Anybody know about Calif. knife laws?

[Flinx]

I was wondering if anyone might happen to know both the why and how of the change in California's knife laws. Maybe I have my facts confused, but I was under the impression that the knife laws in CA were very vague at one time, and just recently (a couple of years ago, maybe?) the laws were changed. From what I have read, it is now perfectly legal to carry any size folding knife on your person as long as it IS carried folded. Every folding knife that Cold Steel makes now has the "legal to carry in Califonia" header next to it in Mr. Thompson's Special Project catalog. I'm just wondering if there happened to be a knife lover on the CA state senate and that person pushed thru the change in the law, or maybe the change came about because of case precident, or was it a group of knife-nuts who came together and helped to bring about the change. I would really love some input, because I would like to start down the path to getting Arkansas' law changed in the future. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Flinx

 

[James Mattis]

Check out my California knife law page.

I don't have time right now to go into the details on the last few years of legislative history, but there are a lot of old threads in the AKTI and general forums about it.

"Good" knife bills and "bad" knife bills have both passed the CA legislature unanimously, meaning the same people voted for both and didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it.

There has never been a blade length limit on folding knives in California, except for schools and "public buildings" (different statutes - gotta get them up on my page). A 1996 statute made all sharp pointy things "dirks or daggers" for purposes of the concealed carry law. A subsequent statute, at the prompting of some "knife people," clarified that pocket knives carried in their folded condition are not "dirks or daggers," in conformity with prior case law and legislative history.

A 1998 statute clarified that thumb operated one hand folders are not included in the broad definition of switchblade or gravity knife. Other states do not have that clarification.

The Cold Steel Vaquero Grande and the REKAT Sifu are street-legal in California, probably because nobody has ever taken one for "show and tell" to the public safety committees of either house of the Legislature.


------------------
- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001

 

[Jim March]

California knife laws changed twice recently:

1) Effective 1/1/97, Penal Code 653k specified that folders with a thumbstud, thumbhole or similar "manual opening mechanism attached directly to the blade of the knife" were LEGAL, and if present the knife could not be declared a "gravity knife" even if it could be snapped open. It's *possible* a DA auto (both thumbstud and springs present) would be OK, but I wouldn't try it. In any case, there's no length limit.

2) Effective 1/1/98, AB78 from Assemblyman Granlund(sp?) changed Penal Code 12020 - folders that are BOTH legal under 653k AND concealed in the folded position are not "readily accessable", therefore aren't "dirks or daggers" ("readily accessable stabbing implements") therefore can be concealed.

I hope that's clear

.

OH YA: AB78's lobbying effort was funded by BUCK KNIVES. Remember that when you're buying gifts or whatever - we owe Buck bigtime, you won't ever hear me badmouth 'em

.

Both changes were influenced by a very bad criminal prosecution in SoCal, about...four years ago, James? The "infamous Spyderco Mariner case", whereby a cop, in court, grabbed the knife by the blade and snapped the GRIP down, proving it was a "gravity knife". The defendant was charged with a gravity knife bust plus a "concealed weapons" charge. This insanity was overturned in appeals and it influenced both knife law reform efforts above.

My "blade page" has links to earlier BF California law threads, plus James's various pages. James and I are so far the two most avid students of Calif knife law

.
http://www.ninehundred.com/~equalccw/blades.html

Sidenote: it was my realizing the implications of AB78 that ultimately led to the Sifu as a knife built specifically to exploit it to the max

. That's why I've got SN1.

Jim

 

[Flinx]

Cool guys, thanks for all the info. I'm going to write my congressman and see if I can find out what side of the debate he stands on. I would love for Arkansas' law to be changed. It would just make my day to be able to carry my Endura legally in my home state!

Thanks again,

Flinx