"Thats illegal!!!"

B

bladeboss

Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
3,530
Howdy!

Got a story for ya.
With a surprisingly happy ending.

So here I am.
In the break-room at work.
Currently using my PM2 to cut up a cheese block.
Table next to me has 4 of my coworker friends at it.
Its no secret that I like knives as a hobby, so one of em speaks up trying to pick on me.

Person A: "Is that one of your $500 knives?"
Person B: "$500 knife!?"
Me: "Nope. More in the $200-ish range, give or take."
Person B: "Thats nuts. Why?"

I then explain about the knife, and that knives are a hobby bigger than they realize, and to my shock they listen.

Person A: "lemme see it"

Its a user, all scratched and such. I'm not scared so I close it with a flick and hand it to him

Person C: "THATS ILLEGAL TOO!!!"
Me: "Why? I can assure you it isnt. Not to mention I bought it like 20 miles from here."
Person C: "You just flicked it closed. Thats a gravity knife! And it doesn't matter where you bought it, you can buy Crack 20 miles from here too and thats illegal. I just read the other day that people are getting arrested and such for stuff like that."

I decided to stay calm, and let him freak out and make himself look like a fool

Me: "You're partially right. But this doesn't fall into that category."

The guy I handed it to disengages the lock and it doesn't fall on its own.

Person A (with my knife): "Gravity has no effect on the blade as you see. Why are you getting so worked up? "

The "knife cop" was getting flustered and raising his voice more and more.

Person B: "Im tellin ya. That will get ya in trouble. I just read it the other day in a letter sent to me by my gun-club"

Long story short, I explained it a bit more and he learned, and actually believed me.
Not very often a situation like that turns out good, but it did.

FWIW, I live in UPSTATE NY. Farm country. Everybody carries a knife of varying size and shape and 95% of the time no one bats an eye.

Any of y'all got anything similar to share?
 
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I have not had anyone take me to task on legality, living in Illinois, although many people are not completely informed on the knife law here.

I did have one occasion, while working in the great cube farm of corporate america, I was discreetly showing one of my knives to another friend who is also a knife fan (I kinda helped him along that rocky road).

My friend was a bit less discrete, and another co-worker (female) saw the knife and loudly asked "IS THAT A WEAPON???".

One of those moments when the office goes silent, people start prairie-dogging to see what the commotion is about.

I explained that my knives are not weapons, I don't carry them for any reason other than occasional cutting tasks and my hobby of collecting certain knives that I enjoy.

She took that answer as pat, and would occasionally ask me to see what knife I might have with me after that experience.

I usually try to use my Victorinox Waiter when in the office for apple or cheese cutting.

best

mqqn
 
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i get this a lot '' that's illegal'' comments.

for some reason there's a myth around here that a pocketknife can not be bigger than the palm of your hand.
so very often when people ask about my knife and i hand it too them they lay it on their hand and say ''oh yea that's illegal''

i honestly don't know where this myth came from, maybe another Dutch guy here may know it.





oh and for some reason stupid people seem to think i carry knives purely to stab people... which is just.. idek what to say to that...
why would i want to stab people???!
 
basmca said:
i get this a lot '' that's illegal'' comments.

for some reason there's a myth around here that a pocketknife can not be bigger than the palm of your hand.
so very often when people ask about my knife and i hand it too them they lay it on their hand and say ''oh yea that's illegal''

i honestly don't know where this myth came from, maybe another Dutch guy here may know it.
Click to expand...
Same here. I had to explain to someone once that everyones hand is a vastly different size, and he then let it go. Before I did, he was sneaking around with a 3.5" knife like it was a shotgun.
 
Everybody I work with is "countrier than a butter bean" so nobody really thinks twice about me or anyone else using a knife at work. A few of my coworkers that I'm closest with do know that I'm really into knives and crack a joke every once in a while, but they are usually pretty interested in what I have on me each day.

I work in utilities. Everyone I know can't really grasp why you might spend over about $40 on a knife. But most of these people have thousands of dollars tied up into firearms that they rarely shoot or similar hobbies. I love firearms as well, but for some reason it's really hard to explain why spending ~$100 on a knife that will be used everyday and last a lifetime is a justifiable purchase in my opinion.

I usually make a reference of "how often do you lose/break your $200 pair of sunglasses?" I tend to be less likely to lose things that I value highly.
 
Fortunately here in Texas all the ancient draconia knife laws were abolished over the last three years and everything is legal with the exception in certain restricted areas where blade length is restricted to 5.5 inches.

Prior to that the local laws in San Antonio and Austin weren't much different than NYC. They now have to conform with the everything is legal state laws.
 
I used to get that comment, even in Arizona. Not very recently though - maybe people have caught on. Autos/balisongs/fixed blades used to be iffy to carry concealed without a permit (because it's a deadly weapon, but not an "ordinary pocket knife"). Now though, the only law in Arizona regarding knives is that there is no law in Arizona regarding knives. More specifically, there was a knife "amnesty" law passed in the state that disallows counties and municipalities (anything but the state) to make laws about knives, giving "amnesty" to those that travel across invisible lines. For example, Phoenix (or Maricopa county, I forget) had a 3" limit. No more, so you can't get in trouble driving through point B with an illegal knife when going from A to C. The state itself has no laws, so everything with a blade is legal. It's also a Class III state. Literally the ONLY weapon apart from a WMD that's illegal in AZ is nunchaku. Go figre.

But yeah, I used to get the "isn't that illegal?" and related remarks, but not for a long time. Maybe it's just the company I keep.
 
I live in New York [long Island- Nassau county] and have to say I'm not familiar with the knife laws.
Gun laws -yes - Funny how cloudy the knife laws have become . NYC - 5 Boroughs usually will have stricter restrictions , Nassau / Suffolk tend to ease up some - Upstate NY is pretty large area and some county's are probably very liberal .
 
I recently used a Spyderco Spy-DK (two-handed opening slip joint) to cut an apple or something. My friend said, "You're not going to murder me with that, are you?" Argh. Had to give 'em the old "It's a tool, not a weapon" explanation. Another time, I was about to sharpen some kitchen knives, and a friend asked, "Why do you have all those weapons?"

FWIW, most people around here don't bat an eye at the normal use of a knife, but I suppose if knives=weapons has been ingrained in someone's mind, or they're unused to seeing one in public, you might get a comment.
 
My neighbor saw me cutting back some bushes with a 24” machete this summer and told me that I would be in deep crap if a cop saw me with that Michael Myers (Halloween movies) knife. I told him that he would be in bigger crap if the cops saw the huge bong he uses in his garage every night.

I garnered a “touché” from him. ;)
 
SharpieB said:
My neighbor saw me cutting back some bushes with a 24” machete this summer and told me that I would be in deep crap if a cop saw me with that Michael Myers (Halloween movies) knife. I told him that he would be in bigger crap if the cops saw the huge bong he uses in his garage every night.

I garnered a “touché” from him. ;)
Click to expand...

LOL! Well-played.
 
SharpieB said:
My neighbor saw me cutting back some bushes with a 24” machete this summer and told me that I would be in deep crap if a cop saw me with that Michael Myers (Halloween movies) knife. I told him that he would be in bigger crap if the cops saw the huge bong he uses in his garage every night.

I garnered a “touché” from him. ;)
Click to expand...

Haha! That's funny right there, I dont care who ya are. Good stuff!
 
SharpieB said:
My neighbor saw me cutting back some bushes with a 24” machete this summer and told me that I would be in deep crap if a cop saw me with that Michael Myers (Halloween movies) knife. I told him that he would be in bigger crap if the cops saw the huge bong he uses in his garage every night.

I garnered a “touché” from him. ;)
Click to expand...

I don't know. In California the bong is legal and the knife is not.
 
SharpieB said:
My neighbor saw me cutting back some bushes with a 24” machete this summer and told me that I would be in deep crap if a cop saw me with that Michael Myers (Halloween movies) knife. I told him that he would be in bigger crap if the cops saw the huge bong he uses in his garage every night.

I garnered a “touché” from him. ;)
Click to expand...

LMAO!!!
 
basmca said:
i get this a lot '' that's illegal'' comments.

for some reason there's a myth around here that a pocketknife can not be bigger than the palm of your hand.
so very often when people ask about my knife and i hand it too them they lay it on their hand and say ''oh yea that's illegal''

i honestly don't know where this myth came from, maybe another Dutch guy here may know it.





oh and for some reason stupid people seem to think i carry knives purely to stab people... which is just.. idek what to say to that...
why would i want to stab people???!
Click to expand...
Man, that myth is well known in many countries I guess.
 
Glenn Goodlett said:
I don't know. In California the bong is legal and the knife is not.
Click to expand...
True. Same here basically.

In Canada, weed will be completely legal this summer. Basically is now as it has been decriminalized. If you get caught with a relatively small amount, you get what amounts to a speeding ticket. After the summer, nada unless you are driving.
 
edgecentricity said:
I recently used a Spyderco Spy-DK (two-handed opening slip joint) to cut an apple or something. My friend said, "You're not going to murder me with that, are you?" Argh. Had to give 'em the old "It's a tool, not a weapon" explanation. Another time, I was about to sharpen some kitchen knives, and a friend asked, "Why do you have all those weapons?"

FWIW, most people around here don't bat an eye at the normal use of a knife, but I suppose if knives=weapons has been ingrained in someone's mind, or they're unused to seeing one in public, you might get a comment.
Click to expand...
Some knife companies are helping them to think that way, because they're making tactical self defense knives for super ninja commando units. For example Strider, Emerson.
 
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