Just in case anyone doubts the potential for this to become law, in the City of Philadelphia you cannot legally carry a knife of any size or type on any street or in any public place unless it is a necessary part of your trade or profession. Minimum penalty is $300 and 30 days.

Philadelphia. PHILADELPHIA!

Now, THAT'S irony!

Sue

So I'm in IT that justifies carrying a Leatherman right? Necessary part of trade or profession seems quite vague.
I had printer service contract years ago and pulled out my knife to cut open the box with the new fuser and some lady gasped "thats a knife". My response was something like do you want me to chew the box open, thats what I knife is for.

That reminded me of...

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
- C. S. Lewis

I found the law. Section 10-820. This law seems to have been enacted as a result of Stanley (utility) knives being used as weapons. The blades on those are only about .75 inches, shorter then even Xacto knives.



I've been searching for cases involving this statute , but have had very limited luck. The only one I've been able to find is a parolee that got caught with a 3.5" folding knife and a pair of nunchucks. The "Used as a weapon" statute is very vague. Common sense would dictate that keychain SAK's are not "Weapons", but the Cold Steel Recon 1 is. The usual caveat about common sense applies.

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I think I may also have found the reason that Boston is pushing for the knife control law. In the FBI's UCI for 2010 they took a black eye for a murder rate increase of 47% (50 to 73 homicides) while almost everybody else is decreasing. It's a statistical glitch compared to the total violent crime rate, which actually decreased. But, it's bad press.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44578241/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

The polititians may be reacting to that.

The law in Philadelphia really is ridiculous - idiotic in fact.
I guess if you were going to attempt to stay legal, you could put the knife inside a backpack or luggage. I'm guessing that "carrying" means have the knife immediately accessible on your person ... not stored inside a bag?

Pete2

So given that Philadelphia law, you can't buy a kitchen knife and take it home without breaking the law (only depending on how they define, or more likely interpret, possession). Brilliant!

Could it be that many places are now supporting concealed handgun carry and self protection while Boston is not? Those other places see their crime rates going down, but Bostons murders are going way up. Hmmm... "Yeah, let's blame it on knives now", say the idiot politicians.

If the bad guys run free, and honest citicens are denied the means to defend themselves, yeah, you might get murdered. Wake up Boston!

I know the reason for all the murders: there's no place to park. People get desperate when they're late for work!

Sue

Parking? What's that? Oh, ya mean pahking? Yeah, people have a wicked. short. fuse when it comes to pahking.

Da Bing