Anybody else carry an illegal knife?

The Second Amendment only exists in CA if your local sheriff feels like it.
Actually, things are starting to get better, but all through the 90s and 00s, that's how it was in CA.
 
We're starting to get a little too political in here again guys.... they already warned twice and the hammer is gonna be brought to bear soon, like the mighty Thor raining hellfire upon the Frost Giants.
 
So, the moderators can't figure out if they want to argue politics or not.... haha
 
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RedLynx said:
Question for you or Francisomov,

Would you feel comfortable pulling out a fairly small knife, say 3.5" blade in any regular, non-barbeque context, or would you feel apprehensive?
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In any other context, it would be deemed eccentric, or strange. Like producing a star wars sabre in the middle of a class room. Obviously I'm discarding from the outset the agressive exhibition, that it's common sense. Let's say you are having a polite conversation with someone in a meeting, and you decide to share that you collect you, and after some intro, you produce a spyderco military. It's going to be admired, nobody it's going to fret about it. But they gonna say: that's the crazy fellow who carries a big folder. And, when they introduce you, they will say: this the crazy fellow I told you about, the one with the knives. And they gonna turn to you and say: c'mon, show him a knife.
We are not hoplophobics as a culture, we admire knives. That's the reason of why they are banned in the first place, because even into 1920's and 30's people would professiionally stab each other, being "cuchilleros", knifers, and a word that has no translation in english, "compadritos", or "guapos".
Compadritos or guapos where, in the theory of Borges and others, the urban evolution of the gaucho, wich worked for political leaders of the time as enforcers, killers, bodyguards, etc.
They would almost ritualistic carry a facon IWB or in the small of the back, and their duels are the stuff of legends and epic poetry nowadays.
So knives would be banned, but also admired.

That love hate relationship still lingers, I believe, and all argentineans would appreciate and praise a nice knife, and envy the owner.
I think a 4 inches blade would be look as a regular to small knife lenght.

Sooooo
if a police gets you with any type of knife, you are in trouble automatically.
But it would result in practice in a confiscation of the knife and a bribe to be left alone.
if the police deems you dangerous, they will take aways the knife, beat you up, throw you in jail, and press charges against you. The interesting thing it's that it's not a crime, but a misdemeanor to carry a knife. You won't do real jail time, you would be out the next day.

At the same time, if you show a nice knife in a social gathering, with at least some explanation and intro so people know you are in broad terms a normal guy, then they will not only not worry about it, but they will praise the knife, pass around it to admire it, etc.

We love knives here.
 
Fascinating stuff, thanks for the insight into your culture!

aguijonmagico said:
In any other context, it would be deemed eccentric, or strange. Like producing a star wars sabre in the middle of a class room. Obviously I'm discarding from the outset the agressive exhibition, that it's common sense. Let's say you are having a polite conversation with someone in a meeting, and you decide to share that you collect you, and after some intro, you produce a spyderco military. It's going to be admired, nobody it's going to fret about it. But they gonna say: that's the crazy fellow who carries a big folder. And, when they introduce you, they will say: this the crazy fellow I told you about, the one with the knives. And they gonna turn to you and say: c'mon, show him a knife.
We are not hoplophobics as a culture, we admire knives. That's the reason of why they are banned in the first place, because even into 1920's and 30's people would professiionally stab each other, being "cuchilleros", knifers, and a word that has no translation in english, "compadritos", or "guapos".
Compadritos or guapos where, in the theory of Borges and others, the urban evolution of the gaucho, wich worked for political leaders of the time as enforcers, killers, bodyguards, etc.
They would almost ritualistic carry a facon IWB or in the small of the back, and their duels are the stuff of legends and epic poetry nowadays.
So knives would be banned, but also admired.

That love hate relationship still lingers, I believe, and all argentineans would appreciate and praise a nice knife, and envy the owner.
I think a 4 inches blade would be look as a regular to small knife lenght.

Sooooo
if a police gets you with any type of knife, you are in trouble automatically.
But it would result in practice in a confiscation of the knife and a bribe to be left alone.
if the police deems you dangerous, they will take aways the knife, beat you up, throw you in jail, and press charges against you. The interesting thing it's that it's not a crime, but a misdemeanor to carry a knife. You won't do real jail time, you would be out the next day.

At the same time, if you show a nice knife in a social gathering, with at least some explanation and intro so people know you are in broad terms a normal guy, then they will not only not worry about it, but they will praise the knife, pass around it to admire it, etc.

We love knives here.
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Man, it sure does make it difficult to enjoy the many different interpretations of an item, in this case a simple knife, in all of its many variations, which many of us find so fascinating. Hence such options in the knife world.

I think it's sad that our society has dictated so much what others can and cannot do nowadays. In the 70s I carried a 4" Old Timer everyday in high school in my back pocket. Was never an issue with anyone. I used it responsibly, if not there were going to be consequences.

We are now to the point that "zero tolerence" means getting an 8th-grade straight-A female student with braces thrown out of school because she brought a butter knife to cut an apple with because she could not bite it. The girl just wanted to eat an apple, and had to have a means to do so.

But our namby-pamby society nowadays suddenly makes her somewhat criminal in nature. I mean, she must have been doing something terrible, she got thrown out of school, didn't she? We are collectively turning into a society of wussies.

In the 70s and we didn't have all this bu....sh...t to deal with. Carry a 2.75" knife you're a fine fellow, 3.1" you're now a piece of ....

It saddens me greatly to see how far this world has changed in 40 years. It used to be if you were a criminal, you went to prison. If you did REAL criminal things, you went to REAL criminal places. And the vast majority of people didn't do those things because they were not predisposed to do so but regardless, did not want to go to those places.

Nowadays the line has blurred so much it's insane.

I'm glad I grew up in a different time and mindset. Thusly, I don't worry about 1/2" in blade length making the perception of me by others able to change so drastically. I carry what I want to carry and will deal with the consequences of it if it ever comes up.

So I carry what I want to. If something comes up, I'll deal with it. Good or bad. I won't let the threat of jail keep me from having a means of defending me and mine if a REAL criminal were to confront me, or us, heaven forbid. And that same item allows me the freedom to eat an apple whenever I want to, in an appropriate setting of course? I really don't feel anyone has a right to tell me otherwise.

So my choice is to do what I want to do and feel is my right to, and I can look myself in the mirror each night and feel true to myself. That's also why I live where I do. I don't want a bunch of wussies telling me I'm a criminal just because the knife I like happens to be 1/2" longer than someone else's liking. Go jump in a lake.

And if voting those people out if too much of an uphill battle, move. Let them continue to be morons, just not affect YOUR life. Use a knife responsibly, be good to others and it will all sort itself out.

And in 100 years no one will care anyway, but some of my knives might still be around. I just will not be.
 
I love democracy. If the people of my country through fair elections deem something to be illegal I will abide by their decision and follow the law as I hope all of my compatriots would. I will use our freedom to protest, I will write letters and talk to my fellow citizens but I will follow the law because I will respect the will of the people.
 
903lew said:
I love democracy. If the people of my country through fair elections deem something to be illegal I will abide by their decision and follow the law as I hope all of my compatriots would. I will use our freedom to protest, I will write letters and talk to my fellow citizens but I will follow the law because I will respect the will of the people.
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How do you follow the Swedish knife law with 100% certainty unless you never carry a knife not part of a uniform? Considering how arbitrary it is about what is allowed.
 
mrdeus said:
How do you follow the Swedish knife law with 100% certainty unless you never carry a knife not part of a uniform? Considering how arbitrary it is about what is allowed.
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This is very hard and something I think about a lot. While I do spend a lot of time in uniform, how do I follow the law in off-time?

The law itself is a very good one. If I do not have intent to harm anyone I commit no crime simply by carrying the implement. It is the job of the police to prove I had this intent, at least that is what my lawyer friends tell me. However, the police can be very arbitrary in their application of said law and this is the problem IMO, not the law itself.

Now, knowing this, what do I do?
I try to be discreet. I carry and use a small Swiss Army knife for the things you need most as I find this does not arouse suspicion. I also never carry a blade with malicious intent. Do I break the law? I don't think I do. I sincerely hope I don't. But I will not know until I am tried in a court of law, something I hope to avoid.

Addendum: I also refrain from carrying automatics outside of duty use as AFAIK this is also forbidden by the law.
 
JCB0802 said:
So, the moderators can't figure out if they want to argue politics or not.... haha
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Thanks, but we have simple things pretty well figured out. Should not be too hard for a reasonable person to understand.
 
903lew said:
I try to be discreet. I carry and use a small Swiss Army knife for the things you need most as I find this does not arouse suspicion. I also never carry a blade with malicious intent. Do I break the law? I don't think I do. I sincerely hope I don't. But I will not know until I am tried in a court of law, something I hope to avoid.
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That's pretty much what I do. I think it's OK. I hope.
 
mrdeus said:
That's pretty much what I do. I think it's OK. I hope.
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If you get stoppad by the police (why would you?) and they want to make your life hard they always will. Fortunately I have found that police out on patrol in our country tend to be good people with a moral compass that is pretty decent. Of course, if I should go to a bar or something I put any sharps in my bag. Once again, prudence is always a virtue.
 
bdmicarta said:
I have wondered what I would do if I moved to a state with more restrictive laws. For instance Colorado has a 3.5" blade limit so some of my favorite knives such as the Mlilitary would not be legal. I wondered if I would have to sell them or if I would just carry them around my house. I probably don't have to worry about this anytime soon though.
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I can say as a Coloradan who is sometimes fond of carrying larger folders and has had a few experiences with LEO's the 3.5" isn't taken too seriously ;). As long as I alerted the officers to the knife's (ZT 0560, 810 Contego) presence and firmly referred to it as a tool I never was hassled. At most the officer took the knife and placed it in my glove compartment until the interaction was concluded.
 
I'll never understand why these laws exist. All knives by definition have a sharp blade capable of inflicting harm. Does it matter HOW the blade is deployed? Does an automatic opening knife make it more dangerous than a manual? Can a 4 inch blade or 5 inch blade inflict more damage than a blade with 2.5 inches? People that get stabbed with pencils could be seriously hurt. The moral of the story is that people that want to inflict harm will inflict harm and the rest of us have to suffer because of them.
I personally approve of deliberately breaking laws that serve no practical purpose. It makes me feel like a free man to do so.
People that trust in their government to make decisions for them in my opinion go against the founding principles of this country. We gained freedom through dissent. Let's exercise those freedoms
 
Ok, I have read through this thread several times, and now I must be the voice of reason. I was a LEO for 15 plus years. I never, and I mean never stopped a citizen, whipped out my non existent ruler, measured a blade, and took him 10-15, arrested him. Face it if your out and about your business and carrying a knife that exceeds local laws by a half an inch or so I can pretty much guarantee your local LEO is NOT going to make it a point in his busy day to even notice you. On the other hand if you are in a high drug traffic area, doing naughty things, I would probably leave any knife at home. Think about it. Also if you plan on drinking yourself into Oblivion, leave the knife, or any weapon, at home. Common sense people... think about it!
 
In Indiana there's really no way to carry an illegal knife by state law. There is no preemption yet, but it will come soon I bet.

Throwing stars on the other hand, those will get you into trouble!
 
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