Baltimore statute on switchblade knives. What exactly does it mean?

originally posted by: Greathouse
a reply to: ItVibrates

You know I can't get through your whole post. Because of your arrogant self righteous and egotistical manners. So you probably are a lawyer.

And being a lawyer you naturally assume that you are right and everyone else is wrong. Part of the OP you did not address I'd like an answer to before you sit on the Supreme Court bench.


Why has Maryland/Baltimore felt the need to differentiate every other type of knife but omit that one. And how could that come in a ruling from a appellate court stating the federal law that has a distinction between the two?

I tried to answer that above, but if you failed to read my post, well that is not my fault.

You asked a legal question and I have taken my time to try and give you the answer. If your arrogance stops you from reading my response then there is nothing more I can do for you. I have better things to do with my Sunday.

originally posted by: Greathouse
a reply to: ItVibrates

I reread it after I got done laughing. ( at your attempted haughtiness) So you're saying those two legal definitions that you would enter. (after all you seem to be explaining your strategy to approach the case)

Work 100% of the time in all cases where the letter of the law is arguable?

Yes.
2nd.

a reply to: ItVibrates

I didn't mean to offend you I thought we were sparring.

Honestly yeah I read your replies. You came on this thread with a I'm a lawyer everybody else is an idiot attitude.

You gave your opinion which is duly noted. But I doubt in your career a judge has agreed with you every time you express a opinion.

a reply to: ItVibrates

Lol

Baloney.

How does an attorney sleep?
First he lies on one side, and then on the other. ( joke)

a reply to: Greathouse
Unlike TV and the movies, most lawyers will never go in front of a judge. Put it like this 90% of people who graduate with a law degree will never work as a lawyer, of the 10% that do only 10% of those will work in a court room.

To put it another way: The only time I have been in front of a judge was when I was representing myself (and dont do that even if you are a lawyer--its just makes you look bad).

But, back to those Latin terms: yes, they are part of our legal system that we inherited from canon and Roman law; in other words they pre-date our common law system.

Apologies if I sound like a C***, but this is a pet peeve: when people try and argue the law without the background to do so. Its like what doctors feel toward faith healers.

a reply to: ItVibrates

No problem I got thick skin I was enjoying the jousting.


If you haven't been in front of judges. You must not be a criminal lawyer? What do you litigate?

a reply to: Greathouse
Not representing people in court is not the same as not being a criminal lawyer. I have had clients come to me with criminal problems, I do the research into the law and hand the case to a Barrister that specialises in that area of criminal law (that my client can afford), let them deal with the courtroom thing (which is more than the theatrics, but not much).

Like you said in your earlier post about great lawyers knowing the judge--this is close to the reality where barristers have a close working relationship with the bench, they "know" the judges because they work "with" them every day in the courts. They know this judge will sentence lightly for sexual assault crimes (wonder why??) or that this judge is a racist. Knowing these little details is crucial to getting a more favourable outcome for the client, so we end up with these "specialists", and yes there are a number of downsides to this.

No, criminal law is not my speciality, but it is the majority of what I have worked with, and its actually a lot more interesting than writing people stern letters.

a reply to: Greathouse

Ho hum.

Switchblades were banned in Arizona by at least the 1950's.

Why is this even a controversy?

Benchmade makes "self openers" as well as "gravity assisted" lock bladed folders.

We were issued the self openers during our deployment to Iraq and were given memorandums in order to bring them back to the states. You have to be military or police to buy them in most states.

Push a button and you have a blade. Switchblade sounds to 1950's so the term self opener is used apparently.

originally posted by: rnaa
a reply to: Greathouse

Ho hum.

Switchblades were banned in Arizona by at least the 1950's.

Why is this even a controversy?

Yeah everybody has seem to miss my point on this thread. I was pointing out that both federal and Maryland state law felt the need to differentiate between the two types of knifes. Baltimore city did not.

originally posted by: ItVibrates
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan
If you cant afford a lawyer one will be provided for you.

Honestly, if we "dumbed down" legalese to make it "accessible" then it would no longer have the function of being "clear and unambiguous". It is written in such a way (and interpreted in such a way) as to not argue semantics over what a word means.

It might seem elitist, but the alternative is unworkable.

Hahaha. If you dumbed down the legalese we'd all realize the emperor is nakid. You are an elitist, and it don't take 6 years to understand the case law her in ol MD.

There is a common misconception that any knife over 3.5 inch blade length is illegal to conceal here. An officer lost his job in a similar case in Calvert County, where he confiscated a suspected shoplifters knife. In MD any knife that folds into its handle is considered a "pen knife". There are no blade length restrictions for open carry. You could buy and walk out with swords in the mall in Annapolis for a long time.

All the restrictions have to do with the function of the knife. In this case no balisongs or switchblades. Case law here has shown this to mean that a folding knife that is spring assisted, must have a positive bias towards being closed, and must require physical force in contact with the blade or a stud permanently fixed to the blade. Anything else is a balisong or switchblade.

Baltimore law has the older verbage which does not carve out this exception. Almost everyone I know in baltimore carries an assisted opening knife and I would be very surprised to find that shops didn't carry them. I'll check next time I'm in town.

As for the law, any spring assisted knife, whether legal in MD or federally, is technically illegal in Baltimore.

They also outlaw blow guns outright. Go figure.

AN axe ,everyone has axes...I can drag it behind me.
Courts are not nice about knife fights they really don't like them.

a reply to: cavtrooper7

Interestingly, almost everyone I know in Bmore has at least one axe and most a very nice axe. Probably 2 trees and 1 place to make a wood fire between them.

It would be interesting to see what the charging and conviction rates are for these knives in Baltimore. You really get the impression from police there that they have bigger fish to fry in most cases like that.

I could see getting in trouble if an authoritarian type officer thought your knife was cooler than his though.

An officer took my tiny S&W old timer style knife out of my tent once for that reason, in Florida though.

a reply to: ISawItFirst

A friend made me a Death Dealer axe. It weighs about 5 lbs