One piece of info I feel is worth mentioning is the fact that the investigating law enforcement officer -i.e. the city cop who sees your folder sticking out of the top of your pocket and stops you to examine it- has the authority to make the determination on the spot if the knife meets the criteria for being legal or illegal for possesion/carry/use in his jurisdiction.
I went through law enforcement training for North Carolina and when we were presented the class on concealed and open carry of weapons other than firearms, there was alot of debate among the students as to what was considered illegal in respect to knives. Many of us came from a hunting and outdoors background and were offended to learn that a few of us in the class actually had on our persons a knife that could have possibly been deemed illegal. Even our instructor admitted that the laws (as they are written in NC) are to some extent debatable and are initially left to the determination of the officer on the spot.
After the officer decides the knife is illegal, the issue is passed on to those in the legal system who are further removed from the actual circumstances involving the knife in question... thus the complexity increases.
We were taught that ideally an officer must consider the events surrounding the discovery of the knife by the LEO, in addition to the physical attributes of the knife itself... case in point:
We attended the day class but the students attending the night class arrived just prior to our dismissal so that we had a half hour or so to socialize before their class started. The day we had the discussion about folding knives in particular, we presented our arguments while on our break to a few of the incoming night students who had arrived a few minutes early. 2 of them were female students. One of my classmates offered his folding knife to one of the female students for her opinion as to whether it could be considered a "gravity" knife because it could be flicked open. She tried several times but could not get it to open in this manner. The second female -a bit brawnier- did manage to flick it open on her third attempt but also tore a ligament in her wrist for which she wore a brace the following several weeks. So by definition, had she been the investigating officer, would the knife had met the legal criteria as a gravity-knife? Yes, technically it would have, but considering the amount of force it took, any officer with common sense could arguably deny that it did meet the criteria since it is based on the subjective opinion of that officer at the time. And had the officer in question been the first female student, we would have most definately had a different determination.
If some guy is creeping around in all black outside the back door of a business at night and is caught with the knife, I doubt he has the same intent for use as the college co-ed who has a lock-blade buried in the bottom of her purse that she bought at some swap-meet a week after another girl got raped on her campus.
The real problem is that in today's world, everyone thrives on sueing someone so they can come into a windfall of cash or be honored as the oppressed victim of some governmental abuse. This unfortunately encourages officers on the scene to err on the side of safety and let someone else make the call. This works well in some cases, but when law abiding, well-intentioned citizens have encounters with LEOs, it can cause the citizenry some serious headaches and issues of mistrust for those who are suppose to be in the position of protecting us.
Police officers are encouraged (and in most cases required) by departmental regulation to stay up on laws since they seem to change from year to year so that they can make quick, accurate determinations on the street as to whether a person's action meet the necessary criteria for a crime to be committed. If the law is vague or ambiguous, or if the knife or circumstances could go either way then wha-la! -we apply one of the nicest cognitive skills God gave us -common sense. But with weapons, it is just the path of least resistance to make the siezure or arrest and let someone else deal with whether there was enough justification on the officer's part.
But hey, thats why we have lawyers, and DA's, right? Sorry for the long rambling.... guess I was just suggesting that in an ideal society, officers would take the initiative to learn the technical specifics of knives available today and then apply that with some of that above mentioned common sense and street smarts when dealing with the public. Fewer officers today though, are willing to take on that responsiblity. Alot of taxpayers dollars could be saved by doing that and then maybe it wouldn't take me so damned long to get that court date I need to argue the speeding ticket I am trying to appeal... lol.
BTW- this is not a jab at any LEOs out there.... you are to be commended on performing such a thankless and dangerous job. That being said, my Emerson CQC-7 is NOT a gravity knife.
