Legality of carrying knives (and other weapons?) | Squat the Planet

Legality of carrying knives (and other weapons?)

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Zanzae

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I've heard of my friends getting knives taken from them on vancouver public transit, and I've heard of cops confiscating peoples' knives. I've heard that in some cases it's better to carry your knife on your belt, because then it's not a concealed weapon. But I've also heard of police in small towns telling people to put their knives out of sight, for fear of scaring the public. I'm wondering if anyone actually knows what their rights are regarding carrying weapons, and what the legalities are?
 
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Zanzae

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for anyone else who has been wondering

just found this online:

http://www.cutleryscience.com/reviews/canada.html

Knife related laws in Canada

As of right now the main restrictions on the types of knives in Canada are listed in Section III of Bill C68

"prohibited weapon" means

(a) a knife that has a blade that opens automatically by gravity or centrifugal force or by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife

This bans switchblades and knives that you can flip open ie. swinging/snapping the knife in a circular motion.

Note one handed opening via holes in the blade, disks, studs etc., are not illegal.

Law enforcement officers and many other types of civil employees, firemen etc. are not bound by this.

There are no federal laws about about the lengths of knives allowed. As far as I know, no provinces have specific legislation about knife lengths either. However there are many informal "blade length rules" in Canada. These vary from 3" to 4" for folders in various areas around the country depending on what differentiates a pocket knife from a fighting knife to the local constabulary.

One other important bit of information is that there are no federal laws about knife materials, this means that non-magnetic knives are legal for possession and carry. As well there are no formal laws on serrations, or dual edged blades, however these are much more likely to catch the attention of a police officer, or security say at an airport.

Besides the restrictions on opening mechanism there are two additional policies you need to be aware of. The first is concealment, technically its not allowed at all, even a SAK can get you in trouble, ie.

90. (1) Every person commits an offence who carries a weapon, a prohibited device or any prohibited ammunition concealed, unless the person is authorised under the Firearms Act to carry it concealed.

You can get a concealed carry permit (talk to the local constabulary) but its very difficult. However I have been carring a SAK in my back pocket for 15 years without one incident, including going though various airports. This is mainly because of the second and most general rule : most police officers will ok any knife they regard as a "tool", but if they feel in any way that it's for "fighting" they'll take it off you and you can get charged for possessing a dangerous weapon. What this means is that is you ever get asked "why you are carrying that?", never ever say "For self-defence", say its for cutting boxes, rope, tubing, food etc.

This probably comes from this section of C68

117.15

(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing anything that by this Part is to be or may be prescribed.

(2) In making regulations, the Governor in Council may not prescribe any thing to be a prohibited firearm, a restricted firearm, a prohibited weapon, a restricted weapon, a prohibited device or prohibited ammunition if, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, the thing to be prescribed is reasonable for use in Canada for hunting or sporting purposes.

Along those lines anything consider to be intended to be used as a weapon can get you into trouble, for example all of the following are banned in Canada:

* "nunchaku" and any similar instrument or device, being hard non-flexible sticks, clubs, pipes or rods linked by a length or lengths of rope, cord, wire or chain;
* "shuriken", being a hard non-flexible plate having three or more radiating points with one or more sharp edges in the shape of a polygon, trefoil, cross, star, diamond or other geometric shape;
* "manrikigusari" or "kusari", and any similar instrument or device, being hexagonal or other geometrically shaped hard weights or hand grips linked by a length or lengths of rope, cord, wire or chain;
* any finger ring that has one or more blades or sharp objects that are capable of being projected from the surface of the ring.
* "crossbow", with a stock of 400 mm or less
* "Constant Companion", being a belt containing a blade capable of being withdrawn from the belt, with the buckle of the belt forming a handle for the blade
* any knife commonly known as a "push-dagger" that is designed in such a fashion that the handle is placed perpendicular to the main cutting edge of the blade; and any other similar device but not including the aboriginal "ulu" knife.
* "Spiked Wristband", being a wristband to which a spike or blade is affixed; and any other similar device
* "Yaqua Blowgun", being a tube or pipe designed for the purpose of shooting arrows or darts by the breath; and any other similar device
* "Kiyoga Baton" or "Steel Cobra" and any similar device consisting of a manually-triggered telescoping spring-loaded steel whip terminated in a heavy calibre striking tip;
* "Morning Star" and any similar device consisting of a ball of metal or other heavy material, studded with spikes and connected to a handle by a length of chain, rope or other flexible material.
* "Brass Knuckles" and any similar device consisting of a band of metal with finger holes designed to fit over the root knuckles of the hand.
* Any device designed to be used for the purpose of injuring, immobilising or otherwise incapacitating any person by the discharge therefrom of
o (a) tear gas, Mace or other gas, or
o (b) any liquid, spray, powder or other substance that is capable of injuring, immobilising or otherwise incapacitating any person,
 

Mosquito

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[quote="Cops took g/fs sign when they were trying to highthike out of somewhere in Ontario.. Kengsington? "You gonna take our sign and say we have to leave?!.. um we need the sign to do that"[/quote]

It was in a small suburb of Montreal, whose name I cant recall. "We are eh, taKING yer sign, you are NOT welcome in this province.. if we see you on St. Jaque we will take you in.." (out comes the reaching frog hand of the law, pulling the limp sign of hope from my clutches). "So you are taking our sign and telling us to leave, when you clearly know we are trying to hitchhike back to Ontario.. real fucking logical dude.."
"Excuse me miss?"

Thats when you just walk away, ... walk away...

And Kensington = Kingston. Steer clear of Kingston when hitching north/eastern Ontario..
The Kingston Pen. will put mass delays on your journey.
 

skunkpit

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yeah..
they took my fuckin knife and made me sign to get it incinerated or id get arrested..
lame ass
ahh well i just make new knifes when they do that
got a rail spike knife on the way

full tang knives are usually more expensive then the usual switch blade, but iv given up on switch blades, if they break which they eventually all do its a useless knife...
well i suppose you could make an arrow head or somethin with the tip
 
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dirtyfacedan

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Doesn't really mater what the laws say. Vancouver cops are well known for doing whatever the hell they want. Transit cops like to hassle crusty looking folks, 'cause to the public it looks like they are doing their job. I have had knives returned by transit cops though...so all is not lost, even though i was pissed drunk, barely able to stand.. they put me in an ambulance (i had a smashed fist the size of a grapefruit), They still gave it back. They did take my railroad keys though, (they thought they were for breaking into mailboxes). If you can get it across that it's a tool more than anything else, you might be better off. If it spreads butter, cut's an apple, or cuts rope...why not?
 

finn

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I remember some places selling switchblades in Canada, except the knife and its springs were bought separately. Not that I'd get one, since I'm still annoyed about having to clean out an "assisted opening" knife after getting sand in the mechanism- those things have to stay clean! I'm a fan of hidden knives, which are blades made to look like something else, which is fun to do if you are good at stock removal.
 
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Dmac

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great link widerstand. anyone looking for cool knives at great prices, lockpicking tools, jiggle keys and the like, check out http://www.budk.com
 

sprout

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Turns out that a 2 foot long, double-sided and serrated machete is illegal in Texas.

Thanks for the links. I was wondering about knife laws before I went head over heels online or at the army surplus store.
 
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Rstank

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i do know some places say if the knife exceeds further than your four fingers it illegal.....but then again i carry my 6 inch ozark around and no one says anything....i say itsbetter to conceal in a nice hidin spot unless you feel like your in a bad area then keep it close......i always have mine out on me at night anywhere the fuck im at
 

madewithpaint

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my friend just got put in the tank for having his machete hanging on his belt. he was also loitering, but i could have sworn it was legal in CA if it wasn't a concealed weapon. i was hoping for a way to get him out of it, but i guess i was wrong about the laws.
thanks for the link though
 

Drunken Hearted Man

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I've carried fixed blades on my person for quite a few years, but I've decided to give that up since nearly all of them have been taken by cops in various places. Mostly because the cops just wanted to be dicks, not because they were concealed or illegal. Not worth it to me if they're just going to keep getting taken, rather have a good size folding knife at this point.
 
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xbocax

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damn and i wanted to be like bear grylls and strap it to my leg
 

boucaneer

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in the u.k, we can only carry knives in our pockets if its a folding knife with not a blade over 3 and a half inches and not a locking blade.

it is not classified as a weapon, unless you use it as one.
 
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I hop with a bad ass commando knife used by the spanish special forces & that I carried when I was a US Marine grunt back in the 90's. I usually have it in my pack & always fear loosing it so maybe I should just get an inexpensive tactical folding knife. Plus I may have a felony conviction or 2 so it would prob best to leave it home next time. Its a hell of a lot easier to ditch a $20 folder than a $200 knife that means something to me. Thanx for the eye opener guys.
 
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Deleted member 20

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After some thought I thought of weapons & their legality & how some groups get away with them. After my recent run in with a 1% biker gang, it occured to me that they all have crim records & cant carry illegal weapons. To skirt this they carry "ball peen" Hammers", & or legal if not high tech pocket knives. After reading that link bat thing also had me think along similar lines with truck drivers, They all carry a tire thumper when making their inspection of their rigs at fuel stops. These are either, wood, aluminum, or lead filled wood. They are exact scaled down replicas of baseballl bats. I think that they have a decent scare factor if you dont want to open up flesh & ust scare em off. But be aware if you pull any weapon you should be ready to use it to save your life, otherwise try running. I think these could be a good almost legal tool to carry, avail at all big truck stops & fairly cheap.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071129185309AA0V1S2

http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=3379136
 

boucaneer

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a well built walking umbrella can be leathal. thats why brits civillians and exforces office workers used to carry them. good for keeping a distance from the attacker.

it can be thrust into the opponants throat with a fencing lunge attack, two handed bayonette thrust into the solar plexus/sternem then a good solid strike to the head. all dibilitating attacks.

they are street legal too. although if you use anything as a weapon in this country you can get done for it, unless it can be proved you used reasonable force to protect your self. and you arnt allowed to chase after sombody.
 
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anne

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I have a license to carry a concealed weapon but it cost me a few hundred for the required class, over a hundred for the actual license, plus I had to buy 100 rounds and range time to prove that I know how to fire a pistol. It's crazy how many hoops there are to jump through just to be able to protect yourself. They make it so difficult for poor people to legally have weapons when we usually need them more than anybody. These laws are so ridiculous--the right to bear arms only in the safety of your own home, whether or not you have one.
 
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