LEO's thoughts on autos

F

Fred

Joined
Oct 3, 1998
Messages
140
I was wondering what the officers who are members would do if they saw an otherwise law-abiding citizen with an auto such as a Microtech M-UDT. Would you ignore it? Would you confiscate it? Would you press charges? I realize that this doesn't determine what's legal.

Thanks.

-Fred
 
Hey Fred,
Maybe you could paint a little more of a picture for your question. How does one "see" this law-abider with an auto? That is, where are you, what is he doing with the knife, who else sees it, you know that kind of stuff.
 
Basically, I was referring to the average guy who likes to carry a pocket knife, and who thinks autos are neat. So, this guy is in the mall, for instance, cutting a piece of string with his auto mini-socom. I was wondering if LEO's would tend to do anything like confiscate the knife. There are a number of nice knives that only come as autos. So far, I haven't bought them out of concern that I'd get in legal trouble if I took them out of the house.

-Fred
 
Personally I think it depends on how discreet you are. Remember that you are technically breaking the law. I consider myself pretty lenient when it comes to knife laws but would be hard pressed to look the other way if someone was openly flaunting it. The action taken would really depend on the situation. There are a lot of officers that are strictly by the book. Its really a risk that you have to decide to take. I dont want to encourage anyone to break the law. My best advice to you know matter what you decide is to be discreet.

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Dennis Bible

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I agree with Dennis, as I suspect most guys who frequent BFC would. We're gonna' be a lot more knife friendly than a non-knife guy. As to your mall scenario, for me a lot depends on how we have the contact. If I get a "man with a knife" radio call it makes it more difficult for me to let slide than if I happen to spot an auto on my own, and have no doubt, there are "sheeple" out there who will call the cops over something like this. We call 'em f***ing do-gooders. After they call, they stand and watch to see what the cop does. Discretion is definitely the right word. As to "confiscation" I assume you mean the cop takes your knife and tells you to get lost. I know I don't have to tell you that this is wrong but fortunately it's rare. Most of the stories you hear about this are cops disarming junkies and the like of nasty old blades that go straight in the trash. In almost 10 years of big city policing I've never seen anyone's knife taken by an officer for personal use.
 
Tortoise and Dennis are right on the money on this. Discretion is very important if you are going to carry something that is illegal. I guess from my perspective like Tortoise said it is fairly easy to let one slide if I find it on my own. However if I get a call I'm put in a bad situation. If I cut you a break you will go away happy but if the sheeple don't like what I did they call in and complain and I end up getting raked over the coals. If I arrest you, your gonna be mad but if you complain I can at least fall back on the fact that I was enforcing the law. I'll be the first to say that I think the switchblade laws are outdated and pretty much unnecessary. On the other hand you made a choice to do something you knew could get you arrested and I really am not big on getting raked over the coals. So I would say please don't put me in that position and carry something legal.

[This message has been edited by brad1407 (edited 01-23-2001).]
 
If you're gonna carry an illegal knife, don't let people, especially LEO's see it. If you need to use your UDT in a public place, open it slowly with two hands, so only an experienced knife knut who's watching closely will know that it's an auto. If you're not acting suspicious, scaring people, doing anything illegal, how's the LEO gonna know that you have an auto? Usually, if they find your knife, it's either because you were doing something you shouldn't have been doing with the knife, or you're doing something else you shouldn't have been doing, in which case the knife is not the only (potential) problem. I imagine that there are a lot of LEO's out there who don't care if an otherwise law abiding citizen has a politically incorrect pocket knife in his pocket, but if that's all you're doing that could get you into trouble they won't even know about that. If you look clean, act clean, etc, it's highly unlikely that you'll have any problems; I mean, when was the last time the police searched you? If you look unfriendly, don't give them another reason to question your cutlery. Realize that if you do choose to carry an illegal knife, you risk whatever penalties go along with that. For myself, it's not that important to carry a knife w/a spring. If it is to you, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

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Jason aka medusaoblongata
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"Paradise lies in the shadow of swords." - Nietzsche
 
The problem is what are you going to use it for, I find the chances remote that most Leo's would ever discover this knife unless you were flaunting it. So it's discovery is going to be due to some kind of action that has brought their attention to you, for instance you used it to protect your self from a attacker. This is now a question of who is the bad guy, the fact of an illegal weapon being used can make you look like the bad guy.

Don't get me wrong I love D/A knives along with all others, but there are knives out there that can serve just effective and they are still legal. My suggestion would be to leave it at home as your concern should be is how is this going to look in court. Hopefully we can get are government to open their eyes to these useless laws. For the most part I don't think you will have a problem with any LEO unless you are involved in some crime. Until we can change these laws though you will always be faced with the punishment passed on by the courts both criminal and civil. Personally I would rather be judged than dead, but you still have some great knives legal to you so I wouldn't put myself in this kind of position just so I can carry my auto.

Under federal law a LEO can carry a auto legally, but the state I live in does not give this exclusion to them. When asked recently by a Leo about what kind of auto to get I suggested he shouldn't as yes he may get a professional courtesy, but what happens when he goes to court after using it. He will most likely be frowned on and lose his job, he might also be subject to civil suits.
 
Thanks for the feedback ... very interesting. I think that I'll stick with manuals for now.

-Fred
 
I think sticking with a manual blade would be your best option. Every LEO is different and every situation is different. If your luck is anything like mine you'd run into Barney Fife and busting someone for a "switchblade" would make his day. DH
 
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