califronia knife laws?

As a general FYI, the cops in the San Jose area (I worked in Milpitas for a while), tend to be stricter then in Socal (San Diego, Riverside, and Los Angeles areas). I.E. If the speed limit says 55, you will get ticketed at 56.
 
Alright, I live overseas and where I live I have to fear the Police as much or more so than the bad guys. Corruption is rampant and if you are a Westerner and have anything that they (police) want they are going to take it if you are stopped. It seems easier through situational awareness to avoid the bad guys. The country I live in has a very draconian knife law, which makes carrying any knife illegal unless it is needed for a specific occupation or activity. It seems that fixed blades are out of the question. Everywhere you go there is security personnel searching people as they go into office buildings and even malls. So only the criminals use knives in the commission of crimes - strong arm robberies, murders, kidnappings, etc. Scary stuff! Dang, makes me wonder why I live there!!

With that said, fixed blade folding knives carried closed in the pocket from all indications are legal to carry in California. Mine is a somewhat inexpensive Gerber. Solid knife with a 2 1/2 inch blade.

What I have a question about is the "Merlin Professional Folding Knife Deployment System". It is a pretty interesting piece of equipment. It holds the blade of the knife in a partially open position with the grip being held by a plastic wing into the liner.

Is this thing legal in California? It is not a fixed blade knife and carrying it under your shirt is still a closed blade knife. There has to be some real gray area here.
 
90grains said:
What I have a question about is the "Merlin Professional Folding Knife Deployment System". It is a pretty interesting piece of equipment. It holds the blade of the knife in a partially open position with the grip being held by a plastic wing into the liner.

Is this thing legal in California? It is not a fixed blade knife and carrying it under your shirt is still a closed blade knife. There has to be some real gray area here.
Click to expand...

I own one personally that I keep as a curiosity, on account of them being a death trap. These devices were marketed in the days before thumb-studs and such, and for the most part are obsolete given current knife tech, especially the "wave opening" style knives so common now that are still legal everywhere. The only state that bans Merlin Pro's is Massachusetts, one of the most weapon-unfriendly states in the US, through there absurdly phrased weapon statute.
 
As far as an OTF loophole goes, if you buy one with an under 2 in. blade then it should be legal (however, depending on where you live in California, public opinions of it might not be so good. Also I'm not taking into consideration city laws, so you might want to research them). I know of a knife that schrade makes that is an OTF but is spring assisted instead of auto. You might look into that (search SCHOTF4 on google and you should find it).
 
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