California Knife Laws

My question involves criminal law for the state of:California
I need some help, can someone simplify the ca knife laws for me? Like wat can I carry/how many inches can it be, I know u can't carry autos and butterfly knives..

Don't carry a fixed blade knife concealed, don't carry anything that opens by a spring or some kind of a release switch, and check local ordinances to see if they have a blade length limitation to carried knives.

thanks but it's like confusing because Ive herd things like the knife can't b over 2" and some say it can't b over 4", and I've gone to like my local walmart/army surplus stores/knife shops and they all have knives that are different sizes..also is speed assist considered illegal because most kershaw knives in my area have that mechanism...am I asking to many questions?

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Quoting Cuero88

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thanks but it's like confusing because Ive herd things like the knife can't b over 2" and some say it can't b over 4"

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That really only depends on whether you are a student at school, whether there is a local ordinance, whether you are a parolee, etc.

Perhaps if you said what you want to carry?

And if it is a folding knife without a spring or gravity opening system, then you should be okay (except at school).

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also is speed assist considered illegal because most kershaw knives in my area have that mechanism...am I asking to many questions?

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The Speedsafe capability of Kershaw knives might be perfectly legal. Not seeing one, I cannot say for sure, but from my reading they seem to be ok.

I jus wanna carry a regular folder for edc, I've been looking into some spydercos and kershaw w/speed assist...I'm 22 so no school for me and I've never been in prison/jail..it would suck spending 80 dollars for a knife and ending up getting in trouble for it

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Quoting Cuero88

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I jus wanna carry a regular folder for edc, I've been looking into some spydercos and kershaw w/speed assist...I'm 22 so no school for me and I've never been in prison/jail..it would suck spending 80 dollars for a knife and ending up getting in trouble for it

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I can't find one by Kershaw with "speed assist" but I can find them with "speedsafe." If you have something with speed ASSIST, it is probably illegal in CA.

oh yeah I meant speedsafe sorry

A SpeedSafe knife isn't legal in CA.

In CA a knife cannot have anything to assist in opening the knife. Speedsafe markets the Speedsafe knife with a torsion bar that protects the knife blade from opening, when in fact that same torsion bar shoots the blade out with force, once you push the lever to overcome the torsion bar.

If you want to buy a legal knife under CA law then you need to buy something down the line that can only be opened and closed with your hand. There are knifes like this that have a thumb screw that you can flip open and close with the movement of your thumb, these knifes are legal in CA because your thumb is part of your hand.

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Quoting Who'sThatGuy

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A SpeedSafe knife isn't legal in CA.

In CA a knife cannot have anything to assist in opening the knife. Speedsafe markets the Speedsafe knife with a torsion bar that protects the knife blade from opening, when in fact that same torsion bar shoots the blade out with force, once you push the lever to overcome the torsion bar.

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If that is the case, then you are correct, it would not be legal. The brief review of the literature I found did not indicate this, however, and I am not familiar enough with this device to render an opinion without manipulating it.

Most any folding knife - even those legal to possess - can be converted to illegal use by adding tension or removing it (making it assisted or gravity) with little ease. When I was down south there was a flea market dealer who would remove the tension resistance on knives he sold if you asked, and it would go from being legal to being a gravity knife (a misdemeanor per PC 653k).

After viwing this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnD3kCghOM

I'd say the Kershaw SpeedSafe knife appears to be unlawful and would be a switchblade.

that's kinda dumb that they sell knives that have that speed safe mechanism in California, even tho they might b considered illegal like the majority of stores I go into in so-cal have these types of knifes

You may wish to go here:
http://zknives.com/knives/articles/l...nifelaws.shtml

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Quoting Cuero88

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that's kinda dumb that they sell knives that have that speed safe mechanism in California, even tho they might b considered illegal like the majority of stores I go into in so-cal have these types of knifes

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If they do, perhaps you need to notify the local police. It is rare that the police have time to check the stock of the local stores unless inside for some other reason.

When I was in so. cal. we used to find a number of stores selling them as well. Usually we would simply warn the retailer to ship them back to the distributor. If they failed to do so, they would be arrested.

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Quoting Who'sThatGuy

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A SpeedSafe knife isn't legal in CA.

In CA a knife cannot have anything to assist in opening the knife. Speedsafe markets the Speedsafe knife with a torsion bar that protects the knife blade from opening, when in fact that same torsion bar shoots the blade out with force, once you push the lever to overcome the torsion bar.

If you want to buy a legal knife under CA law then you need to buy something down the line that can only be opened and closed with your hand. There are knifes like this that have a thumb screw that you can flip open and close with the movement of your thumb, these knifes are legal in CA because your thumb is part of your hand.

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This is incorrect. Spring assisted or SpeedSafe knives are legal to buy/sell and carry in California. They are different from switchblades that are illegal to buy/sell or carry (you still can legally own one as a collector). SpeedSafe mechanism requires the user to manually release/open the blade using a thumbstud to about 30% after which installed torsion bar kicks in and assists it towards a full open position.

"switchblade knife" means a
knife having the appearance of a pocketknife and includes a
spring-blade knife, snap-blade knife, gravity knife or any other
similar type knife, the blade or blades of which are two or more
inches in length and which can be released automatically by a flick
of a button, pressure on the handle, flip of the wrist or other
mechanical device, or is released by the weight of the blade or by
any type of mechanism whatsoever. "Switchblade knife" does not
include a knife that opens with one hand utilizing thumb pressure
applied solely to the blade of the knife or a thumb stud attached to
the blade, provided that the knife has a detent or other mechanism
that provides resistance that must be overcome in opening the blade,
or that biases the blade back toward its closed position.