Legal ramifications of fixed blade during concealed carry

[festus]

What are the legal ramifications of carrying a 5-6 inch fixed blade knife in a SHUKA carrier shoulder holster rig.
It would be full size 92 in left side.
USAF survival knife in right side
Using Galco Jackass rig shoulder holster.
I live in the Florida panhandle and would really like to know for most southern states as we do a lot of driving.

 

[BluesStringer]

What are the legal ramifications of carrying a 5-6 inch fixed blade knife in a SHUKA carrier shoulder holster rig.
It would be full size 92 in left side.
USAF survival knife in right side
Using Galco Jackass rig shoulder holster.
I live in the Florida panhandle and would really like to know for most southern states as we do a lot of driving.

Pretty iffy here in Alabama. Carrying a Bowie knife (or substantially the same) concealed is prohibited, and though the survival knife of which you speak is quite a bit shorter than what most people envision when they think of a Bowie knife, the shape and (most common) grind is substantially the same. No length is mentioned in the statute, so it's not only totally up to the cop's discretion, but up to the prosecutor's and judge's discretion too if you get caught and arrested carrying a nondescript Bowie concealed. Whether in-state or out-of-state, your permit doesn't allow you to carry a Bowie concealed here, but like a handgun, you can carry them openly with no permit required.

Here's a decent website with US Knife Laws By State, and here's that site's page on Alabama, including the verbiage of the statute on Bowies and an interpretation of it just underneath, which, if it matters, I believe is interpreted correctly.

Blues

 

[festus]

Thanks Blues

 

[BluesStringer]

Thanks Blues

No problem. Nice to see ya 'round. Didn't remember (if I ever knew) that you were in the Panhandle. I live less than 30 miles from N. FL now (near Dothan), and ride down there often on the motor-scooter so we can ditch the helmets for a couple or four hours at a time. I open carry here, but have to hide it when we head down there. Every state's got their quirks. As I said, I can OC a Bowie here (which I actually do on rare occasions), but even though I sometimes need a cane (plantar faciitis and horrendous neuropathy), I can't carry a sword hidden in my cane under any circumstances. Legal to own, but not legal out and about. I'm curious what you find out about FL knife laws. Never been positive if I was legal with what I carry or not, but pretty sure I am. Mostly folders, but sometimes a small (3" or less) fixed blade. I love that SHUKA sheath, and have thought seriously about getting another jackass style shoulder rig, but I would not be able to justify sacrificing a double mag-holder for a knife to carry like that.

Anyway, update the thread with anything you find out elsewhere. See ya 'round(?).

Blues

 

[Waffles]

Each State is different. For example, in South Carolina there is no law prohibiting the carrying of a Lock-Blade Knife. However, in the City of Columbia (the State Capital) it is illegal by City Ordinance and a misdemeanor. So, if you are visiting the tate Capital, while on Capitol grounds you would be legal; but when you go back to your car and cross onto the sidewalk, your illegal. Dumb? Yes. Is it ever enforced? Well ,if they need a reason and you are carrying, its good enough to go to the slammer.

 

[BluesStringer]

Pretty iffy here in Alabama. Carrying a Bowie knife (or substantially the same) concealed is prohibited, and though the survival knife of which you speak is quite a bit shorter than what most people envision when they think of a Bowie knife, the shape and (most common) grind is substantially the same. No length is mentioned in the statute, so it's not only totally up to the cop's discretion, but up to the prosecutor's and judge's discretion too if you get caught and arrested carrying a nondescript Bowie concealed. Whether in-state or out-of-state, your permit doesn't allow you to carry a Bowie concealed here, but like a handgun, you can carry them openly with no permit required.

Just by coincidence, I received an email advertising a "Bowie" knife from a group-buy website I belong to. The knife advertised is made by CRKT, which is a brand I rarely even look at anymore, but it actually has "Bowie" in its model name (CRKT Folts Minimalist Bowie) and it got me to thinking. I read the entire code section concerning knives here in AL and have come to the conclusion that the only way to legally carry the knife pictured below is as wide-open as possible, especially when it's real cold outside like it has been several days this Winter. Being 6'-6" tall, I have to order tall sizes when buying jackets (or anything with long sleeves). My normal jacket is made by Columbia, and extends well below my belt-line. Actually, it extends below my crotch for that matter, so I'd have to rig up some kind of drop-leg platform to carry the knife below to make sure it doesn't get covered up by my jacket. Either that or fashion an ankle rig on the outside of my pants leg. Going only by the language of the statute, this "Bowie" knife would be illegal to carry in a pocket or on a belt underneath a cover garment:









Link Removed

Yes, it's stupid as all get-out, but any cop, prosecutor, juror or judge could easily justify convicting me of a violation of the no-Bowie knife concealed carry statute here in Alabamastan. The blade-length is 2". Oh, but Jeff Sessions is a committed Second Amendment warrior. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Blues

 

[Ringo]

I love ARIZONA... Arizona has the best knife laws of all 50 states. Basically, you can own any type of blade you want and carry it concealed or in the open without worry. There are no municipal laws so you won’t have to worry about cops the next town over harassing you for something that is legal in your home town.

My EDC - H&K Turmoil OTF

Link Removed​

 

[BluesStringer]

I love ARIZONA... Arizona has the best knife laws of all 50 states. Basically, you can own any type of blade you want and carry it concealed or in the open without worry. There are no municipal laws so you won’t have to worry about cops the next town over harassing you for something that is legal in your home town.

My EDC - H&K Turmoil OTF

Link Removed​

Except for the Bowie stuff, AL is the same. Autos, OTF, gravity knives and everything else is wide open. We also have a state preemption law that prevents jurisdictional monkeying around with knife or gun privileges/restrictions.

I'm pretty sure that the Bowie restrictions are a holdover from the Reconstruction era. There are a lot of stupid, outdated restrictive laws that are common throughout the South that are holdovers. Many of the dumbest ones have to do with arms and/or carry methods. Seems ridiculous to me that Southern legislators wouldn't have repealed such laws after Reconstruction ended, but many of them were carpetbaggers or Union loyalists installed in seats of power, rather than being culled from the Confederates whose votes were disenfranchised so that interlopers could be installed. Alabama, as well as other states, were completely cut out of the amendment process that saw both the Link Removed into the Constitution, and I have found no evidence that much of a stink was made over it by state government either at the time, or subsequently. I reckon modern-day legislators are simply their descendants, or at least they inherited the overly-controlling mindset. GA and AL were the first two (in that order) states to implement helmet laws in the early '60s for instance. The mindset is still here, even if it's no longer carpetbaggers and Union tyrants imposing their will upon us. The lesson is though, that such restrictive laws on freedom are fully legal and fully codified by the Supreme Court, which means AZ can be in the exact same position at any time as citizens of the South are. The lack of knife tyranny there is fleeting.

Blues

 

[XD40scinNC]

Yea, the Bowie knife must be a hang over from the TV show from the late 50 "The Adventures of James Bowie".

NC doesn't have a blade length restriction, unlike many states, but still the Bowie knife is verboten.

 

[BluesStringer]

Yea, the Bowie knife must be a hang over from the TV show from the late 50 "The Adventures of James Bowie".

NC doesn't have a blade length restriction, unlike many states, but still the Bowie knife is verboten.

Actually, it was part of the code revisions of 1867, listed as Section 3555, which you could just as easily find out if NC's similar prohibition came from War of Northern Aggression-era tyranny as I did for AL. Took me all of 5 seconds. But why let facts get in the way when most people will let your sarcasm and/or WAG pass as "probably true" without digging the facts out for themselves? Unlike you, I am naturally curious about the truth. You seem to have missed that about me.

Blues