COP: Carrying a folding knife illegal in WA

Pave... thanks for the link. On the front page I noted all the info about what's going on in New York.... It confirms my long held belief that NY is the place you are sent to when you've been bad..... thank heavens I've managed to avoid it all these years.

Click to expand...

yeah, they even made a movie about it starring Kurt Russel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_New_York

lemaymiami said:

Pave... thanks for the link. On the front page I noted all the info about what's going on in New York.... It confirms my long held belief that NY is the place you are sent to when you've been bad..... thank heavens I've managed to avoid it all these years.

Click to expand...

As someone that had to go back and forth to New York on business for a number of years, I can not agree more.

In Michigan, we don't seem to be hassled over knives like my Kershaw 'needs work' or other assist knives in the 4 inch and under category. I carried mine into Joe Louis Arena and Ford Field more than once with no issues.

Again, I rarely go places or do things that would cause someone to want to hassle me.

You don't have to go to a particular place or do a particular thing to get hasseled. There are people in this world who just love to make other people miserable and hassel at will.

any knife having a blade which opens, or falls, or is ejected into position by the force of gravity, or by an outward, downward, or centrifugal thrust or movement

Click to expand...

I'm not a lawyer, but a knife that opens with a thumb-stud doesn't fit that description. You have to actually push it open. What they're describing is a knife you can flick open just by the motion of your arm/hand: "centrifugal" refers to the force generated by the motion. I can't do that with any of the locking folders that I have. Maybe I'm just a girlie-man...

Not surprising

I went the court house downtown to apply for my CHL with my DD214. At first, the director dident even know the law saying that I could use it. The deputy (surprisingly) was very nice but still...something about him was off. He did agree that over the hundreds of hours I logged on ranges, combat missions etc most defiantly it should count. But then when the director came back I was questioned as to whether or not I had any training. I asked politely for the law to be re-read as plain english stated, to which it was concluded that I had sufficient training. I don't know how someone can be the head honcho and not even know the laws they deal with. +1 to the deputy who was honest and said he was not sure. surprisingly, they took my money last .

Anymore though im starting to feel like a criminal if I carry a pocket knife or a gun. Even in the woods. Open carry? Forget it, I don't need the hassle man. Its legal and its my right to but really...with how cops and sheeple act...why subject myself to it? To be honest, im tired of being treated like a civilian when I am a citizen. You know, like in roman times? When being a citizen was an upstanding thing to be .

G&F (aka OP),
What county was this? When I showed up for jury duty in King County (the courthouse is in downtown Seattle) I was treated with courtesy, promptness, and professionalism by the sheriff deputies who escorted me to the arms lockers. They had no comment about my Leatherman and only a casual curiosity about the revolver.
-BothellBob

How do they handle a person with only one hand? Is this clear discrimination against handicapped folks?

Also, I thought of the Seattle woodcarver who was MURDERED by SPD. His knife was a pocket knife that could be opened with the flick of a wrist. Here is a picture of it. They said it was totally legal.

It burns my butt that they confiscate peoples knifes when they are infact legal. I don't know where to BEGIN to file a complaint about this. State AG is a good start perhaps?

Click to expand...

Oh my goodness! I have that exact same model of Scheffield knife! and it most definitely will not open with a flick of my wrist lol. That sucker is in there and takes a good deal of pressure to get the thumb stud moving.

I carry a Kershaw Clash with me everywhere considering its darn near impossible to get a carry permit here in NJ. The one time I was st opped because a cop noticed the clip he had me draw the knife, open it and told me that if the blade was longer than my palm is wide that he'd have to confiscate it. Thankfully I have large hands lol. Just another one of those strange laws.

I just rememberd that the cop also said the knife is an "assisted opening" knife because it had a thumb stud. Ugh....I know for a fact that is not an "assisted opening knife". My friend has a SOG Flash II (I think that's what it is) that is an assisted opening knife. When you begin to open it, the knife springs open automatically. Now that I remember that he said this, and think about it, I think his interpretation of the statute is terribly wrong. I can't believe they confiscate hundreds of knives per month like this at the court house.

Click to expand...

As far as I know assisted-opening knives are legal in WA. The LEO you spoke to doesn't know what he is talking about. I hope someone calls him on it one of these days.

Jeff White said:

I would support this insanity if someone could show me one instance where one of these laws and administrative rules prevented one violent incident. But no one can. People intent on committing a violent act have already decided to break the law.....

Click to expand...

That's the problem, the way laws are written now, it is the law making people into criminals, not their actions.

It is ridiculous that a citizen who wouldn't even consider violating the rights of others would have their freedom taken away from them because they own something that could be dangerous.

Owning dangerous things is not something that should be illegal. Using them to harm others is the problem. Laws of prevention, nanny laws, they are all a breach of freedoms and they are all completely void of any semblance of insight.

Those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither indeed. This sort of legislation is proof of public mental insecurity.

I hate to presume to tell LEOs how to do their job, but were I in the situation where I didn't know the law, I might at least call someone to either A. read me the appropriate statutes, or B. Explain the statutes to me. BEFORE I confiscate something or arrest someone. Just sayin......

To the OP: is there any reason you have not disclosed where this happened and what agency the individual you dealt with represented?

How many rounds do my magazines hold? All of them, thank you for your concern.

Good and Fruity...just out of curiosity, where did you report for jury duty?

I mean, what county?

Retired NYS LEO after 26 years as D/T and firearms instr.

I was actually born in THE city [ NYC ] and that is a total clusterfk as to what is legal today = or tomorrow !.

I was teaching officers at in service and also police academy and I can attest to the fact that most are not 'weapon' people and most still call me to ask if an item is legal [ I am retired for 4 years ].

I also wonder if the OP was stopped by a real cop,or a door guard that is assigned to that duty and so has little or NO contact with real police work.

I let many a interviewed person leave with the 'tool' they carried as it was legal as long as it was not a weapon [ in NYS and not the city ].

Read NYS penal law section 265.00 and see for yourself what is really legal.

I have won a few bets with many who state the 6" bladed knife I carry is unlawful = NOT in the state,but in the city of NY.

As to why he asked about the amount of rounds,he may not know the law either.

Its not my call,but I would want ALL officers to know at least as much as I do inasmuch as weapons and tools.

To some readings of RCW, this would imply Commie sidefolder bayonets could be construed as "prohibited"... I have a design concept for an assisted-deployment rifle bayonet that I won't be able to begin prototyping until this bassackward state performs a craniorectal extraction.

If it makes you feel any better I had jury duty in December and I happened to have a 5/16 ratcheting wrench in my pocket. I was asked if I wanted to keep it. I said yes they then told me to start walking... I said what, and he said start walking back to your car we don't allow tools of any kind in the courthouse. I turned around to head back to my car and he then told me not to be late. I came back about 15 minutes later and he had a smug pissed off one look and told me I was late. I asked him if I was reporting to him for jury duty he said no and I told him I didn't care what he thought... McLean County IL

KSDeputy said:

It sounds as if they could have been more courteous, I would have been. I carry an assist open knife, with a 3 3/4" blade. My last assignment was court security, and I enjoyed it more than any other in the 30 years I served. I treat everyone as I wish to be treated, unless they give me reason to treat them otherwise. One reason I carry that knife is for places where guns are prohibited. We seem to think alike. In the future best not to carry either into the courthouse, some of the younger guys get all stirred up about it.

Click to expand...

That's nice, but I don't have to check my rights at the door so as not to offend the ignorance of some kid cop. That isn't how it works, you should know better.

Problem in this state is, there are a lot of uninformed police. Ignorant police. And we have a law that expressly states that if something isn't ILLEGAL, then it is LEGAL. Period. Just because they feel one way about something and it isn't written to their liking doesn't mean they can make stuff up.

If you report this to their supervisor you may as well call your mom and complain to her. They don't care here. Here, if one dies in the line of duty, he or she gets a funeral befitting a president. Seriously. Thousands show up, they shut down the streets, and hold services in stadiums. A soldier dies in the line of duty and gets a byline on the news. A regular person who dies can't even get a police escort --that isn't legal. How can you honestly expect to get your opinion through to an apparatus that views itself above the law? The cops here are losing their support in the community and being viewed more and more as the problem and not the solution. Just look at all the unjustified violence complaints and how they handle them. They handled it so poorly the feds got involved --that is pretty bad considering how little they care about the public's will.

Better yet is to contact the mayor with all the applicable information. Follow up and demand answers, make a big deal out of it. Hold them accountable. Ignorance of the law doesn't work for us, it doesn't work for them.

If they were reasonable and considered themselves a part of the same society they are supposed to serve and protect, a simple conversation between two gentlemen and a quick lookup of the law (which they can most assuredly do on the spot with their multi-million dollar budget) would reveal the truth.

But they'd just rather you don't tread on their ignorance. And if there are good cops here that disagree with me, think this repuatation is undeserved, don't tell me...

TELL YOUR BUDDY!

Well, that would be the reasonable thing to do. That is what is SUPPOSED to happen, what DOES happen is that you explain the law as you know it to them, and then they ignore that, don't bother to look it up, then procede to nit-pick every little detail to make you feel inferior or intimidated. Like the magazine thing.

When confronted by a uniformed urchin with a badge, just don't say anything. The law here is the law here. Take me to jail, do what your rank can handle, I've been in worse situations before, but I will not make the job of my harasser easier.

On the other hand, if they treat me as they would want to be, I am cordial, respectful, and willing to discuss matters. That is how adults do it, but we seem to be running out of those these days...