Shuriken/throwing stars still illegal in Kansas

ks_wayward_son · Jun 30, 2021

Flippin ridiculous. To my knowledge no restrictions on firearms, mag capacities, carry/conceal (with exception of NFA/Class 3 items of course). Sword canes, swords, throwing knives are legal. But if it has multiple points and can stick in stuff, you are SOL. Heck I bet a bwaka would even be legal. Not that I really have a need for them, but I remember as a kid flinging the crappy ones at trees and stuff and it was fun.

not2sharp · Jun 30, 2021

It’s only illegal if you lack imagination. Just buy a saw blade at one of the local hardware stores and you will be all set. They are even cheaper at the local flea market.

n2s

DocJD · Jun 30, 2021

In some jurisdictions , the written law seems intentionally vague and all inclusive .

Making anything illegal that is "intended" for criminal purposes /violence , especially if concealed and potentially lethal .

The authorities are apparently free to define what all that means exactly .

killgar · Jul 1, 2021

Those damn Kansas ninjas! They spoiled the fun for everybody.

Ahh throwing stars...fond memories of youth. I remember when I was 11 years old and had the opportunity to buy some from another kid. Just like switchblades/stilettos the throwing star was something forbidden, an actual WEAPON, and of course that made them one of the COOLEST things on Earth, and I just had to get some (seeing them in the tv show "Kung Fu" didn't hurt either).

I was absolutely thrilled to get my first two. I used to carry one in my nylon/velcro wallet as a kid.

Eventually I acquired more, some factory made, some home made. I would try to make one from any piece of steel large enough to cut a star shape out of. Circular saw blades were a good source for cutting out a star, but it was a lot of work, and took multiple hacksaw blades. And it helped that I had a large back yard to set up wooden targets for throwing.

Like I said, fond memories.

Knife_Collector_101 · Jul 5, 2021

killgar said:
Those damn Kansas ninjas! They spoiled the fun for everybody.

Ahh throwing stars...fond memories of youth. I remember when I was 11 years old and had the opportunity to buy some from another kid. Just like switchblades/stilettos the throwing star was something forbidden, an actual WEAPON, and of course that made them one of the COOLEST things on Earth, and I just had to get some (seeing them in the tv show "Kung Fu" didn't hurt either).

I was absolutely thrilled to get my first two. I used to carry one in my nylon/velcro wallet as a kid.

Eventually I acquired more, some factory made, some home made. I would try to make one from any piece of steel large enough to cut a star shape out of. Circular saw blades were a good source for cutting out a star, but it was a lot of work, and took multiple hacksaw blades. And it helped that I had a large back yard to set up wooden targets for throwing.

Like I said, fond memories.

Behave yourself kids!

Yeah, in the 70’s it was Bruce Lee with his nunchucks that fascinated kids. In the late 80’s/early 90’s it was the Ninja Turtles that were all the rage with kids. It was stuff like this that got “concerned” parents all up-in-arms and wanting the nanny state governments of the world to do something about the scary, dangerous nunchucks and throwing stars or else their kids would turn into ninja bandits.

not2sharp · Jul 6, 2021

Yet another prohibited childhood toy.

I remember buying throwing stars, nunchucks and any other kind of ninja stuff in NYC as an elementary school kid. As long as you had lunch money you were good to go. We also had real steel tipped lawn darts and Klick-Klacks. The latter featured hard Plastic balls that would occasionally explode in front of a kids face, and could also be used as improvised garrote or chucks depending on ones mood.

Even our small telescopes featured small glass eyepiece solar (sun) filters that could overhear and fail in use, which would Instantly burn the retina and permanently blind the kid. I suspect parents back then had a calculated attrition rate and figured if they lost one, it would be an acceptable sacrifice to prepare the rest of their kids for the real world. I wish we had more of those kind of parents around today.

n2s

OrangeBlueOrangeBlue · Jul 12, 2021

I think they may have screwed up when they amended the statutes...

This was the old statutes:

21-6301. Criminal use of weapons.
(a) Criminal use of weapons is knowingly:
(1) Selling, manufacturing, purchasing or possessing any bludgeon, sand club, metal knuckles or throwing star, or any knife, commonly referred to as a switch-blade, which has a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in the handle of the knife, or any knife having a blade that opens or falls or is ejected into position by the force of gravity or by an outward, downward or centrifugal thrust or movement;
(2) possessing with intent to use the same unlawfully against another, a dagger, dirk, billy, blackjack, slungshot, dangerous knife, straight-edged razor, stiletto or any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument of like character, except that an ordinary pocket knife with no blade more than four inches in length shall not be construed to be a dangerous knife, or a dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument;

21-6302. Criminal carrying of a weapon.
(a) Criminal carrying of a weapon is knowingly carrying:
(1) Any bludgeon, sandclub, metal knuckles or throwing star, or any knife, commonly referred to as a switch-blade, which has a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in the handle of the knife, or any knife having a blade that opens or falls or is ejected into position by the force of gravity or by an outward, downward or centrifugal thrust or movement;
(2) concealed on one's person, a dagger, dirk, billy, blackjack, slungshot, dangerous knife, straight-edged razor, stiletto or any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument of like character, except that an ordinary pocket knife with no blade more than four inches in length shall not be construed to be a dangerous knife, or a dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument;

They updated the statutes to:

21-6301. Criminal use of weapons.
(a) Criminal use of weapons is knowingly:
(1) Selling, manufacturing, purchasing or possessing any bludgeon, sand club or metal knuckles;
(2) possessing with intent to use the same unlawfully against another, a dagger, dirk, billy, blackjack, slungshot, dangerous knife, straight-edged razor, throwing star, stiletto or any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument of like character;

21-6302. Criminal carrying of a weapon.
(a) Criminal carrying of a weapon is knowingly carrying:
(1) Any bludgeon, sandclub, metal knuckles or throwing star;
(2) concealed on one's person, a billy, blackjack, slungshot or any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument of like character;

So, while they made "selling, manufacturing, purchasing or possessing" a throwing star legal, it's still illegal to "carry" a throwing star, which doesn't make a lot of sense.

zzyzzogeton · Jul 12, 2021

They modified the statue to allow for ownership but did not modify the "carry" portion. Obviously, I don't know the intention of the partial change, but back when Texas had less lax knife laws, we could OWN damn near anything, we just couldn't carry them "in public". I could own and carry knives with blades of any length on my own property, but I was prohibited from packing them "in public", i.e., off the property I owned or had control of or had permission to pack on.

So they probably decided to let people own stars but just not pack them around in public.

afishhunter · Jul 12, 2021

No restritions on firearms/CCW? Kansas has changed since I "lived" there.
Could only carry open or concealed on your own property, or at your business.
(If you were not the owner or part owner of the business, you couldn't carry concealed or open on the business property.)
Open carry was also a no-no (for anyone not on their property or at their business) except authorized on duty law enforcement. (Clerks, for example, were not authorized to be armed.)

OrangeBlueOrangeBlue · Jul 13, 2021

zzyzzogeton said:
They modified the statue to allow for ownership but did not modify the "carry" portion. Obviously, I don't know the intention of the partial change, but back when Texas had less lax knife laws, we could OWN damn near anything, we just couldn't carry them "in public". I could own and carry knives with blades of any length on my own property, but I was prohibited from packing them "in public", i.e., off the property I owned or had control of or had permission to pack on.

So they probably decided to let people own stars but just not pack them around in public.

The "carry" statute (21-6302) includes an express exemption for carry of a firearm "when on such person's land or in such person's abode or fixed place of business." The implication of this extra language is that, absent an express exemption in the statute itself, there is no general exemption to "carrying" at home or on your own property.

Knife_Collector_101 · Jul 13, 2021

I was thinking about these knife laws and how civilians and cops interpret them. Have you heard some people try to claim that “possession” means carry and not “owning privately in your house”? I get that “ownership” and “possession” are two different terms that some people use interchangeably. Is this a justification people come up with because they want to have a switchblade, throwing star or other weapon so badly, they simply think “I own it because it’s a part of my property and property can’t be illegal.” It just seems that by that logic, it’s like saying you can “own” nuclear suitcases, grenades, rocket launchers and narcotics in your house as long as you don’t “possess” them outside. So, it’s not so much people torturing the English language to make the wording in laws mean something they don’t, it’s a matter of people thinking, “It’s staying in my house on my property. I’m never taking it outside and I’ll never have an interaction with law enforcement in life. Who’s going to know? Who’s going to care?” It’s the “It’s only illegal if I get caught” mentality. I say this because I’ve seen people in Canada and some US states on YouTube bragging about illegal knives they have in their collections. Are they thinking, “Come on! I don’t do anything else illegal. The cops aren’t going to go through the trouble of getting a warrant to search my house over the knives I have. When has that ever happened?” Okay, I get that most cops don’t go raiding people’s houses on suspicion that they’re hoarding illegal “melee” weapons and it’s mostly in cases with drug raids that such charges come into play as something to add on to more serious charges, but isn’t it still a foolish thing to do? In Canada, they might not arrest you for simply having a switchblade in your house. Unless you’re being accused of something else more serious, they’ll likely just confiscate it and make you pay a fine. Sorry if this went off the beaten path of the topic at hand. Just something that got me thinking.