Im a Jr. High School Teacher in CA, Can I carry?

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st9v9n

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I'm a visual art teacher in a Jr. High, Im cutting things all the time, paper, card board, erasers, pencils, bottles, etc.

I wanted to know what is legal to carry. I researched the topic and came to the section below.

From what I gather, i can carry a locking knife under 2.5 inches (Im completely aware it must be under 2.5")... am I right? Im not a legal buff... so its not clear to me. It seems to state this in the red font area. Or does it state that I can only carry a non-locking blade under 2.5 inches?

So.... do I carry my Spyderco Dragonfly... which I love, and is a work horse?
Or do I go get a small slip-joint?

Thanks in advance for clearing this up for me!


---SECTION THREE: THE SCHOOL-CARRY RULES

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 2 1/2 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, CO 2 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.
 
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in general, locking blades or blades over 2.5" are a no-no.

however, if the item is necessary for lawful purposes within the scope of your duty, you are within the exemption.

you must also be within your local district or school guidelines, which are likely more stringent than the penal code.

check with your admistrator, while advising them of the penal code exemption. ultimately, it will be up to the admistration to provide guidance or a final ruling. if you were a science teacher or shop teacher, i believe it would be easy to articulate. but keep in mind they may present other realistic options that present no legal interpretations, such as scissors, utility razors, etc.
 
You may wish to keep an inexpensive pair of EMT shears on hand in your desk if you are cutting things like cardboard, etc. Perfectly legal, even in the most anti-weapon jurisdictions and very versatile. I keep a pair in my home toolbox.
 
I purchased school supplies for my 10 and 12 year old kids yesterday. I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that their required supplies included pointed scissors? Can you imagine our little darlings carrying such tools to school which our federal government won't even allow adults to carry on airplanes?
 
frogmorton11 said:
I purchased school supplies for my 10 and 12 year old kids yesterday. I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that their required supplies included pointed scissors? Can you imagine our little darlings carrying such tools to school which our federal government won't even allow adults to carry on airplanes?
Click to expand...

One day I will steal your post to use as a signature line;)
 
Well, the law states pretty clearly that under 2.5" is fine. Pretty clear, not that anyone is going to enforce these laws anyway.
 
cotdt said:
Well, the law states pretty clearly that under 2.5" is fine. Pretty clear, not that anyone is going to enforce these laws anyway.
Click to expand...
This type of enforcement tends to be selective. If some parent gets ticked off at you for whatever reason and decides to make some trouble for the school, your administration will "enforce" this rule very quickly in order to terminate your employment. If you want to carry on school property, you would be well-served to keep this practice to yourself.
 
I taught a bunch of years in a bunch of states (CA wasn't one of them) and always had one of those Swiss Army knives in my pocket - small blade, file with a screwdriver on the end, scissors, and I had the tweezer/toothpick option, but now they also come with a light and tiny pen. Nobody ever said anything to me except: "Where can I get one of those?" I can't remember what it's called...but they're easy enuf to find.
 
Thanks for all the input.

I plan to just carry my Swiss Army Cadet. It doesn't look threatening, and is very handy. I use it out of sight to the best of my ability to minimize any issues.
 
st9v9n said:
Thanks for all the input.

I plan to just carry my Swiss Army Cadet. It doesn't look threatening, and is very handy. I use it out of sight to the best of my ability to minimize any issues.
Click to expand...

unfortunately, the appearance of an item may lead to further investigation.

per the letter of the law, whether a knife looks threatening or not is meaningless. however if someone feels threatened by your threatening looking knife, they may very well report you to the admin who may in turn contact police.

shapes, colors, and sizes will often determine what scares people. if i put pink and purple scales on my emerson persian, i may get remarks on how cute my knife is.

but its all black, so that scares people.

also keep in mind that many, if not most, administrators are not familiar with the exact verbage and meaning of knife laws, or perhaps even that of school policies.
 
"From what I gather, i can carry a locking knife under 2.5 inches (Im completely aware it must be under 2.5")... "

No, you can't:
..."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, a razor with an unguarded blade..."

The blade longer than 2-1/2" and the folding knife section are two entirely different objects. You bring a folding blade with a lock and you're in violation.
You're going to need a knife with a slipjoint and is under 2-1/2 inches.
Sounds like swiss army to me.

I'd say you might be able to get away with a utility knife (which is probably a better choice due to it being more robust), but you might need clarification on what an "unguarded razor" is. If they mean any razor that can come free of a cartridge, (similar to the TSA) you're probably out of luck. But the janitors must use utility knives, at the very least to open boxes.
 
I was a custodian at Mojave High School
in Mojave CA for 9 months.
During that time I always had on me a matching pair of Benchmade
AFCKs, one left, one right. And a Leatherman Wave.
Always used the Wave, never took the knives out of my pockets,
even though the clips were visible. Never had a comment about them,
even from the cop who was on permanent duty there.

Low profile is key here.
 
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