County comm EOD breacher bar

[lamepro]

would this be considered a fixed blade in California? i was thinking about carrying one around (concealed) but i wasnt sure if it falls under the California "dirk or dagger" ruling on concealment.

 

[glee]

I don't know CA law, but the breacher bar doesn't have a sharp edge or point, unless you count the corner. It's a pry bar, which, come to think of it, might qualify it as a burglary tool.

 

[Clang!]

I don't think it could be a "dirk or dagger" since there's no point on it. But, it has a handle and a long sharpened section, so a "resonable person" would consider it a fixed blade knife.

IMHO, I'd carry it openly.

 

[lamepro]

mabye i mis read the penal code. but it doesnt mention a "fixed blade" anywhere. it says any weapon readily available for stabbing that may inflict great bodily injury or death. no mention of fixed blade just dirk or dagger.

 

[glistam]

I have one of these myself, and here's the thing: you have got to think about what it looks like to a cop frisking you. Consider your age, your clothing, your occupation, the surrounding area you are in, other items you are carrying besides the breacher bar, and what you plan on saying to said cop when he asks you why you have it.

When you carry a knife, you are "judged" in three levels. The letter of the law, which you are discussing, is the last of these levels. We are also judged by the public and by the very human officer who encounters the knife. Even when the letter of the law makes something like this technically legal, it is going to raise some questions by that officer. Especially considering that if you are carrying concealed, you have to do something pretty boneheaded to get that cop's attention so he or she's already not going to like you very much (and nobody start with the anecdotes about getting frisked for doing "nothing."). If you can articulate a logical and believable reason for carrying a big honking slab of sharpened steel concealed then you'd might go free. But if your a punk kid looking for some kind of loophole to carry your new toy, your going to at the very least end up having to willfully forfeit it (confiscation with no arrest or cite). I have heard of several cases in CA where a person carrying a crowbar or screwdriver has had it confiscated because they carried it in a manner that made it reasonably clear it was not carried as a work tool (typically one does not conceal those). An item like this is going to look even worse if it's concealed.