around you
will find that most folk's , DEPENDING ON THE LOCAL AREA, will use intent as a guideline
on what consitutes a threat and what is normal for the area. I personally have never had a knife
tanke from me, but then I've tanken care not to tempt fate. By paying attention to what is considered
normal for daily carry I've not had a problem.....so far. Would I carry a fixed blade daily? Yes ,
as long as it's a small common sense size. Do I carry one into the cities? No, not considered normal
carry there. I'd guess as long as the knife owners ATTITUDE doesn't preceed him into the room
he will do fine. Folk's usually don't care what you have on or are carrying as long as you don't
announce your presence. As anyone involve in security work will tell you.....the less attention
you draw to yourself the easier you'll get along.

[Tightwad]

Interesting post. When I first got interested in knives beyond my military campknife I sat
down with our local police chief to get some idea of what was "legal". The jist of the discussion
came down to what the officer "judged" as intent. Made sense to me for if you look around you
will find that most folk's , DEPENDING ON THE LOCAL AREA, will use intent as a guideline
on what consitutes a threat and what is normal for the area. I personally have never had a knife
taken from me, but then I've taken care not to tempt fate. By paying attention to what is considered
normal for daily carry I've not had a problem.....so far. Would I carry a fixed blade daily? Yes ,
as long as it's a small common sense size. Do I carry one into the cities? No, not considered normal
carry there. I'd guess as long as the knife owners ATTITUDE doesn't preceed him into the room
he will do fine. Folk's usually don't care what you have on or are carrying as long as you don't
announce your presence. As anyone involve in security work will tell you.....the less attention
you draw to yourself the easier you'll get along.

[haji]

Since I work at a knife shop, I did a lot of research on what "legal carry" meant. As near as I can tell, in the People's Republic of California, there is no blade length in the Penal Code, except as applies to switchblades-automatics, to use the current PC term. The length limit there is 2" or more. The PC doesn't cover very much else, except to say that knives opening with one hand that use thumb pressure applied to the blade as the opening method are not automatic under the Code (PC Sec. 653K). Basically, CA has exempted Spyderco models and all their immitators. Both of my encounters with law enforcement while carrying involved my ancient and now retired Worker. In both cases, I was ver careful to state the knife was carried as a tool, not a weapon. Once was a traffic stop, that because of my dress and vehicle (LA Kings hat, trenchcoat, black jeans and shirt, driving a black Camaro) caused me to be searched "for weapons" because the clip on my knife was seen. I agreed because 1) I knew I was not in danger of them "finding anything" because I had nothing illegal on my person or in my car. and 2) I thought it might speed things along and get me on my way. The knife was returned to me, with a lecture about my driving. It was bogus, but I took it (the lecture. Of course I took my knife back!). E-mail me if you want the reason behind the stop. The second time, my car ran out of gas on the freeway, on the left side, where the call boxes aren't. A San Diego PD officer stopped and asked why I was walking on the freeway. Explaination followed, and he gave me a lift. He asked if I had anything he should know about before I got in the back of the car, and I raised my untucked shirt-San Diego can be warm in the summer-and told him I was carrying a tool, which was for work. I then told him where the shop was, how much inventory we had-a lot-and such. At all the stoplights, he worked my knife a bit, opening and closing. I gave him a couple of ways to close it one-handed, and talked about materials and such. About 5 days later, he came in and bought one, which I believe was a Hunter, and then returned again to buy a Police Model. Oddly, since I've been carrying larger knives (a Titanium Police, which has since been retired, and now a Starmate) I've had no interaction with officers except at the shop and the shooting range. I find officers that shoot on their own time are also interested in both the knife as a tool and in the area of MBC.

Its all fun and games til somebody loses an eye, then its fun annd games you can't see.

[Grim Reaper]

Haji,

Thanks for the very informative post. I recently relocated to SoCal and had been remiss in checking the local laws.

[haji]

Welcome to my neighborhood! In case you need a Spyderco dealer, I work for the Cutler's Cupboard in La Mesa, and we have three other stores in the county. Basically, as long as your knife looks like a knife (as opposed to a lipstick case or tire guage, or something like that) and is not carried in the locked open position (if its a folder) you can carry just about any knife you want to. If its a fixed blade, it must be carried in a sheath on your belt, and "openly visible." Same thing goes for double edged knives. Being the People's Republic of California, I always thought the laws were more restrictive, but they're pretty lax...for now!

Its all fun and games til somebody loses an eye, then its fun annd games you can't see.

[Grim Reaper]

Thanks again. I also would have expected the laws to be more restrictive. It's nice to know that I can take some of the larger models with me from time to time.

[deputy tom]

Two years ago ,while visiting N.Y.C.,I had a Delica plain edge taken from Me at the Empire State Bldg.I did get it back at the end of the tour but passed on touring the Statue of Liberty fearing the same run around.I took along the Delica instead of My Endura spyder-edge to avoid this very type of problem.Odly enough the Oficer told Me the reason for no knives in the Empire State Bldg. was due to a Mid-Eastern going crazy on the observation deck armed with a knife.In light of the recent tragety (WTC),I suppose these miscreants favor egded weapons over anything else.tom.

N.R.A. LIFE MEMBER

[deputy tom]

computer error


Edited by - deputy tom on 9/20/2001 11:25:28 PM

[deputy tom]

computer error

Edited by - deputy tom on 9/20/2001 11:27:15 PM

[deputy tom]

computer error

Edited by - deputy tom on 9/20/2001 11:28:42 PM

[sgtyapd]

Never confiscated but close.
I was flying home from Heathrow and during my pass through the metal detector I put my combo edge spyderco (Delica I think) in the basket and walked through the metal detector. The guard looked in the basket noticed the knife and opened it up. He gave me a hard time over the serated edge. I told him I flew over with it in my pocket. Then I told him "If he was really confiscating it for legal purposes I wanted to speak to his supervisor." If he wanted it for himself...he could have it with my blessings." He didn't know what to say, turned red, and handed it back to me.

Another time flying back from Ontario Canada. They made me walk all the way back out and check it as checked luggage. What a sight that was a huge box that weighed less than a pound.
Watch the court houses. They will sometimes hold it and retun it. Other times it "gets lost."

[sam the man..]

Got mine kept in an Arms and Explosive safe... Never confisticated... <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>

Sam

have spydies will travel