Going to Los Angeles - what to bring (only 1)

[shecky]

Like anywhere, best thing to bring is common sense. Bring whatever you like, but be discreet, regardless of legality.

 

[Beile]

I don't know about LA, but I went into the State Capitol the other day with my Emerson Commander, Leatherman Charge and Boker Subcom, checked them at the entrance and the CHP at the door said nothing about them except they had to be checked and returned them to me when I left. I had totally forgotten I had them with me until I got in line for the X-ray.

 

[GLively]

I live in Northern California and fly at least 20 times a year. Most of the time I fly into LA, Burbank, or Orange County (John Wayne airport). I always have put my knife in my checked luggage since 1989 and have never had one stolen. In December 06 I bought a knife in Tennessee and put it in my checked luggage and it made it safely home. I have never been hassled in LA and I carry a 4" blade BM710. Of course I don't go waving it around either. Take what you like.

 

[supertool200]

thanks for all the replies..and yes it is the AT&T/BellSouth merger

 

[Luckylefty01]

not quite, excerpt from ca pc 626.10:

"any person.... who brings or possesses any dirk, dagger, ice pick, knife having a blade longer than 2 1/2 inches, folding knife with a blade that locks into place, ...."

2.5 inch knife and locking blade knife are given separate descriptions, hence are references to different knives in this case.

You guys are close, but I think You're combining subsections A and B of 626.10 (regarding knives in schools). As somebody else mentioned, the weapons laws in cali are complicated, and it's easy to get them confused.

The text: (quoted directly from here, and leaving out the later subsections, mostly regarding exceptions to A and/or B, such as needing one for a job or food prep or some such)

626.10. (a) Any person, except a duly appointed peace officer as
defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of
Part 2, a full-time paid peace officer of another state or the
federal government who is carrying out official duties while in this
state, a person summoned by any officer to assist in making arrests
or preserving the peace while the person is actually engaged in
assisting any officer, or a member of the military forces of this
state or the United States who is engaged in the performance of his
or her duties, who brings or possesses any dirk, dagger, ice pick,
knife having a blade longer than 21/2 inches, folding knife with a
blade that locks into place, a razor with an unguarded blade, a
taser, or a stun gun, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 244.5,
any instrument that expels a metallic projectile such as a BB or a
pellet, through the force of air pressure, CO2 pressure, or spring
action, or any spot marker gun, upon the grounds of, or within, any
public or private school providing instruction in kindergarten or any
of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, is guilty of a public offense,
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year,
or by imprisonment in the state prison.
(b) Any person, except a duly appointed peace officer as defined
in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, a
full-time paid peace officer of another state or the federal
government who is carrying out official duties while in this state, a
person summoned by any officer to assist in making arrests or
preserving the peace while the person is actually engaged in
assisting any officer, or a member of the military forces of this
state or the United States who is engaged in the performance of his
or her duties, who brings or possesses any dirk, dagger, ice pick, or
knife having a fixed blade longer than 21/2 inches upon the grounds
of, or within, any private university, the University of California,
the California State University, or the California Community Colleges
is guilty of a public offense, punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment in the state
prison.

[emphasis mine]

So (paraphrasing), for gradeschool (K-12), yes, any knife with a blade longer than 2.5 inches is banned, all fixed blades are banned, all folding knives with locks are banned, and razors with unguarded blades are banned (plus a few others).

But for colleges and unis, only knives with FIXED BLADES longer than 2.5 inches are banned, in addition to the standard cali laws.

Now, some of these are preempted by stricter local school regulations (I think you'd have a hard time finding a grade school these days that permitted a kid to carry a slip-joint, and I happen to know that one of the community colleges I attend limits students to knives with blades under 2.5 inches, period).

But as far as I can tell, this is what the state law actually states (IANAL, and this is just what I've gleaned from my common sense parsing of all the CA knife law information I've gotten ahold of). If you're at all interested, I highly recommend reading them for yourself, at least once.


As to the original question, I would personally take the minigrip and the solider, unless I found myself needing the multi-tool often in my job (I have a multi-tool, but don't usually carry it unless I think I'll need it, and don't find myself missing it very often). If it really absolutely has to be only one, I'd take the soldier for a bit of added versatility, unless I found myself needing to cut a bunch of stuff frequently.