Ok, here we go…
First, I have to say this… although this is incredible research, Matt Numrich and/or Elite Defense Systems and/or the EDS Companies, Inc. do not claim to be an offical authority in weapons and their state to state laws. Always do and confirm your own research, as the laws are always changing.
DuPage Public Defender, Robert Miller, is a friend of EDS and wanted to pass this info on to us – as this relates to a lot of questions I get about what you can and cannot carry.
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Illinois Criminal Code 720 ILCS 5/24-1. Unlawful Use of Weapons. (a) A person commits the offense of unlawful use of weapons when he knowingly carries with intent to use the same unlawfully against another, a dangerous knife.
So, basically, any knife could qualify as a violation if someone is possessing it with the intent to use it on another person.
Now blade sizes do come into play if you are armed with a knife and commit a felony. If a person commits a felony with a knife with a blade of over 3 inches, it will enhance the sentence.
Now, keep in mind you can buy a knife with a 6 inch blade and possess it while you eat at a restaurant. You can buy an 8 inch knife at Walmart for your kitchen. You would be in possession of that knife as you walk out of Walmart and transport it back home. No law is broken, because you don’t intend to use it on anyone.
Here’s a quote from the case of People v. Sullivan: In Sullivan, pursuant to defendant’s arrest for disorderly conduct, the police searched defendant and found a hunting knife. The supreme court reversed a conviction of unlawful use of weapons and found that the mere possession of a hunting knife late at night in a residential area was not enough from which to infer intent.
Now in contrast, the Rockford Ordinance does not say the person needs to have the intent to use the knife against another, in order for it to be a crime; It says:
(19) Carries in a threatening or menacing manner, without authority of law, any pistol, revolver, dagger, razor, dangerous knife, stiletto, knuckles,=2 0slingshot, an object containing noxious or deleterious liquid, gas or substance or other dangerous weapon or conceals said weapon on or about the person or vehicle;
So the issue then turns on what is a “dangerous knife?” The Armed Violence statute does define a “dangerous weapon” as a knife with a blade over 3 inches. Ultimately it may be a question for a judge or jury to decide.
Here’s a paragraph from a case that found a nail clipper to be a dangerous weapon. “This issue was first addressed by this court in People v. Dwyer (1927), 324 Ill. 363, 155 N.E. 316, where it was noted that some weapons such as a pistol are deadly per se and thus as a matter of law satisfy the statutory requirement for armed robbery. An object not deadly per se may still be a dangerous weapon because of its capacity to inflict serious harm e ven though not designed for that purpose, as in the case of a baseball bat. Thus, we held in People v. Robinson (1978), 73 Ill.2d 192, 22 Ill.Dec. 688, 383 N.E.2d 164, that an ordinary nail clipper containing a pointed fingernail file could be found by the jury to be a dangerous weapon.”
Now in the Sullivan case I listed above, the possession of the hunting knife didn’t qualify as a crime. But that was because under Illinois law he needed to possess it with the intent to use it against another. The defendant would have probably been convicted under the Rockford law.
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So how do you like that?!
Comments? Questions?
Lee, Love and Life,
Sifu
ps: Navy SEAL Edged Weapons Seminar THIS weekend!