Question about blade laws?

[prime77]

I know we have some members from other countries.  I was wondering about the blade laws in your country.  I read that the UK has some pretty strict laws.  So what do you do when you want to carry a multitool or SAK?

[Grant Lamontagne]

The laws in Canada aren't terribly restrictive, and are almost completely nonexistant as far as multis are concerned.  The law here states that knives are legal provided they don't open by button actuated spring (autos are illegal, but assisted openers are fine), gravity or centrfugal force, so no balisongs either.  Anything else is legal provided you are not concealing it (yes, you can carry a 48" katana legally) or using it in a threatening manner.  Anything used in a threatening manner is considered a weapon, be it a 2x4, knife, multi, car or what have you.
Def

[damota]

The law in the UK states that anything other than a less than 3" long bladed slip lock knife is against the law to carry unless you can prove that it is needed for your work and you are going to or from that work. Here we have laws that a rolled up news paper if rolled tighter than what the police deems necessary is being carried as a batten. A batten of any sort is illegal to purchase or sell or own, so if you are ever over here just fold you paper in half. Multitools can be a gray area most of them are carried in case they are needed rather than as a necsesaty so sometimes they are looked on as being different to a knife depending on the area. All locking blades turn a folding knife into being classed as a fixed blade knife that are illegal to carry whatever the size unless needed for work with the same restrictions.

Dave

[Ging]

Multitools can be a gray area most of them are carried in case they are needed rather than as a necsesaty so sometimes they are looked on as being different to a knife depending on the area.

I always think that multitools, with locking blades, will be seen in a slightly better light by a LEO (they are probably carry one) than a 'plain' lock knife in the UK

[Kapt Kopter]

I remember reading over at BF or KF that some politician in Michigan wanted to ban all lock blades......such stupidity........hell they banned switchblades back in the 50's all on the count of one movie West Side story......bizzare when you consider something like 80 or 90% of all knife related felonies are with a kitchen knife.......sad.....its all this PC stuff that drives me crazy, when I was a kid of 8 or 9 alot of friends and I carried some sort of Jacknife even to school......I could just imagine what would happen if one of my boys happened to take one of the knives to school

Kap

[parnass]

In the USA, individual cities can enact their own knife laws which are more restrictive than state laws.  That adds to the risk of carrying a knife across jurisdictions.   A pocket knife which is perfectly legal where I live can be illegal in an adjacent city where I shop and most people aren't aware of the blade laws in other towns.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I remember reading over at BF or KF that some politician in Michigan wanted to ban all lock blades

Actually I think it was worse than that.  I believe that carrying all multibladed knives and multitools were supposed to be made a felony.

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/423389/post/493188/hl/Michigan/#493188

Def