S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

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qmti
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by qmti »

I carry one of those knives that are offered on the internet for free, you know, one you have to pay 9.99 for handling/postage. It has a blade, fire starter, mini flashlight, glass breaker, seat belt cutter, etc. I would consider that more of a tool than a defensive weapon.
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JustaShooter
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by JustaShooter »

qmti wrote:I carry one of those knives that are offered on the internet for free, you know, one you have to pay 9.99 for handling/postage. It has a blade, fire starter, mini flashlight, glass breaker, seat belt cutter, etc. I would consider that more of a tool than a defensive weapon.
Can you open it one-handed? Does it have a sharp point? Is the blade serrated/partially serrated? Those are a few of the things that courts have used in Ohio to determine that a knife was a deadly weapon rather than a tool. And unfortunately is isn't you that gets to decide how it is designated - the jury or judge do, once the LEO & prosecutor have decided to make an issue of it.
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by Anders »

JustaShooter wrote:
qmti wrote:I carry one of those knives that are offered on the internet for free, you know, one you have to pay 9.99 for handling/postage. It has a blade, fire starter, mini flashlight, glass breaker, seat belt cutter, etc. I would consider that more of a tool than a defensive weapon.
Can you open it one-handed? Does it have a sharp point? Is the blade serrated/partially serrated? Those are a few of the things that courts have used in Ohio to determine that a knife was a deadly weapon rather than a tool. And unfortunately is isn't you that gets to decide how it is designated - the jury or judge do, once the LEO & prosecutor have decided to make an issue of it.
My Leatherman Wave+ comes down on the wrong side of all those tests (can open one-handed, has both serrated and non-serrated blades, has sharp points), yet it couldn’t more clearly be a tool. I agree with the general trend of this discussion that we need for this to be legally clarified. It’s hard to imagine, like one previous poster, that I would get hassled by a cop for having my Leatherman with me.
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by rDigital »

Anders wrote:
JustaShooter wrote:
qmti wrote:I carry one of those knives that are offered on the internet for free, you know, one you have to pay 9.99 for handling/postage. It has a blade, fire starter, mini flashlight, glass breaker, seat belt cutter, etc. I would consider that more of a tool than a defensive weapon.
Can you open it one-handed? Does it have a sharp point? Is the blade serrated/partially serrated? Those are a few of the things that courts have used in Ohio to determine that a knife was a deadly weapon rather than a tool. And unfortunately is isn't you that gets to decide how it is designated - the jury or judge do, once the LEO & prosecutor have decided to make an issue of it.
My Leatherman Wave+ comes down on the wrong side of all those tests (can open one-handed, has both serrated and non-serrated blades, has sharp points), yet it couldn’t more clearly be a tool. I agree with the general trend of this discussion that we need for this to be legally clarified. It’s hard to imagine, like one previous poster, that I would get hassled by a cop for having my Leatherman with me.
I wouldn't be surprised to see one arrested for Leatherman possession. There is case law in Ohio where a pencil was considered to be a concealed deadly weapon.
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by Bruenor »

from Knife Rights . org
ACTION ALERT: Knife Rights' Ohio Knife Law Reform Bill Passes Senate Committee - EMAIL TODAY!

The Ohio Senate Committee on Government Oversight and Reform passed Knife Rights' Ohio knife law reform bill, SB 140, by a vote of 9 - 1. The next action will be a vote of the full Senate, which could come as early as next week. If you live, work or travel to Ohio, please use Knife Rights' Legislative Action center to email your Senator and ask the Senator to vote YES on SB140: kniferights.org/resources/congressweb/#/32

Knife Rights has been working on this bill in various forms for six years now. Knife Rights Director of Legislative Affairs Todd Rathner attended hearings in Columbus last week and again this week working to get this bill passed.

SB 140 addresses the often abusive and discriminatory application of the existing Ohio weapons law against knife carriers, clarifying that unless the knife/edged tool is actually used as a weapon, it can be carried. The intent of the bill is to allow the carry of a knife as long as it is not used as a weapon.

Currently it's legal for an individual to own an automatic (switchblade) knife in Ohio, but irrationally, it's illegal to manufacture or sell that same knife in Ohio. This means potential consumers have to either go online or travel to another state to purchase these popular knives. Likewise, Ohio manufacturers, such as longtime Knife Rights supporter Rick Hinderer Knives, cannot manufacture these automatic knives in Ohio, shutting them out of a significant and growing market. Ohio loses jobs and revenue under current law and this bill is a commonsense solution to that absurdity.

SB 140 repeals Sec. 2923.20(A)(6), the state's ban on the manufacture and sale to civilians of switchblade knives, springblade knives and gravity knives, as well as brass knuckles, cestus, billy, blackjack, sandbag or any similar weapon

In addition, SB 140 creates an exception to Sec. 2923.12(1)(A), the state's vague catchall provision banning concealed carry of any "deadly weapon other than a handgun." It adds a new paragraph (H), "for purposes of this section, 'deadly weapon' or 'weapon' does not include any knife, razor, or cutting instrument if the instrument was not used as a weapon."
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by kcclark »

As noted previously, the key language in Knife Rights' Ohio knife law reform bill, SB 140, was included in the Senate's amendment to the State Budget, which passed the Senate last week and which is currently in a Senate/House Conference Committee. If it is retained in the final budget bill, then it would go to the governor as part of the budget.
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rDigital
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by rDigital »

So the budget seems to have passed. I’m not sure where to find the language to see if this provision was included.
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by rickt »

The various iterations of the bill are here:

https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legisl ... 133-HB-166

I did a search for the word "knife" in the pdf files. It appears in the version passed by the Senate but not in the enrolled version which is the version that got sent to the Governor. I'm guessing the knife verbiage was removed in the conference committee.
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by rDigital »

rickt wrote:The various iterations of the bill are here:

https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legisl ... 133-HB-166

I did a search for the word "knife" in the pdf files. It appears in the version passed by the Senate but not in the enrolled version which is the version that got sent to the Governor. I'm guessing the knife verbiage was removed in the conference committee.
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by WhyNot »

Well I guess we are to supposedly figure this as a ''win'' , seeing nothing was taken away in the haste of adding spices for the sausage making. :P


While no addition of rights, no subtractions either :P
Acquisitions thus far:

-Slingshot
-Butter knife
-Soda straw and peas
-Sharpened pencil
-Newspaper roll
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Yeah, I'm that good
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by M-Quigley »

qmti wrote:I carry one of those knives that are offered on the internet for free, you know, one you have to pay 9.99 for handling/postage. It has a blade, fire starter, mini flashlight, glass breaker, seat belt cutter, etc. I would consider that more of a tool than a defensive weapon.
Is yours similar to this one?

Image
DaveT
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by DaveT »

Sorry for the necropost, but somehow I don't remember hearing a word about this. I know that over the years there have been attempts at laws basically saying: if it's OK to defend yourself with a gun, you should be able to defend yourself with basically any other tool.

However, I missed the word of it making its way into law. Am I reading this correctly: It's now legal for Ohioans to own and carry switchblades, blackjacks and saps?

I found these news articles from almost a year ago:

http://www.wtol.com/article/news/state/ ... 4316e0887b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.wlwt.com/article/ohio-law-l ... s/36121651#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Is this correct - and can these be carried by adults, and it's not tied to having a CHL?
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by xpd54 »

It’s a lot more complicated than that. While this changed state law, it did not preempt local law. And many cities still have laws on the books that weren’t changed or effected by SB140. So depending on your location you may still have issues with carrying certain knives, etc.
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by DaveT »

Thanks for that. From what I was reading I couldn't parse out that level of detail.
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Re: S.B. 140: Allows non-weapon knife carry

Post by DaveT »

So, to follow up: Is it correct that it's legal to purchase and own these items, and keep them in the house, but not carry?
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