Interesting verbal exchange with a police officer regarding a knife

S

Stahlmann

Joined
Jan 21, 2021
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I was in the midst of a walk in the small city in which I live when I realized I needed to drop into a nearby supermarket. I was carrying a popular sports drink bottle which I had refilled with water. Not wanting to confuse any of the cashiers I figured I had better remove the label from the bottle before entering the store.

While waiting for a traffic light I tried to remove the label. The darned things are tenacious! So I broke out my blade carry for the occasion -- a large CS Luzon. The big guy flicked open with authority and made quick work of the label.

Just as I was folding it back up against my leg, a cop in a cruiser maybe 10' away (so much for situational awareness, huh?) said "hey, that's a big knife!" I replied with "well, that's relative" to wit he asked "what kinda knife is it?" "It's the large Cold Steel Luzon." "Looks like a great knife?" "Yeah, great value too" as I shoved it back into my pocket.

The light changed, he smiled and nodded, I returned, and we went our respective ways. Not a bad experience, although I should have been more situationally aware.

I would be interested to hear how something similar would go in different locations? I'm in California.

Yai0PUn.jpeg
 
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tess_lawrie_fan said:
God bless California...

In my city, if a cop sees me in public with a "relatively huge" folder like that, he would get it from me in a glimpse - even with all evidences that I'm a law abiding citizen.
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Whereabouts?

Things have definitely changed where I live here in CA during the pandemic. Not a lot of time is spent on chickenshit stuff.
 
bayouace said:
In the Louisiana city where I just moved, near Baton Rouge, I asked a police officer at a car repair business what was allowed. He said, " We don't waste time hassling people carrying knives." I had a Rat 2 on me.
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That's good.

I went to a baseball game last night. The renta-cop said "I need to check your bag!" "What for?" "Outside food or drink! Weapons!" "Knock yourself out." I was thinking at the time "I'm sure happy my Civivi Vexer, kubaton and pepper spray are in my pockets and not in my bag."

He also didn't find my pistachios or beef jerky -- and I wasn't trying to hide them.
 
I have huge respect for the police. They have tough jobs. And they may save me if something bad happens and they arrive in time.

TSA one time several years ago found my Endura that I had inadvertently left clipped IWB as I was going through security. Rather than take it, they let me take it back to my car, and when I returned, the same officer I first saw let me break line and pass straight through the scanner. I sincerely thanked him.
 
whp said:
I have huge respect for the police. They have tough jobs. And they may save me if something bad happens and they arrive in time.

TSA one time several years ago found my Endura that I had inadvertently left clipped IWB as I was going through security. Rather than take it, they let me take it back to my car, and when I returned, the same officer I first saw let me break line and pass straight through the scanner. I sincerely thanked him.
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Yet, TSA gave friend of mine nothing but grief for having two empty pistol mags in the bottom of a small duffle that he had borrowed.

They belonged to the bag owner.
That was easy enough to verify but, TSA still gave my friend an extremely hard time.
 
Great story Stahlmann :thumbsup: . Thanks for sharing :).

Far too often on this forum I have seen law enforcement portrayed as "boogeymen" who are just waiting to catch someone with a knife so they can drag them off to jail. I don't know how many times I've read on this forum "Don't open-carry a fixed-blade, the cops will come and arrest you", or "If a cop sees you with THAT you're gonna be in trouble".

I can't count how many cops have seen me openly carrying a fixed-blade in San Diego, and not one has ever said a negative word about it. And I'm a scary looking biker 😁 .

Of course I'm not saying that there aren't bad cops out there that would give a person a hard time over a knife, but that hasn't been my experience.
 
I have spoken with three local LEOs about knives. The sad thing is that two came across as if they had no clue as to what the laws are.

The third is a son of a long time friend. I made a comment about the Kershaw he was using. His response was, “I took it off a Latino punk.”
 
killgar said:
Great story Stahlmann :thumbsup: . Thanks for sharing :).

Far too often on this forum I have seen law enforcement portrayed as "boogeymen" who are just waiting to catch someone with a knife so they can drag them off to jail. I don't know how many times I've read on this forum "Don't open-carry a fixed-blade, the cops will come and arrest you", or "If a cop sees you with THAT you're gonna be in trouble".

I can't count how many cops have seen me openly carrying a fixed-blade in San Diego, and not one has ever said a negative word about it. And I'm a scary looking biker 😁 .

Of course I'm not saying that there aren't bad cops out there that would give a person a hard time over a knife, but that hasn't been my experience.
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My pleasure... LEOs around here seem to be decent. I suspect the cop in question wanted to ascertain if I was a crazed nut or intoxicated? Had I been, he might have showed greater interest.

It's quite legal to open carry any fixed blade knife of any length in public here in CA. At the same time it's illegal to carry any fixed blade (or folder locked open) of any length concealed. Local (city/county) laws can be different, but legally they cannot contravene state law. So unless you're dealing with a foolish LEO, you're good.

If you really had a need/desire to carry a fixed blade concealed, who would know? I've never been searched in my entire life. So unless you're the type that does get patted down, or if you're obtuse enough to access such a blade in public or worst of all, a DB who gets off concealing a fixed blade in a manner that makes that fact clear to others, you're good.

Ride on! ;)
 
Stahlmann said:
Whereabouts?

Things have definitely changed where I live here in CA during the pandemic. Not a lot of time is spent on chickenshit stuff.
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Rio de Janeiro.

You cannot carry blades above 10cm (4 inches) here, and few cops would resist to (legally) take from you such a beautiful CS blade.

Smaller (and cheaper) EDCs are smarter options here.

j512.webp
 
I've had a conversation or three with cops about knives, but I suspect things are different here in Arizona compared to NYC or Baltimore or San Francisco.
 
San Francisco and Los Angeles have more stringent laws, but the state laws in California are pretty reasonable:
No limits on folder size.
You can carry a fixed blade if it is in a sheath on your belt. But not if it is in your pocket.
 
I'm in Australia, so it's interesting hearing how different country/cultures differ from where I am.

If that happened here, I wouldn't be surprised to end up at the police station with a summons to court and potentially read about it in the news the next day. "Maniac arrested for brandishing a large hunting knife in public!"

This is a great country to live, but it's a nanny state in a lot of ways.
 
tess_lawrie_fan said:
Rio de Janeiro.

You cannot carry blades above 10cm (4 inches) here, and few cops would resist to (legally) take from you such a beautiful CS blade.

Smaller (and cheaper) EDCs are smarter options here.

j512.webp
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Ohhhhh, OK... Gotcha.

Had I not been in exercise clothes I would have had two knives -- a "big one" and a "small one." The big one might well be the Luzon or a fixed blade. The small one is typically a small slipjoint. In the case of the label, I would have likely used the small one for the job...
 
knarfeng said:
San Francisco and Los Angeles have more stringent laws, but the state laws in California are pretty reasonable:
No limits on folder size.
You can carry a fixed blade if it is in a sheath on your belt. But not if it is in your pocket.
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Lots of municipalities have more stringent laws, but I don't believe they are legal. They cannot contravene state law, which they do.
 
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