Knife collection in NYC and other states

U

urbnspyd

Joined
Oct 20, 2008
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Many knives I own were bought before the current law restricting the carry of locking folders, in NYC. My question is.. Does it also make them illegal to have them in my apartment?
 
i looked through some of the new york laws and did not see anything prohibiting locking blades. perhaps you could post the law to which you are referring.

often times simple posession (in the home or in transit in a vehicle) is not illegal, but carry (concealed or otherwise) is prohibited.
 
Locking folders in and of themselves are not illegal, however, if they can be flicked open then they are a gravity knife, and therefore illegal. In all NYS the word possession means that you have control over the item and yes this includes your house ( or anywhere). They go to great pains in the NYPL to state the difference between possessing an illegal firearm in a house as compared to on your person in the street. The basic answer to your question in NY is that if they lock and can be flicked open they are illegal anywhere you have them. The best solution is to obtain a fishing license ($16.50) and some tackle, and then you can legally own them in your house and carry them to and from fishing.....
 
ah. now i remember about the "flicking" in ny.

a rather unfortunate interpretation of the gravity knife definition.
 
tom19176 said:
Locking folders in and of themselves are not illegal, however, if they can be flicked open then they are a gravity knife, and therefore illegal. In all NYS the word possession means that you have control over the item and yes this includes your house ( or anywhere). They go to great pains in the NYPL to state the difference between possessing an illegal firearm in a house as compared to on your person in the street. The basic answer to your question in NY is that if they lock and can be flicked open they are illegal anywhere you have them. The best solution is to obtain a fishing license ($16.50) and some tackle, and then you can legally own them in your house and carry them to and from fishing.....
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If he is just a collector and is not planning on carrying knives of questionable legality, he should just store them in a locked file cabinet (along with his personal papers, photo albums, etc.) or in a small home safe and be done with it. Unless the OP is doing something illegal (running a brothel, dealing drugs, etc.) he would have no reason to fear a police warrant search. If there are children in the house, keeping the knives locked up will prevent tragic accidents and eliminate the chance of the kids bringing them to school, which would cause a whole new set of problems for the OP. The less people know about weapons collections, the better.
 
I like fishing liscence idea , best $16.50 you ever spent ! As a sweeping generality , LE doesn't go out of their way to hassel wealthy middle class collectors , unless they do something dumbassed . By all means tighten your pivots .

A guy in my hood ( Schoolteacher by trade) botched a suicide attempt and called 911.When the EMT's and police arrived they found a nice collection of autos , this led to further searching , which resulted in all kinds of trouble . Had the fella not been picked up on the dumbass radar , all would have been cool .

Chris
 
cdf said:
I like fishing liscence idea , best $16.50 you ever spent ! As a sweeping generality , LE doesn't go out of their way to hassel wealthy middle class collectors , unless they do something dumbassed . By all means tighten your pivots .

A guy in my hood ( Schoolteacher by trade) botched a suicide attempt and called 911.When the EMT's and police arrived they found a nice collection of autos , this led to further searching , which resulted in all kinds of trouble . Had the fella not been picked up on the dumbass radar , all would have been cool .

Chris
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Obviously, he had issues if he attempted to kill himself. He probably had his entire collection of (illegal) autos in one of those knife display cases in "plain view" to the police and EMTs. I have no use for this type of showing off. Keep all weapons locked up and out of sight and you will have no problems. Out of sight, out of mind.
 
Tom1960, just remember there are many legal ways that a officer may see illegal items: responding to a aided call in your house, a domestic dispute, a buglary, someone dials 911 and hangs up ( requiring an officer to check where enhanced 911 system are in use). I agree keep them locked up and take up fishing....belt and suspender....
 
tom19176 said:
Tom1960, just remember there are many legal ways that a officer may see illegal items: responding to a aided call in your house, a domestic dispute, a buglary, someone dials 911 and hangs up ( requiring an officer to check where enhanced 911 system are in use). I agree keep them locked up and take up fishing....belt and suspender....
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Would an officer really confiscate your knives if he saw them after responding to something like a burglary? It's one thing to be victimized by a burglar, but then to have a police officer, who you called for help, victimize you again, that's wrong. I have some 3" tactical folders displayed in a LOCKED display cabinet because that's what I choose to do in MY house. Of course, I live in MI where a right to private personal property still exists. What ever happened to the saying "a mans home is his castle"? Apparently that logic doesn't apply in New York....
 
suedeface said:
Would an officer really confiscate your knives if he saw them after responding to something like a burglary? It's one thing to be victimized by a burglar, but then to have a police officer, who you called for help, victimize you again, that's wrong. I have some 3" tactical folders displayed in a LOCKED display cabinet because that's what I choose to do in MY house. Of course, I live in MI where a right to private personal property still exists. What ever happened to the saying "a mans home is his castle"? Apparently that logic doesn't apply in New York....
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Unfortunately, they really MAY do it. Certainly it depends on the officer, but I've heard of a number of cases where police have prosecuted people who called them, based on unrelated objects that were "in plain sight".
 
Does a locked display cabinet qualify as "plain sight" though? The knives are easily visible, but not easily accessible (at least mine aren't.) It's not like it's a meth lab or anything, its a frickin pocketknife collection! I find it really, really disturbing that an officer can confiscate anything in your house if he /she deems it "illegal". In my opinion the police would be better recieved if they worked on stopping real crime and stopped harrassing law abiding citizens and sticking their nose in peoples personal affairs. Of course I don't have to worry as I have a hunting and fishing license!:D
 
plain sight means plain sight.

if someone can see it without opening a drawer, closet, etc., it is in plain sight.

who should decide what laws they should enforce? you?
 
i didn't intend to be confrontational, but rereading im sure that is how it sounds.

i have arrested more than a few people who say they are "law abiding citizens". if that were the case, they wouldn't be getting arrested, at least in that instance.

if one has a case full of items they know to be illegal, how are they law abiding?

"law abiding" is a hollow and meaningless title to bestow upon anyone.

if someone only breaks traffic laws, the least severe of any law (the majority are infractions), are they law abiding or not?

if someone only breaks laws they find unreasonable, are they law abiding? many people feel illegal narcotics should be made legal. that opinion cannot affect whether the laws are enforced.

we may feel that the ny knife laws are poorly written, poorly enforced, whatever the case may be. but thinking the police should not enforce these does not justify one's possession of illegal items. this applies to any law.

if i stop a speeder who thinks the basic speed law is unreasonable, should i not enforce the law for that driver because he thinks it is unfair?

should i not cite someone who parks in a handicap parking space since they were only there for a couple minutes?

i can understand being bothered by an officer who comes at the request of a resident, then "confiscates" illegal items he/she sees. however, should the officer ignore the items when the resident has illegal items on display? where is the line drawn? illegal narcotics in plain view?

and harrassment would be illegal. the police enforcing laws you find unreasonable is not harrassment.
 
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Case in point, a house breakin and the thief breaks into a metal gun vault and steals the guns he feels are most valueable and leaves the rest in plain site. A neighbor sees the broken window and call police who find the guns that were left ( all illegal) and arrested the home owner. Case #2, a house fire in which ammo goes off due to the fire, and the police recover several legal rifles and one illegal pistol--the boyfriend of the home owner (owner of guns) was arrested. These both happened this month on Long Island...get the point.....
 
So, if I had a lockback knife like the older Benchmade Ascents that are impossible to flick open, and require either two hands or a pants leg to close, I'd be OK to carry if I visited the New York area with it in my pocket?

We have a trip planned next year...curious to know.
 
tom19176 said:
Locking folders in and of themselves are not illegal, however, if they can be flicked open then they are a gravity knife, and therefore illegal. In all NYS the word possession means that you have control over the item and yes this includes your house ( or anywhere). They go to great pains in the NYPL to state the difference between possessing an illegal firearm in a house as compared to on your person in the street. The basic answer to your question in NY is that if they lock and can be flicked open they are illegal anywhere you have them. The best solution is to obtain a fishing license ($16.50) and some tackle, and then you can legally own them in your house and carry them to and from fishing.....
Click to expand...

so is the CRK Sebenza a illegal knife?
 
jkarp as long as (for NYC) the blade in under 4", and and for all of NY State it can not be flicked open if it locks then you are OK as long as your stated reason for carry is not for use as a weapon.

hydrasmith, everyone of those I have seen can be easily flicked open, so yes they would be illegal.
 
My state (Massachusetts) requires that all firearms be equipped with a tamper resistant lock or stored in a securely locked container when not in use. Recently, Shawsheen Regional Technical High School in Billerica, MA went into lockdown due to a gun threat. Apparently, a Wilmington, MA police officer left his entire collection of guns, ammo, knives, swords and arrows strewn about on the floor of his run-down dump of a home, with a lock on the door that didn't work. Local teenagers investigated the home, which was basically abandoned (the officer lived elsewhere) and pushed on the door, which gave way. The kids walked away with a number of guns, which were eventually recovered by Billerica and Tewksbury police. They are now facing a host of charges (illegal possession of firearms, illegal possession of ammo, B&E, burglary, etc.). The officer was forced into retirement and is now being investigated for violating Massachusetts gun-storage laws (all felonies) because the weapons were in "plain view" and unsecured. So...law enforcement is not exempt from the law or common sense, for that matter. If anyone wants to search the stories, the Lowell Sun newspaper (Lowell, MA) carried the articles.
 
Keep Them Out Of Sight In Your Apartment

My Brother Was Arrested And Locked Up In Nyc For Carrying A Benchmade 530 Axis Lock, The Nypd Determined It Was A Gravity Knife Because They Could Open It Using "centripetal" Force, Which Is Not Gravity, But He Still Spent Two Nights In Jail And It Must Be Determined In Court Whether Or Not It Was An Illegal Carry. Nyc Law States That The Officer Determines Whether Or Not The Knife Is Being Carried As A Weapon( Includes Self Defense) And Can Classify The Knife As An Illegal Weapon Even If It Does Not Fall Into The "gravity Knife Switchblade, Etc..." Category If He Decides It Will Be Used As A Weapon. If You Have Drugs On You Or Commit Another Crime And Have A Knife, It Is An Illegal Weapon Regardless. Good Luck In Nyc, I Live In Yonkers And Work In The City, I Carry A Strider Every Day With The Pivot A Little Tight And In A Tad Velcro Sheath That Totally Covers The Knife Just In Case.
If This Was A Little Confusing Sorry
 
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