Kershaw model illegal in LA?

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karl_f87

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Dec 4, 2009
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Hi guys! I need some help here. I am planning to buy a Kershaw knife and I'm having problems interpreting the law. It says in the California knife laws that I found in this site ( http://www.donath.org/Rants/StateKnifeLaws/ ) that

Specifically illegal:
Specific styles which are explicitly forbidden.
Switchblade = Push a button/lever, it does the rest.
Gravity knives = Opened by gravity or centrifigual force. Butterfly knives (balisongs) included.
I also read in this site ( http://www.ninehundred.com/~equalccw/knifelaw.html#SECTION ONE) that

WHAT'S LEGAL:

Your lockblade folding knife should have a thumbstud, thumb"hole", thumb "disk" or similar push-thingy, so long as the "thingy" is attached directly to the blade (versus on the grip and linked up via a gearbox of sorts). It should not have a spring that does ALL the opening (yes, the Kershaw Ken Onion series seems to be OK). And finally, the blade needs to have at least some tendency to stay closed in the pocket or whatever bias a "bias towards closure" or "detent" (discussed in more detail later in this chapter).

I am confused with the thing where they say that a knife with a lever mechanism is illegal. Some Kershaw models have NO thumbstuds and only flipper levers. Although they are not aided by gravity and they stay close when folded, they do not have thumstuds or any openings in the knife for finger opening. Are those knives illegal here in LA? I plan to purchase a Kershaw Junkyard Dog.
1720.jpg
Is this knife illegal in the Los Angeles area? I don't want to get in any trouble.

Please shed some light and help a brother. Thanks for all the responses. :)
 
no that is compeltly legal, i think the law is referring to leverettos, switchblades, that knife is fine, i am in LA county and i own one, to carry it the blade would have to be under 3" though. i am not sure the blade length on that one though.
 
is that model assisted? what currently makes assisted openers legal is the bias toward the closed position that all (or most) have. that they are also biased toward the opening is irrelevant per the current letter of the law.

autos are biased toward the opening position, and when released by a button or other mechanism, move to open.

if it is only a flipper, with no assist, the above is not relevant. it is perfectly legal, and the flipper would be the "thumbstud" in this case.


we are talking about los angeles, not louisiana, correct?

(there was a thread where the op asked a question about LA, and i rambled on and on about california and los angeles laws, only to find out they were in louisiana)
 
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Thank you for the responses. They cleared up things in my head that were conflicting. As for carry, the item description says the blade length is 3 inches. However, I watched a video in youtube were an owner of this knife measures it and came up with 2 3/4 inches. The Los Angeles law if my interpretation is correct states it is legal to carry a knife openly with a 3 inch limit.

Thanks for all the support.
 
I say get it and carry it.....

If it's too much of a concern tighten the pivot screw a bit and use 2 hands to open it.
 
see you in jsil. if you read the ca law anything that can be open with one hand is a switchblade in there stupid law. ca has the most stupid laws carrying a knife that I know about. now Florida has the best laws about knifes. no blade lenght law switchblades are legal to carry with out a permit.
 
Here is the best Law database you can find:
http://home.netcom.com/~brlevine/sta-law.htm

richard thurman said:
see you in jsil. if you read the ca law anything that can be open with one hand is a switchblade in there stupid law. ca has the most stupid laws carrying a knife that I know about.
Click to expand...
Sorry richard, but you are wrong and you can just stop the state bashing right now. It does nothing to add to your argument, in fact it defeats it. This is an excerpt from the CA section of the site mentioned above:

"Switchblade knife" does not
include a knife that opens with one hand utilizing thumb pressure
applied solely to the blade of the knife or a thumb stud attached to
the blade, provided that the knife has a detent or other mechanism
that provides resistance that must be overcome in opening the blade,
or that biases the blade back toward its closed position.
 
richard thurman said:
see you in jsil. if you read the ca law anything that can be open with one hand is a switchblade in there stupid law. ca has the most stupid laws carrying a knife that I know about. now Florida has the best laws about knifes. no blade lenght law switchblades are legal to carry with out a permit.
Click to expand...


you really dont know what you are talking about.
 
I am going to find the post here on this form that stated that. this is where I got the info at. I read about it here.
 
For the purposes of this section, "switchblade knife" means a
knife having the appearance of a pocketknife and includes a
spring-blade knife, snap-blade knife, gravity knife or any other
similar type knife, the blade or blades of which are two or more
inches in length and which can be released automatically by a flick
of a button, pressure on the handle, flip of the wrist

right there in the link to the law that you put up it says it.
 
that is a reference to bali songs.

no where, anywhere, in the penal code does it say knives that can be opened with one hand are illegal.
 
that means a gravity knife.
imagine holding just the handle of a knife and flipping that to open it, no blade interaction, a knife would have to have little to no detent to do this. or as MORIMOTOM said a balisong.
 
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