i need some clarifying about law

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vszero

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i live in md, and i read one thread that said i must open carry my fixed blade so people can see? and also what about my cold steel recon 1 with pocket clip, do i have to clip so people see or should i keep it concealed

this fall i am planning to go to rochester for college there, i plan to leave my fixed blade and my knife in car, will i get trouble if LEO saw it?
 
Preface: This is not legal advice, I am not qualified to give you legal advice, and this should in no way be considered legal advice.

I can give you the link to the relevant laws so you can inform yourself. This is directly from the New York State Unified Court Systems website: http://www.nycourts.gov/cji/2-PenalLaw/265/art265hp.htm

The relevant reads are the links to Penal Law Article 265.01. I would read all eight sections. I would not rely on any non-government website, as their information may be outdated or flat-out wrong. I would also check with Rochester police to make sure there aren't any local regulations that go above and beyond state law. You could start by calling the City of Rochester Law Department and asking if local knife carry laws differ in any way from New York State Penal Law Article 265.01 (585) 428-6990.

Hope this helps! :D

- Mag
 
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The only real way to answer that question is to closely read every word of the MD statutes relating to this issue to see if there is any express language as to what constitutes "concealed", what the law is as to college campuses, etc. And whatever the answer to that question, the subjectivity of the police plays as much of a role in the answer as anything. And on top of that, the statutory law is interpreted - and misinterpreted - by trial courts and appellate courts, so you have to study the case law as well to start to distill an answer.

So honestly its virtually impossible for a stranger on the internet to address your question, especially a stranger like me who would have a hard time finding MD on a map - much less interpreting its law having never seen it.

Just trying to give you a good answer. So you might start with a close reading of the MD statutory law as it relates to concealed carry and to college campuses. Additionally, colleges may have internal regs which, though not imparting the force of law, can still get you expelled.
 
vszero said:
i live in md, and i read one thread that said i must open carry my fixed blade so people can see? and also what about my cold steel recon 1 with pocket clip, do i have to clip so people see or should i keep it concealed

this fall i am planning to go to rochester for college there, i plan to leave my fixed blade and my knife in car, will i get trouble if LEO saw it?
Click to expand...

If you're still in doubt, just go to your local law enforcement station and ask a LEO.
 
powernoodle said:
The only real way to answer that question is to closely read every word of the MD statutes relating to this issue to see if there is any express language as to what constitutes "concealed", what the law is as to college campuses, etc. And whatever the answer to that question, the subjectivity of the police plays as much of a role in the answer as anything. And on top of that, the statutory law is interpreted - and misinterpreted - by trial courts and appellate courts, so you have to study the case law as well to start to distill an answer.

So honestly its virtually impossible for a stranger on the internet to address your question, especially a stranger like me who would have a hard time finding MD on a map - much less interpreting its law having never seen it.

Just trying to give you a good answer. So you might start with a close reading of the MD statutory law as it relates to concealed carry and to college campuses. Additionally, colleges may have internal regs which, though not imparting the force of law, can still get you expelled.
Click to expand...

+1.

Excellent points. To the first, the OP would be wise to head that advice. "But someone on the internet told me I could!" is a really, really bad excuse in court. To the second point, that is excellent advice. I didn't even think about that, but yeah, your college might have a zero-tolerance knife policy or something like that. Definitely worth checking.
 
i will talk with a leo, and i plan leave my knife in my car glovebox all the times when i am at college
 
vszero said:
i will talk with a leo, and i plan leave my knife in my car glovebox all the times when i am at college
Click to expand...
When in doubt, ask a local criminal defense attorney. No offense to cops, but cops don't always know all the knife laws. And it should not be surprising if a cop has a personal prejudice against people carrying knives and that they might tell you that carrying a knife is illegal when it isn't just to prevent you from doing so. Unless a cop is under oath in a courtroom, they are under no obligation to tell the truth.

If you ask a cop, and if the cop tells you that it's illegal to carry a knife when it's not, you will be allowing the lie, or the misinformation, of ONE cop to prevent you from exercising your legal rights under the law.

If you can't find MD law online and decipher it for yourself, find and ask a lawyer.
 
Well, taking the above mentioned cautions into account, I would like to add my 2 cents.

I have lived in Maryland my whole life, have more knives and sword around my house than I can actually count, and I have obsessively researched the law to the point of conducting interviews with cops and lawyers from around the state and even diving into court transcripts. (I read a lot of other state laws too, but I live here so of course it's going to get priority).

The state of Maryland only has two knife laws, Criminal Code 4-101 and 4-105. 4-105 defines and prohibits sale of switchblades, but has no other effect.

4-101 says it is illegal to carry a dangerous weapon concealed, but names "penknives" as exempt. Penknives are not defined in the law, but they are defined by multiple binding court decisions as any knife where the blade folds into it's handle, no matter how large it is. Because they are exempt from 4-101, you can carry them however you damn well please, completely hidden or in full view. Disregard any BS you hear about having the clip showing. This is set in stone, no matter what any cop tells you. In 2002 a cop ending up losing his badge because he was ignorant that folders were exempt; the man he inappropriately arrested took him to federal court, and won. Twice. You can read it here right from the horse's mouth: http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Unpublished/011565.U.pdf

Fixed blades are the funny part. It's a gray area. 4-101 names "dirk knife" and "bowie knife" as dangerous weapons (thus, illegal to conceal, but legal to open-carry), but it doesn't define them nor is the statute limited to them. Because of this, cops tend to lump all fixed blades under these terms, so any time you are carrying an FB fully concealed from view, you are at risk of arrest if you happen to piss some cop off enough that he's going through you're stuff. Mind, arrest does not equal a conviction. In State v Hutton, the court threw out a concealed weapon charge against a man because his knives were work tools and were of a non-threatening design (Boye Basics). They never even went to trial. But he was lucky, I would not take that risk myself, and keep any fixed blade I carry visible on by belt or attached to my backpack strap.

As for NY, I don't touch that.
 
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