Trench knife legality ?

[Res]

Hey guys. I searched here, but could not find an answer. Are these trench knives legal in Ca. ?

[tomjones]

Negative on that, those would be considered metal knuckles, covered under 12020 CA PC.

[pnkssbtz]

Negative on that, those would be considered metal knuckles, covered under 12020 CA PC.

Wouldn't they follow purview of heller, and via nordyke be protected?

I mean, they were actually used by military troops. (Referring to the comments in miller about the sawed off shotgun never being used by military forces...)

[Res]

Yeah. I was hoping maybe it would be okay for a display item, not for carrying around.

[JDay]

I wonder if that could be considered a relic?

[MrClamperSir]

That's got to be one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

[Turo]

12020. (a) Any person in this state who does any of the following
is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year
or in the state prison:
(1) Manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into the
state, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale, or who gives,
lends, or possesses any cane gun or wallet gun, any undetectable
firearm, any firearm which is not immediately recognizable as a
firearm, any camouflaging firearm container, any ammunition which
contains or consists of any flechette dart, any bullet containing or
carrying an explosive agent, any ballistic knife, any multiburst
trigger activator, any nunchaku, any short-barreled shotgun, any
short-barreled rifle, any metal knuckles, any belt buckle knife, any
leaded cane, any zip gun, any shuriken, any unconventional pistol,
any lipstick case knife, any cane sword, any shobi-zue, any air gauge
knife, any writing pen knife, any metal military practice
handgrenade or metal replica handgrenade, or any instrument or weapon
of the kind commonly known as a blackjack, slungshot, billy,
sandclub, sap, or sandbag.

pretty much says no.

[leelaw]

I wonder if that could be considered a relic?

There are no relic exemptions for metal knuckles.

The knife isn't legal in California.

[CSDGuy]

The knife part of it is fine... it's them metal knuckles that are the problem... and are illegal.

[CABilly]

There's a surplus store in Campbell that sells those....

[bigcalidave]

People sell brass knuckles all over the state, doesn't make them legal. But you can buy and own the completely plastic ones! polycarbonate FTW!

[CABilly]

Oops, I should have said they sell them to non-exempted (non-privileged class underlings) people.

[Turo]

But you can buy and own the completely plastic ones! polycarbonate FTW!

nope. you can't legally sell them.

12020.1. Any person in this state who commercially manufactures or
causes to be commercially manufactured, or who knowingly imports into
the state for commercial sale, keeps for commercial sale, or offers
or exposes for commercial sale, any hard plastic knuckles or hard
wooden knuckles is guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in this section,
"hard plastic knuckles" or "hard wooden knuckles" means any device or
instrument made wholly or partially of plastic or of wood,
composite, or paper materials that is not a metal knuckle as defined
in paragraph (7) of subdivision (c) of Section 12020, that is worn
for purposes of offense or defense in or on the hand, and that either
protects the wearer's hand while striking a blow or increases the
force of impact from the blow or injury to the individual receiving
the blow. The plastic, wood, composite or paper products contained in
the device may help support the hand or fist, provide a shield to
protect it, or consist of projections or studs that would contact the
individual receiving a blow.

[tgriffin]

Hard plastic knuckles are a no go. Search here for hard plastic knuckles and you will see they are covered under a different code section.

[B Strong]

The trench knives that include the knuckle duster design feature are considered to be brass knuckles in California.

Depending on the situation that such a weapon is encountered, it could be a simple confiscation without consequence, or a felony, depending on the viewpoint of the LEO involved in the situation at the time.

I know of a an individual that had a knuckle knife as part of a display of his father's decorations and awards from WWII, including a pic of his father with the knife on his web gear while in the PTO - An officer was responding to his complaint about a neighboorhood problem and after dealing with the complaint, gave my friend the heads up that the knife was a problem and advised him to remove the knife from the display.

The officer took no further action.

The other side of that was a guy that I knew who had a knuckle knife in the trunk of his car, was involved in a single vehicle dui accident, and the knife ended up as a felony charge.