Got my first Kershaw..now im wondering if its even legal..

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Oct 14, 2008
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I live in PA(Williamsport) and the laws here are so vague that I cant even tell if the Kershaw Leek I just got(off ebay not a local sale) is legal or not....and if its not since the knife is so nice is there any way to make it legal..by removing or disabling the spring I was thinking without ruining the knife? if I had known that getting this knife was gonna be like this id probably have just went with one that would not have caused so much headache over if its legal or not...
 
Pop down to your local Wal-Mart. If their sporting goods department sells Kershaw SpeedSafe knives, I should think you're good.
 
I live in PA(Williamsport) and the laws here are so vague that I cant even tell if the Kershaw Leek I just got(off ebay not a local sale) is legal or not....and if its not since the knife is so nice is there any way to make it legal..by removing or disabling the spring I was thinking without ruining the knife? if I had known that getting this knife was gonna be like this id probably have just went with one that would not have caused so much headache over if its legal or not...

No worries...it is legal. It is not an automatic which are illegal to carry in Pa.
 
Even though it is legal you will still find people that are ignorant that will call it a switch blade. However this is true in many circumstances.

Enjoy your knife.
 
Even though it is legal you will still find people that are ignorant that will call it a switch blade. However this is true in many circumstances.

Enjoy your knife.

True enough. The best bet is not to flash it around. Probably holds true for any knife.
 
No, id not flash it around but you know how things go..I also am covered under HR 218 for Concealed carry so I CC a lot(Glock 23) and if I was ever stopped and asked if im carrying I say yes(i dont have to say in PA but its a professional courtesy I would do to make the officer feel better) and then that could lead to the inevitable.shakedown lol and I dont want the ..oh what do we have here..a ILLEGAL knife..type scenerio :).
 
Most LEOs will not bust bust you for an illegal knife as a primary offense. At least, that seems to be the general consensus. However, the operative word there is "most." :( You never know; YMMV; etc. There's some good threads in the "Knife Laws" sub-forum here. Of course, the SpeedSafe system is legal from a federal standpoint, but there's been some...interesting...attempts to pass local laws that are worded in such a way as to throw local legality into question in some jurisdictions. :rolleyes:
 
here is what the Pa law says and I will TRY to bold the point I thought may be in question

) Definition.--As used in this section "offensive
weapon" means... any... dagger, knife, razor or cutting
instrument, the blade of which is exposed in an automatic
way by
switch, push-button, spring mechanism, or
otherwise...
- also see 24 P.S. 13-1317.2. re: students bringing weapons
on to school property.]

Pennsylvania case law:
Where opening knife required lock to be released, and
once lock was released blade could be exposed by flip of
wrist, knife did not have blade which could be "exposed in
an automatic way"... by "otherwise" legislature referred
to knives that were opened by some sort of mechanism which
is not a "switch," "push-button," or "spring" mechanism
but still a mechanism... (1979)
 
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