NY State Knife Laws Blade Lenght

[Dr. Snubnose]

This totally freaked me out when reading the State Knife Laws and I quote from the Law....
"There is no limit on knife length in New York State." (Regardless of what anyone has told you, there is simply no law addressing knife length.) New York City has a restriction of 4" or less but the rest of the state...wow! I never knew that!!!!....I just realized my blades are too small. ...........LOL...........Doc :D

[zenheretic]

This totally freaked me out when reading the State Knife Laws and I quote from the Law....
"There is no limit on knife length in New York State." (Regardless of what anyone has told you, there is simply no law addressing knife length.) New York City has a restriction of 4" or less but the rest of the state...wow! I never knew that!!!!....I just realized my blades are too small. ]Doc :D

Genetics...live with what ya got. :eek: :D

[Th232]

[quote="Dr. Snubnose"]This totally freaked me out when reading the State Knife Laws and I quote from the Law....
"There is no limit on knife length in New York State." (Regardless of what anyone has told you, there is simply no law addressing knife length.) New York City has a restriction of 4" or less but the rest of the state...wow! I never knew that!!!!....I just realized my blades are too small. ]

Doc, break out the broadswords next time you go :D

[The Deacon]

Doc, guess you have not been reading my posts too carefully, have written about blade length limits here a few times. For the record, NYC is not the only "restricted" zone, Albany, Monroe (Rochester), and Eire (Buffalo) counties also limit blade length to 4" and prohibit carry of balisongs.

[The Deacon]

Doc, break out the broadswords next time you go :D

That might be a bit of a trick, since the one "rule" here is that whatever you carry must be concealed. :D

[Jordan]

mmm... concealed broadsword. Somebody call Mike Sastre up and get him on this project stat! :p

[WOTANSON1]

The narcoleptic sucky baseball teams aside (RedSox rule people)......I love living in NY!! No blade limit here in Putnam county, :cool: and please carry concealed, what a country! :D
Cheers,
Rob

[JD Spydo]

As far as what knives are legal or illegal is really kind of up in the air at this point; even statute definitions are really a moote point in our current legal environment. With all the new Federal Emergency laws now in place you can pretty much be arrested for anything at anytime And the burden of proof is all yours unfortunately. You can even be shipped out of the country and be detained indefinitely under these new Federal Emergency legislations such as the "Patriot Act" and the "Military Commissions Act". Also without the priviledge of a phone call or the representation of an attorney . You or I or any American citizen can be taken to jail at the whim of the authorities irrespective of whether they are state, local or federal.

Under the current environment we are in now with all Constitutional rights being under suspension they could in theory arrest you for a Ladybug or Cricket model in any state at this time if they so chose. The best thing any of us can do is to not do anything that would draw undue attention or to be someplace like a bar where trouble normally occurs. I don't take any pleasure in relaying this to you all but it is the truth and that is the environment we are in at this time

As far as the New York knife laws are concerned with there being no apparent blade length; that is actually more to their advantage than it would be for you the citizen. That really gives them the capacity to pretty much call any knife a "dangerous weapon" and consequently charge you for it

[ceya]

NYC you CANNOT have 4" and above. There was a change in 2003 ( i go through the book- Penal and Criminal law NYC 2007 later).

that is why most of my designs are legal to carry and it MUST be CONCEALED from public view.

S/F,
CEYA!

[smcfalls13]

That might be a bit of a trick, since the one "rule" here is that whatever you carry must be concealed. :D

Hey if they can do it in all the Highlander movies, it must be possible Because everything I see in the movies can be done in real life :p :rolleyes:

[bigcat]

If I remimber correctly, Duncan, in the Highlander series had a sword that he could breakdown. Even the blade was in several segments that he put together in his hotel room.

BigCat

[Jordan]

No no, you are thinking of the Kurgan from the first movie... Duncan's sword was a quite intact katana he had passed to him from his kinsman, Connor. He tended to hide it in large trenchcoats, the back of his car, so on and so forth.

[The Deacon]

[quote="JD Spydo"]As far as the New York knife laws are concerned with there being no apparent blade length]JD, you're entitled to think anything you want, however the fact is that courts here in New York state have consistently ruled in favor of the defendant when police and District Attorneys tried to expand the definition of a dangerous knife. As for "dangerous weapon", to be classified as such, the item has to be in one's possession during the commission of a crime. Carry a baseball bat while robbing a store, that bat is a "dangerous weapon". Will the cops occasionally arrest someone they know they can never convict? Sure, but in almost every case that's just because NY, like most other states, has never had the good sense to pass a law making "acting like a total a$$h0le in a public place" a crime.

[Jimd]

PA has the same law; no specific blade length. I love it!
Incidentally, I've never encountered a problem carrying any of my knives.

[JD Spydo]

JD, you're entitled to think anything you want, however the fact is that courts here in New York state have consistently ruled in favor of the defendant when police and District Attorneys tried to expand the definition of a dangerous knife. As for "dangerous weapon", to be classified as such, the item has to be in one's possession during the commission of a crime. Carry a baseball bat while robbing a store, that bat is a "dangerous weapon". Will the cops occasionally arrest someone they know they can never convict? Sure, but in almost every case that's just because NY, like most other states, has never had the good sense to pass a law making "acting like a total a$$h0le in a public place" a crime.

I agree with you Deacon on what you just said about the state of New York. But the Patriot Act and Military Comissions Acts are both Federal Mandates that supersede any of the state Laws or ordinacnes or statutes. Everyone in the entire USA is subjected to these draconian legislations.

[Dr. Snubnose]

As far as I understand it (and I am not a lawyer) anything (object) that is used in the commission of a crime or any object used against another person who is unarmed could very well be classified as a dangerous weapon...ie. hit someone over the head with a telephone receiver for no apparent reason if they are unarmed that telephone will now be considered a dangerous weapon...same might go for a lamp, stick, or chair for that matter...Most states place the burden of proff on the state to prove you were going to use any weapon for illegal purposes...NYS places the burden of proff on the indivdual to show he was not going to use such weapon for illegal purposes.
Let me see if I can explain this better...again as I understand it...In State X for instance you are having a cup of coffee in a dinner and two highway patrolmen enter to have coffee at the counter...they look over at you and as you reach for your wallet one notices a handgun exposed on your hip for a brief second....the officers will probably say nothing...as there seems to be no intent to use the weapon for illegal purposes....now in State X if you were paying the bill at the register and the handgun became exposed there is possible intent(maybe you are going to rob the dinner at gunpoint) and the officers would intervene. In NYS either situation could mean to the officers that you planned to use said weapons for illegal purposes, and the mere possesion of said weapon (EXPOSED) because we have a must conceal law, would mean it was up to the individual to prove to the officers that he did not have the intent to use said weapon for illegal purposes...

It happened to a friend of mine who while waiting for his wife who was shopping in a local department store...standing around (basically doing nothing, bored out of his mind) he adjusted his gun on his hip that was holstered under his jacket. A sales person noticed his gun and called the police...when the police showed up they asked him if he had a permit to carry a gun and once his carry permit was produced the officers apologized for the inconvience and went about there business after he explained he was waiting for his wife to finish up her shopping.....Doc :D

[The Deacon]

I'd say you are pretty close there Doc. There is also the issue of "context", which most, if not all LEOs understand and respect. Old guy with a 6" bladed flllet knife, bait bucket, rod and reel on a subway headed to or from south Brooklyn will hardly rate a second glance. Young guy dressed like a gangsta carrying the same equipment "might", depending on his "attitude". Young guy dressed that way and carrying the knife, but none of the other gear, will get shaken down for sure.

Further upstate, a 10" Bowie on your hip in the Catskills during hunting season will get you pegged as a "city boy" and potential cow killer, but that's about it. Walk into the local library wearing it in July, and you can count on being "interviewed" by someone wearing a uniform. :D