Ever Have a Knife CONFISCATED?

C

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Sep 5, 2005
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...and if so, what happened? Someone here about a year ago said he was stopped and had one taken by a cop while going down an escalator.

I've also been told that you can carry a knife you think you're carrying openly, but is considered concealed because a police officer is "trained" to see it, whereas the public at large aren't .

Some people lose their knives unexpectedly at metal detectors they previously didn't know they were going to have to pass through. And the policy is, they don't "check" knives for later retrival. (I've seen news clips of confiscated items, and there are usually some nice knives in the mix.)
 
I heard rumors of Navy Customs confiscating knives from solider's coming back from Iraq, unless they had proof the knife was issued by the Army. They were making some big time deals out of auto's that had been brought over, saying they wouldn't make it past customs. Well, the good news is, the Customs officer I spoke with coming back state-side had no problems at all with any of the blades I was bringing back. They had their eye's out for the big fish (grenaded, ammo, ak's.)
 
Thankfully, no...although most of the time I know when I'm going to be passing through a metal detector (airports, gov't buildings, the county justice center, etc). I would be incredibly pissed if I got a nice knife taken away from me that got mysteriously "lost"....
 
I'm always visiting prisons, county, state and federal office buildings (It's a job thing). If I forget to leave my EDC in the car, I'll go back and put it there before I'll trust a guard to hold it for me.
 
Peregrin said:
I'm always visiting prisons, county, state and federal office buildings (It's a job thing). If I forget to leave my EDC in the car, I'll go back and put it there before I'll trust a guard to hold it for me.
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Amen, brother. Wackenhut has the contract for entry control at the Douglas County facility...nice guys mostly, but no effin' way am I trusting them with anything that is worth more than a couple bucks, and even then I get irritated.

Edit: If there are any Wackenhut guys on here, no offense. I can only speak for the ones that I've encountered before.
 
While visiting Atlanta several months ago, I visited several of the tourist attractions and carried a rather non-threatening Case Tiny Toothpick. I had to "check" it at the entrance of the Atlanta Aquarium (no knives allowed inside) and retrieved it when I left. Same thing happened at the Coca Cola museum. All of the attraction workers were very professional/nice about it. I didn't feel too imposed upon.
 
Had to throw away my SAK (yes, as in put in the trash can) at the US Bureau of Printing and Engraving. Kind of ruined my vacation but I've survived.
 
It is good to know the law and to comply with it.

It is also good to know when a business's confiscation policy can be ignored. For example, in my state it is lawful to ignore the "no firearms" and "no concealed weapons" signs at businesses. They can kick you out if they discover that you are carrying, but there is no criminal penalty.
 
I dropped my stag handled folder in the change cup along with my keys when going through security at the Olympics opening ceremony in Savannah. My friend behind me kept his knife in his pocket and surrendered only his change and keys to the cup. He had his knife confiscated when the bells and whistles went off. My knife was handed back to me on the other side of the metal detector. You just got to love some of these security people.
 
Twice and had both returned, if your not breakin' the law there's no reason to have one confiscated, both times I asked for receipts from the LEOs both times they handed my knife back after they concluded their business.
 
Yeah definitely ask for a receipt when a LEO confiscates your knife and make sure you get the LEO's name and badge #. If they keep it it is considered stealing and they can be charged. I would say 60% of he time they do hand it back. Unless, you did something really stupid and to ask for a receipt could make things worse.
 
I had to catch a flight and had to leave a bladeless keychain pocket tool at the San Diego airport. You know the airlines ought to provide a lockbox for each flight to transport stuff like this. You just hand it to the ticket taker and they throw it in the planes lockbox and stow it with the checked bagage.
 
Jeff Clark said:
I had to catch a flight and had to leave a bladeless keychain pocket tool at the San Diego airport. You know the airlines ought to provide a lockbox for each flight to transport stuff like this. You just hand it to the ticket taker and they throw it in the planes lockbox and stow it with the checked bagage.
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That would be too easy. And, it would tacitly imply TSA approval of the citizens right to own and carry a pocketknife. Those days are as over as the days of the junk man's horse drawn cart.
 
Let’s see if we can find the right forum …
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My friend and I went to see the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. They had a no knives policy and a metal detector. He ditched his knife in a bush at the entrance, then came back and got it after we left. Guards were watching the whole time, but couldn't do anything. It was awesome.
 
I had a real nice Spyderco, a Gerber mark I, and 2-3 lower quality folders confiscated. I got a receipt, but when I went to claim them it turns out they never made it to the station. Always record the badge #, and/or try to get the officer write it on the receipt.
 
I had too much to drink one night and got picked up by the police. I'm among the more unobtrusive drunks out there, so I'm not sure what I did to attract them; they probably just saw me falling over and puking and decided to get me someplace safe.
Anyhow, I had my Endura on me at the time, and they just took it. This was in Canada, and the knife laws here are somewhat ambiguous, but I'm sure the knife was legal. Regardless, when they do that, they're supposed to supply you with a badge number and a notice of seizure, otherwise I'm fairly certain it's outright theft.
At the time I didn't press the issue; if I got uptight about following procedure to the letter, they may have just backhanded me with a drunken-disorderly charge, so I just moved on, bought a CRKT. Still, it steamed my beans. Now I only keep a $20 buck folder on me when I'm out drinking.
 
Knives seem to end up in suitcases or my wife's purse. She flies almost weekly and so they confiscate knives from her more often than from me. She called me up at 5:15 AM yesterday to complain about how one of MY knives had embarrassed her at the airport again. She asked me how it could have gotten in her purse (she borrowed it) and mentioned that it had been confiscated. I try and only lend her old or cheap knives. This one was an old Adventurer SAK (originally about $25). It's a good thing that I have several spares.
 
A friend of mine told me that his was taken by a cop in the mall.He had taken it out to open a package he just bought and the cop told him it was illegal to have a blade longer than his palm is wide and just took it.

I haven't been able to find that Alabama law.It also seems rather strange that no charges, receipt or fine was given to my friend.Also my palm is much wider than his so it wouldn't have worked on me.
 
I have never had a knife confiscated, but I have had my ASP confiscated by a particularly worthless cop, after being searched for no reason. Told me that I "needed a concealed weapons permit to carry an asp".(florida) Told me he was going to be a nice guy and not charge me. He just wanted my asp. No asp(16", airweight) is worht dealing with this douchebag a nanosecond more than I have to so I told him to keep it.
 
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