At 1:38 PM 9/2/96, Dave Harman OBC wrote:
In California, it's a felony to merely *own* a Ninja star. It's a felony to carry a *concealed* knife, but carrying it openly in a holster is legal. It's a felony for most people to carry a concealed loaded handgun on the street only on a *second* offense. It'a a felony to merely *own* a switchblade, brass knuckles, etc. Do our weapons laws sound strange? Are many of our weapons laws stricter than countries like Sweden? Yes!
Most laws about knives, dirks, daggers, brass knuckles, saps, etc. were devised to control the coloreds, who could not afford the weapons of choice of whites and other gentlemen. Hence, a colored who gets picked up on some charge, or detained, can be jailed on a felony charge for having a pocketknife, or a sap, or brass knucks. Coloreds from Asia can be jailed for having the martial arts sorts of weapons. A white gets a misdemeanor charge for carrying a gun. (This analysis is not original with me. The gun magazines have noted the racist origins of misdemeanor/felony dichotomies for many years. One article I read a few years ago traced the precise times at which these laws came into being...mostly the times in various states corresponded with periods of high immigration of coloreds to major cities.) Here in California there's a bill pending in the legislature which would decriminalize the carrying of a pocketknife that can be opened with one hand (a la the Spyderco, Benchmade, Buck, Cold Steel, etc., knives with thumb holes or studs). Even though such knives are openly sold in every sporting goods store I have ever been in, and are carrried by a truly large fraction of the population, such knives are currently classified as "switchblades" and can be prosecuted as a felony. A good way to selectively harasss someone. Interestingly, it was the District Attorneys lobbying group in California which made the difference: they argued that such laws are unenforceable or are selectively enforced. --Tim May We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."