Legal to keep a machete/sword in DC hotel/personal vehicle?

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Snowdog

Snowdog

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So my wife has surprised me with a week-long trip to a family's beach house on Long Island followed immediately by another week-long stay at a fairly nice hotel in Washington DC on the Potomac (Canopy by Hilton "The Wharf" or something along that name).

My last few trips to NYC were uncomfortable for me as all I had to defend my family with was a pink T-ball bat. This from someone who carried outside of the house, even to the mailbox.

I'm finding some conflicting information regarding knives and swords in DC. I'm hoping some here to have experience with this area can set me straight.

Can I keep a machete or even a sword (see the items I currently have below) in my hotel room according to DC law? I'm not overly concerned with Hilton hotel policy, just what the law allows.

I've come to the understanding after some Googling that my wife and I can both carry pepper spray while traveling in the area. Knives seems to be a grey area that I'm not sure if I want to enter into.

So, can I keep either (or both) of the below items in our personal vehicle or hotel room without running foul of DC law? It could go without saying but in case it really matters, neither my wife nor I have anything on our record, not even a speeding ticket... ever.

Thicker than a machete, so likely to be considered a sword by most:
A46-UC3345D2.jpg

Thinner than the above and considered a machete by the manufacturer:
0005862_kopis-machete_550.jpg
 
Considering most anti gun jurisdictions are anti blade as well I'm going to say it's probably a hard no, although I don't know that for sure. I know that in Massachusetts which has similar laws most weapons in general would be prohibited including knives over a certain length etc.
 
It is unlawful to carry a deadly weapon in DC. If any knife is seen to have no practical use in DC it would likely be seen as deadly or able to inflict serious bodily harm. The link leads to a easy to understand explanation of DC law. The following is quoted from the article.




https://www.akti.org/state-knife-laws/district-of-columbia/

A “deadly or dangerous weapon” per D.C. case law is “anything that is likely to produce death or great bodily injury by the use made of it,” U.S. v Vinton, 594 F3d 14 (2010). The U.S. v Vinton case further provides that there are two categories of objects likely to produce such harm:

(1) those whereby the design of the object is such that in its ordinary use it is likely to cause great bodily injury, and

(2) those that ostensibly may be used as a tool or may be carried for utilitarian reasons, but where “the surrounding circumstances indicate that the purpose of carrying the object is its use as a weapon.

Samuel Vinton, the defendant in the above case was stopped by law enforcement for driving at an excessive speed and found to have various restricted items in his vehicle, as well as a “butterfly knife” under a floor mat. The D.C. Court of Appeals analysis was that the butterfly knife was a deadly or dangerous weapon under either alternative. The fact that could be easily and quickly opened suggested it was a weapon by design.

Current D.C. law does not recognize a self-defense or Constitutional right to carry a knife in the event of a confrontation. Wooden v. U.S. 6 A.3d 833 (2010).
 
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Snowdog said:
So my wife has surprised me with a. . . week-long stay at a fairly nice hotel in Washington DC. . .
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What about the recent history of law enforcement in DC leads you to imagine that the text of the law matters?
 
I would GUESS that if something or other would be legal for a resident to keep in his or her home without the permission/endorsement of the local gendarmerie, then that thing would also be permitted for a visitor staying in a hotel, which is a temporary domicile, rented under your name for a given period. I wonder, if the INTENT was to give the item as a gift to a friend, relative, coworker, etc. for some occasion or another- with the item having been gift wrapped in colorful paper with a silly card attached- be sufficient in proving "intent"? Since I'm neither a lawyer or a resident of DC, I guess I'll never know for sure.
 
Whatever you choose to keep with you, a sword or machete should not be it. I apologize if every single previous respondent in this thread did not clearly communicate that. Even a LEO sympathetic to individual rights and self-defense is going to look askance at someone packing a modern kopis. Don't be that guy.

The common sense, legal solution based on what your research has told you, would be to carry pepper spray and a cane. Not some gimmicky cane with hidden blades and springs or clearly modified to do more damage with lead weights or something, just a good, sturdy, unobtrusive cane.

If you feel the threat level is such that pepper spray and a sturdy 3' stick won't suffice, don't go. It's that simple.

As FL-NC pointed out, hotels are considered domiciles for legality purposes: much like carrying a weapon where legal but against company policy, you can be removed if discovered, but not charged.

John
 
Thanks for the replies. Just to clarify, I have zero intent to carry (openly or concealed) any weapon and certainly not a sword or machete. This is just something that would be kept within arms-length of me while we sleep in our hotel room. I know I sound a bit on the paranoid side, wanting to keep a machete by the bed and all. I'm just not accustomed to lacking a decent tool in which to protect my family. It's compounded by the knowledge that DC is a few magnitudes more dangerous than where I live.

Just like all the other times I've traveled to such cities, I'll feel naked the entire time I'm there.
 
FL-NC said:
I would GUESS that if something or other would be legal for a resident to keep in his or her home without the permission/endorsement of the local gendarmerie, then that thing would also be permitted for a visitor staying in a hotel, which is a temporary domicile, rented under your name for a given period. I wonder, if the INTENT was to give the item as a gift to a friend, relative, coworker, etc. for some occasion or another- with the item having been gift wrapped in colorful paper with a silly card attached- be sufficient in proving "intent"? Since I'm neither a lawyer or a resident of DC, I guess I'll never know for sure.
Click to expand...

FL-NC, I like the way you think. I indeed do know a few folks that would like a baseball bat or machete as a gift. That may be the route I take.
 
Snowdog said:
Thanks for the replies. Just to clarify, I have zero intent to carry (openly or concealed) any weapon and certainly not a sword or machete. This is just something that would be kept within arms-length of me while we sleep in our hotel room. I know I sound a bit on the paranoid side, wanting to keep a machete by the bed and all. I'm just not accustomed to lacking a decent tool in which to protect my family. It's compounded by the knowledge that DC is a few magnitudes more dangerous than where I live.

Just like all the other times I've traveled to such cities, I'll feel naked the entire time I'm there.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I understood that you weren't planning on carrying it. Again, any potential gain your sword would have over a cane is more than offset by the optics.
 
Cane is a good way to go.

Big blade won't "brief" well. Have had some machete killings in the region from gangs (MS13 I think it was) over the years.

Also, be careful what knife you carry as I think it will have to be under 3in for you to enter many federal buildings in the area (which is a lot of them). Lots of metal detectors depending where you go and TSA like check points where you have to dump your pockets.

The Air/Space museum out near Dulles is great and gets you out of the city a little. Don't forget the NRA museum if you head out that way or the Battle of Manassas Civil War site.
 
Maybe legal once in the hotel.
...but how ya gonna get there?
:(



I live in NoVA -- How often do you think I now voluntarily go into DC nowadays?
 
I lived near DC for 6 or 7 years. About half of that time, I was in an armed position.

I was very happy to escape the area.
 
Enjoy the high end hotels dining room at night and stay in after dark. Be aware of your surroundings and just relax and enjoy the museums and sights of our great capital which keeps a large police force to protect its visiting citizens. 99% of the negative comes after dark and its been that way for decades.
 
Baseball bat, glove and ball. Nobody is going to give a second look at somebody simply prepared for a quick pick up game of baseball.

And by baseball bat I don’t mean a “Negan Special”. :).

For the record I am pretty live and let live and if I glanced at you and saw a gun properly holstered I probably wouldn’t give you a second glance. I see you with a friggin sword I am probably gonna at least consider calling somebody. So count me in I don’t care if there can be only one……don’t have sword.
 
Snowdog said:
This is just something that would be kept within arms-length of me while we sleep in our hotel room. I know I sound a bit on the paranoid side, wanting to keep a machete by the bed and all.
Click to expand...

You probably spent very much time in hotels lately. The doors come with better security features than the old door chains of old. They do a much better job limiting who can get into the room while you're in it. You can still improved upon those easily and cheaply.

A simple rubber wedge to keep someone from entering your room is very effenctive. If you want to secure the room further, something like an Add-A-Lock improves security another step.

I traveled around the country and overseas for work for nearly 20 years. Very little of it was in nice places nor was my company paying more than government per diem. I probably slept in a hotel room a hundred nights a year. I never traveled with a large blade as a weapon. I packed a good folder, a great flashlight, and a wedge to hold the door open taking bags in and out and to secure it against entry when I was in the room. These days I'd carry both a wedge and an Add-A-Lock to secure the room. If you focus on securing the hotel room from unwanted entry you don't have to worry about what you need to use for defense if someone gets into the room because you've prevented it from happening. Pack a great flashlight, a good knife, and a simple wedge (attach some paracord to the back so you can yank it out in the event the fire alarm sounds).
 
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Thanks for all the replies. It's a heck of a culture shock going from a firearm/law-abiding citizen location to an anti-gun/consider-everyone-a-criminal zone.

I plan on taking a hard look at the unbreakable umbrella, however a can of "politician approved" pepper spray is the route I'm going to take.

I'll kiss the ground when I return to the mountains of western North Carolina.
 
MEHavey said:
https://rollinsandchan.com/possession-prohibited-weapon/

All about "intent"... which is very weird,
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Not weird to me.
"Going armed" in Tennessee, carrying anything outside your home or place of business as a weapon of offense or defense, has long been a crime in Tennessee, and the law specified "intent to go armed".

You can get a permit to carry a handgun for self defense. (There is a movement to constitutional self-defense carry of firearms for residents who are legal to own a gun.)
If you carry a cane with intent to use it as a weapon of defense, it is strongly suggested you get certified by a martial arts trainer in stick fighting (know what use could be lethal, what use could be crippling, what use would be merely persuasive but no permanent damage).
In case of self-defense against an attack, there always is the common law legal defense that you can use whatever might be at hand to defend yourself.

The "going armed" law also includes a list of specifically "prohibited weapons" carried "with intent" very much like the D.C. law.
I can have a switchblade knife or brass knuckles as a curio or keepsake at home, but I would not want to be caught on the street carrying one in public.
I have a hatchet with a hammerhead and I have a machete that I can carry to use in yard work at home or to cut brush at family property on the mountain.

I noticed the DC. law included "slungshot" as a prohibited weapon. In Tennessee's prohibited weapon list, the word is "slingshot": specifically a window sashweight with a strap (not a "Y" shaped stick with rubber bands and shot pouch slingshot, but an improvised blackjack). I have a sashweight with a cord through the hole that I keep in my gun cleaning gear for use as a hammer with a pin punch. If I got arrested in public with it in my hip pocket, I'd have some 'splainin' to do.

"Intent" is important in the "going armed" statute. Carry for defense is regulated, carry for offense is always prohibited, and carrying a "prohibited weapon" in public implies "intent to go armed" and implies you are a "dastardly villain seeking unmanly advantage over the unwary" or some such 19th century (1800's) verbiage. These are really old school laws. But I would not test them by having a machete or sword as a weapon of defense in a hotel room.
 
Carl N. Brown said:
I can have a switchblade knife or brass knuckles as a curio or keepsake at home, but I would not want to be caught on the street carrying one in public.
Click to expand...

A little out of date on switchblades in TN there. With the help of Knife Rights we got rid of all restrictive blade laws in 2015 with the exception of schools. You won't find a restriction on them anywhere else. ;) OTOH, knucks...not yet.
 
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Personally, i think you answered your own questions when you stated "i feel totally naked when i am there".
So....dont go there.
I dont go to chicago, been there done that aint goin back.
Why torture yourself on what is supposed to be a vacation
 
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