Ok, I need to get back on topic for one minute because this stuff has me running scared!
If I am on my way up-state NY (I live in NYC) to hunt, have my hunting license on me as well as all of my hunting gear (i.e. camo clothes, rifle with permit, etc.) and get stopped, can I be arrested for carrying my hunting knives? I am under the impression that as long as I am hunting and have my license to prove it, I am ok.
Ughhhhhh!
I worked in NYC for a few years, I've lived WAY-upstate NY for the last 35. Hunters and fishermen traveling through are common up here. Most of the LEOs you're going to find up here are state troopers looking for speeders and drunk drivers. They have their hands full with that, and they're spread out too thin, so if you are not speeding or driving drunk you will never be stopped...unless you have a light out, they will stop you for that...or driving in the rain with your wipers on, but no headlights on...or driving with no seatbelt hooked up...occasionally you may hit a checkpoint looking for DWIs, registration and inspection stickers, seatbelts, etc. Get your car in order and be prepared.
If you are stopped on the road, the trooper is going to call in the stop and your license plate number and wait for an answer before he ever gets out of his vehicle. He'll size up the situation...if you look like a local good ol boy in a new pickup, he'll have one attitude...if you're a city freak driving a rusted road rat, he'll have another attitude. Knives are probably the last thing on his mind on his initial approach to your car, he's more concerned about a gun barrel coming out the window. Don't get out of your car unless he tells you to, and then you're probably screwed because you're drunk.
To answer your question Charles, it is not illegal to have knives or guns in your car. The guns should be stowed in the trunk, unloaded. Keep the knives out of sight, not laying on your dashboard or console.
A well-respected retired stock investor from NYC who lives in my neighborhood makes it a point to travel around in LL Bean hunting togs and a sheath knife on his belt...his idea of what a real Adirondack native would wear. Nobody bothers him.
We live in uncertain times and if you try to define your behavior by what you think is the letter of the law, you may get into trouble. Knowing the law is wise, but I would also recommend those old standbys "situational awareness" and "blending in" and not inviting the LEOs to check you out.
Good thread, and the cat-fights are entertaining too
