Flip knife in canada

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Nasur

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Jul 18, 2017
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My brother is a photographer and he has a tiny less the 6inch pocket knife. Its un assisted and the blade is 3 inch. He uses it for "defence" and as a tool and hes really worryed about it. Thanks.
 
Welcome. In general most knives that size are fine. However if it can be opened by wrist action alone, or with a gentle push and a flick, it could cause trouble. Also, carry of a knife for self defense is illegal in Canada, as it constitutes carry of a dangerous weapon. Joys of Intent based laws. So advise him to just say its for cutting tape.

Please note that local laws may restrict what he should be doing further, also I'm not a lawyer, and I've never gotten in any trouble over a knife. So my advice is worth less than the time it took you to read it.
 
Yeah its a manual open and its a swiss army knife so i doubt it will cause trouble... But if it does ill tell him to say its for cutting leafs or to carry a "survival" kit
 
Nasur said:
My brother is a photographer and he has a tiny less the 6inch pocket knife. Its un assisted and the blade is 3 inch. He uses it for "defence" and as a tool and hes really worryed about it. Thanks.
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With a 3" blade the knife is perfectly legal. You are allowed up to a 5" blade if a folder and 4" blade if fixed in Canada. DO NOT say any knife is for defence!!! The law in Canada is a Federal law right across the country. If a province says you can't have that, don't believe it. If a police officer stops you for any reason and you say that the knife regardless size, is for protection, there is a big chance he will take it. It's always a tool first. Hope this eases things for him.
 
KUTTERSKNIVES41s5 said:
With a 3" blade the knife is perfectly legal. You are allowed up to a 5" blade if a folder and 4" blade if fixed in Canada. DO NOT say any knife is for defence!!! The law in Canada is a Federal law right across the country. If a province says you can't have that, don't believe it. If a police officer stops you for any reason and you say that the knife regardless size, is for protection, there is a big chance he will take it. It's always a tool first. Hope this eases things for him.
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I thought there weren't any length restrictions in Canada?

Not that im about to carry a 6 inch folder any time soon.


Never carry anything for self defense unless you want it confiscated.
 
marcus52AR said:
I thought there weren't any length restrictions in Canada?
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There aren't, but that doesn't stop people from posting such "facts" on the internet.
People will also tell you that if a Maglite has more than 3 D cells, it is a weapon that cannot be carried...they are absolutely wrong about that too.

People should read the laws that actually exist; that's why they are written down!
 
Yeah, pretty much none of that advice was good, save for saying its a tool. With the context that its a swiss army knife, that goes a long way to cover a lot of things a cop would be concerned about. Also, I'd love to see someone defend themselves in court by claiming that city or provincial law didn't apply because they were more restrictive than Federal.
 
Agree, length doesn't matter, but purpose does matter. That's my amateur reading of the law.

If you carry a stick and tell a cop it's a self defence weapon, you can get charged. If a knife is very weapon-like such that you would likely have no purpose for it but self defence, then you could also get charged. Think dagger, for example.

There is a lot of leeway in defining a "weapon", and you are not allowed to carry one in public.

But if it's just a flipper, they are not specifically restricted in Canada. Then again, you said it was a Swiss Army knife, and I don't think they make a flipper, so I have no idea what knife you're talking about.
 
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Dangerously said:
Agree, length doesn't matter, but purpose does matter. That's my amateur reading of the law.

If you carry a stick and tell a cop it's a self defence weapon, you can get charged.
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That's it pretty much, :)
Cops don't bug me about the 4 foot long Hawthorne walking stick I carry, but it's for when my back screws up.
It's with me everywhere, even if I go to a heavy metal concert (unless I bring a shorter one to fit in the car easier; then it's only 39 to 40 inches long).

People sometimes ask me if it's legal, but cops don't, because they get it.
If I were carrying it for bashing people though, they would have a different take on it.
 
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