Conceal Carry Fixed Blades -Options

[buckcz]

I like fixed blade knives, but just like open carry of a gun it can draw attention (probably unwanted attention). I have been trying to come up with ideas to carry small fixed blade knives. I have several different ways so far, but I will just start with this one and want to see what other people may be doing.

Here is a small knife made by a guy here in Michigan http://www.ecosknives.com. It came with a kydex sheath. I took a Desanti Nemesis pocket holster that I used for snubnose carry, and simply put screws with female inserts on the other side through the holse in the kydex sheath. The knife rides without print in the pocket and pulls out just like a gun in the sense that the holster grabs the pants' pocket keeping it in place when drawn.

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[Mainspring]

Nice looking potential felony you have there. Careful with carrying that.

[buckcz]

Nice looking potential felony you have there. Careful with carrying that.


Care to elaborate on that? WHat part exactly? Length 3", no double-edge on it? Read more on knife laws on this other thread:

http://www.migunowners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=59571&highlight=knife

[Mainspring]

Where the rub starts is the non-folding provision of MCL 750.227. Some say it only applies to double edged blades, some say it applies to single or double edged. There's enough wiggle room there, especially when coupled with the "...dangerous weapon..." provision that even without standing case law you're starting out behind the curve. But either way, state law says that a non-folding knife has to be "...a hunting knife adapted and carried as such..." There's lots of murk there to get caught up in. But MCL 750.227 is just the beginning. Where it really gets complicated is with local ordinances. Almost every municipality that I'm aware of has an ordinance against the carry of non-folding knives, regardless of blade length.

You can argue until you're blue in the face about what MCL 750.227 says, and means...but in the end it almost means nothing, as every single municipality in the state can make and enforce more restrictive ordinances within their respective borders. There is no statewide preemption statute regarding knives or blade length...yet.

A couple of MI case law excerpts pertaining to MCL 750.227 that could give you trouble would be;

"Purpose of this section is to prevent quarreling or criminal persons from suddenly drawing weapons without notice to other persons." (1980)

"Defendant charged with carrying concealed weapon had burden of proving that hunting knife was adapted and carried as such'..." (1980)

"Five-inch, double-edged, nonfolding knife was not a 'hunting knife' within hunting knife exception..." (1989) This one is particularly troubling because it removes any doubt that the "hunting knife" provision applies only to single edged knives. So if you have a 2" single edge fixed blade knife on your person, you have the burden of proof to establish that the knife is a "...hunting knife adapted and carried as such...", something that's hard to do when you're packing the thing in a non-hunting area and/or outside of hunting season and/or without a hunting license. Even if you're driving to/from hunting with your favorite fixed blade pig sticker on your belt, you're wrong because you can't hunt in your car and therefore the knife is not "...carried as such..." pertaining to the hunting knife provision.

But all of that is still just dealing with state law. The real problem(s) are at the local level. With no preemption statute in place, you really have no idea what knife laws you're violating without personally researching every ordinance of every municipality that you may find yourself in. I started doing this and just plain gave up.

I love custom knives and other expensive folders, and believe that there is merit to paying for quality. I also believe that a 2.5" fixed blade knife is way, way stronger and a better tool than any folder...but with the goofy knife laws in this state, I just use el-cheapo CRKT folders with blades under 3" that I consider essentially disposable (who wants to ditch a knife? But I'd rather ditch a CRKT than a Chris Reeve folder...). Even at that, I know that in places like Dearborn, my 2 7/8" CRKT folder COULD still land me in jail.

Hope this helps. Oh yeah...IANAL, YMMV, etc...

[firebert]

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Unfortunately due to the reasons listened above in mainsprings post, I choose not to carry of it most of the time. Fixed blade laws are so convoluted in the state of MI I tend to not bother.

[fr3db3ar]

It seems to me that knives are "arms" you know where it goes from there.

[Howard000003]

I like your adaptation buckz that is really nifty. I agree that fixed blades are way better to carry, but also have to agree that most of the local ordinances I've seen prohibit fix blade carry. :-?