Collectors laws?

[xiandier]

I live in California and would like to know if its legal for knife dealers to own California illegal knives(such as autos, butterflies,OTFs and switchblades) as long as they are not selling them, just simply collecting for their collections. And if so, what do I do to become a dealer?

 

[Bob W]

Some states allow exemptions for otherwise illegal knives, like automatics. Unfortunately New Mexico does not. You can ask about California down in the Knife Laws forum section, or a moderator will move it for you.

You can read the California knife laws here:
http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/ca.txt

Best Luck,
-Bob

 

[Cougar Allen]

Welcome to Bladeforums!

Let’s see if we can find the right forum …

 

[Absintheur]

Quite often dealers are allowed tp stock such itme in order to demo and promote sales to LEOs. That is the way it is in Indiana, here a dealer can stock and sell to LEOs but to no one else. I don't think the would consider a collector a dealer. I have an FFL but even that doesn't allow me to keep automatic knives. I would have to have an actual store front to do so. Some state do except you as long as the spring is removed that makes it function. Read up on the laws for you state and ask a lawyer if you are unsure.

 

[Gollnick]

Many state laws have a curious loophole that allows citizens to have otherwise prohibitted items when they are kept as "relics and curios." What is a relic or a curio is an area of law that gets into interpretation and really has to be handled on a case-by-case basis. It's also true that states don't generally issue "licenses" for this sort of thing but leave it up to prosecutors and courts to decide what is a relic or curio when the question comes up. It's very situational. A man on the street with a switchblade knife is in violation of the law, but a man with extensive collection of WWII artifacts who keeps them carefully curated in display cases is not if one of his artifacts happens to be the same switchblade knife if that knife was issued to soldiers in WWII. In the first man's pocket, the knife is a deadly weapon. In the second man's display case, the knife is a relic or curio.

The relics and curios exceptions are especially common in southern states where people just don't want to give up the knife -- or whatever -- that great, great, great grand dad received from this grandfather and carried in the civil war and which has been in the family and passed down as a sacred heirloom for seven generations. So, the law calls it a relic or curio and lets them keep it.

 

[Gollnick]

Quite often dealers are allowed tp stock such itme in order to demo and promote sales to LEOs. That is the way it is in Indiana, here a dealer can stock and sell to LEOs but to no one else.

Mr. Absintheur reminds me to clarify one often-misunderstood aspect of switchblade law. While states have their own individual laws (Oregon, for example, allows private citizens to own switchblades), when it comes to interstate commerce, just being a law enforcement officer does not qualify you to buy a switchblade. Only law-enforcement agencies are allowed to buy switchblades in interstate commerce and then only for official use with the knife remaining the property of the agency. So, an Indiana police officer can not buy a Benchmade switchblade -- either from a local store or by mail -- for his personal property, even if the knife is to be used in his work, because that knife was made in Oregon and obviously got transported in interstate commerce to Indiana. The officer's agency can buy the knife for official use and issue it to the officer for official use, but the knife must remain the property of the agency.

Remember, what I'm talking about there is Federal law.

 

[MORIMOTOM]

I live in California and would like to know if its legal for knife dealers to own California illegal knives(such as autos, butterflies,OTFs and switchblades) as long as they are not selling them, just simply collecting for their collections. And if so, what do I do to become a dealer?

simple ownership of those you mention is not illegal. it is illegal, however, to carry in public, tranpsort, etc.

 

[joe-bob]

You have to check your local laws.

For example, in Texas, switchblades are only illegal once you leave your own property, and then only if it isn't an "antique or curio". What is and isn't a "curio" is never explained. Theoretically, you should be able to carry an antique switchblade with impunity.....I'll let somebody else be the test case.

 

[THG]

I think you can own them as long as you keep them at home. In CA, I know that autos (aka switchblades, correct?) are legal in public as long as they are UNDER 2 INCHES blade length.

Here's an article on CA knife laws. It's dated 2002, but I think it all still applies:

http://www.equalccw.com/knifelaw.html

 

[R.W.Clark]

All switchblades are legal to own in CA, so are balisongs. You can even display your collection at shows. You just can not sale, offer for sale, transfer or carry in public or in the passenger area of a vehicle.

You can transport them, just treat them like a firearm. That means in a locked container in a non-passenger area of the vehicle. Just in the trunk is not good enough, they must be in their own locked container.

I have to carry a large collection of knives (both legal and illegal) often when I am teaching. It is no big deal really. However, I do have an officer remove them from my vehicle and carry them into what ever station I am teaching at.

 

[Planterz]

Oddly, in CA although it's illegal to sell, lend, transfer, or make available "switchblades" (which in CA includes balisongs), it is not illegal to purchase or own them.