Carrying swords around California universities

cotdt

cotdt

Joined
Oct 2, 2006
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I just read that you are only legally allowed to carry knives up to 2.5" inches when on a California public university campus.

If so, then why do I see so many people carrying swords around campus? I did it myself when I was a student at UC San Diego when i carried by katana with me around campus.
 
cotdt said:
I just read that you are only legally allowed to carry knives up to 2.5" inches when on a California public university campus.

If so, then why do I see so many people carrying swords around campus? I did it myself when I was a student at UC San Diego when i carried by katana with me around campus.
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You're the very first person I've ever heard claim they saw people carrying swords around campus ANYWHERE in the world.
This is definitely a case of "pics or it didn't happen."
Even then I might not believe it.
 
Why would you carry a sword with you anywhere? What practical purpose could that ever serve? What could you possibly ever do with it? This does not make sense! Who carries a sword on them? People, this does not make sense!:confused:
 
The only people I know who carry swords in public are historical re-enactors at historical re-enactments (as in Rev War, 1812, Civil War, etc)
 
stabman said:
You're the very first person I've ever heard claim they saw people carrying swords around campus ANYWHERE in the world.
This is definitely a case of "pics or it didn't happen."
Even then I might not believe it.
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I knew I guy who carried a sword at times on campus, but he was a computer teacher at the college and also taught martial arts classes at the campus gym, and the sword was for the martial arts class. He just carried it to and from the class on the couple times he carried it, not EDC or anything like that.

Technically, it wasn't an actual sword but a SLO. Actual swords were very uncommon in the mid-1990s and even martial artists bought SLOs and considered them "swords."

I've seen more people carrying bo, hanbo, sai, tonfa, etc. to MA classes and demos, but those were official college classes and events.
 
I taught at college for 30+ years and was an iaido practioner also. I carried my katana (a civilian mounted Ishido Teruhide) to and from my office at the college for years. I'd practice in the gym between classes. Most of the faculty and my students knew I collected/studied antique Japanese swords and I'd take a new find in to the office for "show and tell"; also had several students bring me swords to evaluate on campus. No problem, just don't swing them around in public and act like a want-to-be ninja of something. Should add that this was in Virginia and not California where folks are a little more freaky and scared of anything sharper than a butterknife :-)

Rich

The Japanese Sword Index
http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm
 
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I'm with Rich on this. There are reasonable uses for swords at college, so long as you make sure it's ok with the administration.

I was part of a reenactment group in college, though we were careful to secure the campus police captain's approval for events involving our weapons. I was an Iaido practitioner too, and I would take my swords to and from the athletic center for practice, including Tameshigiri (cutting rolled mats with a live blade).

In one of the most bizarre events of my lifetime, my live blade actually saved me from being assaulted. I was returning from class at night when three drunks starting following me and shouting threats (I was wearing a green poncho which was apparently "hilarious"). When they began getting aggressive (I refused to speak, and they said something to the tune of "making me" respond), I turned around, took my sword from under the poncho, and drew the blade partway out. They ran like jackrabbits. They never say my face, and I never saw them again.

Btw, any of you twerps on here that I know are reading this, don't get any funny ideas. This was a mere coincidence, my sword nothing but a weapon of opportunity. Had the police gotten involved, I would have been prosecuted for brandishing or assault.
 
Guessing this is an attempt at humor for the reactions, even with all the characters I've run into I've never seen or heard of a casually carried sword. MA demonstrations are another matter, I've seen everything from folding staffs in convenient pool cue cases to bokkens in baseball duffel bags, anything to avoid stares in transit. I really don't know how I'd react to some one openly carrying a larger blade on their belt out in the open, it'd be a toss-up between 'Are they heading to a convention?' or 'Do they leave their mom's basement that often?'
 
AlexSchira said:
I really don't know how I'd react to some one openly carrying a larger blade on their belt out in the open, it'd be a toss-up between 'Are they heading to a convention?' or 'Do they leave their mom's basement that often?'
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You forgot, "Do they want to be a Jedi?"
 
I've seen some weird people on college campuses - remember one grotesquely fat mall-ninja type guy in a black duster who used to carry several balis on his belt in plain view. Wouldn't surprise me if some kids are experimenting with their identities or expressing their individuality by carrying swords. Unless you do something really outre, college is more or less a consequence free zone. It's a bit of a :rolleyes: to me, but not significantly more so than most civilians carrying handguns.
 
Burke said:
I've seen some weird people on college campuses - remember one grotesquely fat mall-ninja type guy in a black duster who used to carry several balis on his belt in plain view. Wouldn't surprise me if some kids are experimenting with their identities or expressing their individuality by carrying swords. Unless you do something really outre, college is more or less a consequence free zone. It's a bit of a :rolleyes: to me, but not significantly more so than most civilians carrying handguns.
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He just dressed up in a robe and walked around with a bunch of knives?
 
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