Collection

I was going to do a full catalog and display of all my fun toys, weapons, and such (kerambit, kukri, sai, staff, sticks, my home-made metal short-sticks, home-made meteor, home-made throwing knives, devil sticks, poi, juggling supplies, the whole bit).

However, upon review of the pertinent state laws, I could get in trouble if I display some of them to a group of more than 4 people at once. Having to choose between asking all those who read this page to be sure not to do so in groups of four or more, or simply now displaying my toys... well, I'll just keep them under wraps for a while. Especially since some of them are simply keepsakes, collections, and/or curios (and I'm required by state law to use and MEAN those definitions)...

That's the annoying thing about some state laws, especially regarding weapons. If I have a concealed carry permit (which I mean to get one of these days), I can legally carry a gun pretty much anywhere I go (since I'm not in the habit of visiting schools, or federal buildings, etc). However, if I bring my machete (technically a kukri, not that that makes any difference) anywhere with me (for example to someone's house that I know from church, to help them clear out their underbrush), I'm breaking the law (as it's longer than 4 inches, but hey, this applies to bread knives too).

As another example, there are all sorts of states (Massachusetts and California, I'm thinking of you) with laws against nunchuckus, balisongs (butterfly knives), and manriki-gusari (a rope/chain with a weight on each end). For the most part these weaspons are flashy, and obvious, but of significantly less threat than a simple stick (which is also semi-legal at best in most of the states that have problems with the above, it falls under the definition of club). But just because some congress critter saw a movie where they were used dangerously, or some talking head on the news said that gangs were using this new martial arts weapon (which somehow makes them more dangerous), they end up illegal.

Nunchucks, specifically are (unless you're Bruce Lee, and can play ping-pong with them, go on, look it up on youtube, it's awesome) horribly slow, unweidly, impractical and much more likely to hurt the person using them than the person they might be used against. Yet they're illegal, while a gun is just fine, at least with a concealed carry permit (not that I'm advocating outlawing guns, I'm very much in favor of an armed populace. I'd just like us martial arts enthusiasts to have an equivalent permit that would allow us to carry (concealed of course) our weapons of choice). It's funny, but if a misplaced Texan were to take off their belt in California (I'm thinking a misplaced Texan wearing a HUGE belt buckle), they'd be breaking the law.

On the good side, New York recently recognized that butterfly knives are just fine, and do not break any laws (at the state level) to use or carry. Arkansas recently repealed their minimum knife law (I checked, and my leatherman was legal, barely, before hand) from 3.25 inches to any length. Which means that if I wanted, I could walk down the streets of Little Rock (assuming they don't have any city-level laws on the subject) with a sword, as long as it was unconcealed (and probably still in its sheath, since otherwise, I would be brandishing a weapon).