- Joined
- Dec 13, 2000
- Messages
- 1,130
Howdy Guys,
To be a diligent citizen I went to the local sheriff's office where they issue CCW permit to ask the experts the following questions.
I'm in a civil (not criminal) environmental regulatory technical position for State Government. My work often has me performing field investigations associated with complaints of chemical dumping and spills and such. I often have need for a knife, running in size from a pocket knife to cut string, a fixed blade to cut larger stuff or even a machete to clear larger brush. As a "civil" official I'm not allowed to carry a gun on the job which is fine by me anyway, it sets the wrong tone for confrontations that sometimes develop. We have to go onto properties to perform our investigations, often with little intial information. We are free from having to obtain a search warrant by our statutes if we have "reasonable cause" to enter the property. We typically do obtain search warrants when someone puts up a big fuss about our entering their property because it makes it easier in court to prove we went the extra mile to cooperate with the violator (I mean customer) if it gets to that point. Point being, we are often in remote areas, trying to find things on some unidentified piece of property that someone is trying to hide. It can become dangerous if all the variables decide to work against you. I don't like to carry my knives (tools) out in the open because again, it sends the wrong image to the general public when you are investigating what could be a bad situation or just the innocent victim of a stupid fence war called in by an anonymous person.
My interpretation of the NC statues on knives is that any fixed blade knife must be carried in the open or it is considered a concealed weapon. The pocket knife and long bladed weapons laws are too vague for me to interpret. I asked the friendly law enforcement folks if there is a concealed permit process that would enable me to carry knive concealed. Theoretically, there is the remote chance that an violator, or just an unstable property owner, could attack me with deadly force and if I did not have a reasonable means of retreat you'd better be sure I'll defend myself with whatever tools I have on hand (my first choice would be pepper spray but if my knife is handier...). I wouldn't want a concealed weapons charge to be thrown up against me for using a knife. On a more practical note, someone could just simply make trouble for me because I have a "concealed" knife. Carrying a fixed blade openly during an investigation is not an option for image reasons and the pocket knife laws are vague for any pocket knife that I consider sturdy and large enough to be useful (ie. abusable).
Their answer was that our CCW laws apply only to carrying handguns, which I can't and don't want to do on the job. They said that there is no concealed carry option for knives. I said I was just trying to follow the law to the best of my ability but that this situation didn't seem to leave me a lot of practical room. They said that if I'm ever stopped by an LEO, just announce that I've got a knife on me and explain that I use it as part of my job and that would probably be OK. I'm just not real comfortable with this open situation. What do you guys think?
Having said all of this (sorry for being so long winded), I've done this job for over seven years and I've only had about four or five dangerous altercations which I've been able to talk my out of, so far, or manage to leave and obtain a warrant with LEO back-up. I'm very easy going and try, if at all possible, to work with people. I do know from personal experience though, that there are a lot of unstable, irrational folks out there. People like that can and do "go off", especially if they've got something to hide and I'm trying to find it. The possibility for my self defense concerns does exist, albeit remotely, and I'm just trying to cover myself. My mind is my most useful tool.
My job is very odd mix of civil law enforcement, occassionally handing over to the criminal folks, technical expertise and investigation (I'm a geologist by education), and public service.
Thanks for listening and I'd appreciate your opinions.
Nobody
To be a diligent citizen I went to the local sheriff's office where they issue CCW permit to ask the experts the following questions.
I'm in a civil (not criminal) environmental regulatory technical position for State Government. My work often has me performing field investigations associated with complaints of chemical dumping and spills and such. I often have need for a knife, running in size from a pocket knife to cut string, a fixed blade to cut larger stuff or even a machete to clear larger brush. As a "civil" official I'm not allowed to carry a gun on the job which is fine by me anyway, it sets the wrong tone for confrontations that sometimes develop. We have to go onto properties to perform our investigations, often with little intial information. We are free from having to obtain a search warrant by our statutes if we have "reasonable cause" to enter the property. We typically do obtain search warrants when someone puts up a big fuss about our entering their property because it makes it easier in court to prove we went the extra mile to cooperate with the violator (I mean customer) if it gets to that point. Point being, we are often in remote areas, trying to find things on some unidentified piece of property that someone is trying to hide. It can become dangerous if all the variables decide to work against you. I don't like to carry my knives (tools) out in the open because again, it sends the wrong image to the general public when you are investigating what could be a bad situation or just the innocent victim of a stupid fence war called in by an anonymous person.
My interpretation of the NC statues on knives is that any fixed blade knife must be carried in the open or it is considered a concealed weapon. The pocket knife and long bladed weapons laws are too vague for me to interpret. I asked the friendly law enforcement folks if there is a concealed permit process that would enable me to carry knive concealed. Theoretically, there is the remote chance that an violator, or just an unstable property owner, could attack me with deadly force and if I did not have a reasonable means of retreat you'd better be sure I'll defend myself with whatever tools I have on hand (my first choice would be pepper spray but if my knife is handier...). I wouldn't want a concealed weapons charge to be thrown up against me for using a knife. On a more practical note, someone could just simply make trouble for me because I have a "concealed" knife. Carrying a fixed blade openly during an investigation is not an option for image reasons and the pocket knife laws are vague for any pocket knife that I consider sturdy and large enough to be useful (ie. abusable).
Their answer was that our CCW laws apply only to carrying handguns, which I can't and don't want to do on the job. They said that there is no concealed carry option for knives. I said I was just trying to follow the law to the best of my ability but that this situation didn't seem to leave me a lot of practical room. They said that if I'm ever stopped by an LEO, just announce that I've got a knife on me and explain that I use it as part of my job and that would probably be OK. I'm just not real comfortable with this open situation. What do you guys think?
Having said all of this (sorry for being so long winded), I've done this job for over seven years and I've only had about four or five dangerous altercations which I've been able to talk my out of, so far, or manage to leave and obtain a warrant with LEO back-up. I'm very easy going and try, if at all possible, to work with people. I do know from personal experience though, that there are a lot of unstable, irrational folks out there. People like that can and do "go off", especially if they've got something to hide and I'm trying to find it. The possibility for my self defense concerns does exist, albeit remotely, and I'm just trying to cover myself. My mind is my most useful tool.
My job is very odd mix of civil law enforcement, occassionally handing over to the criminal folks, technical expertise and investigation (I'm a geologist by education), and public service.
Thanks for listening and I'd appreciate your opinions.
Nobody
