Orange County, California legal blade limit?

[Bolster]

In my persistent effort in understanding the laws, which often use uncommon language that needs to be decoded to some extent, I stumbled across a government initiative that looked into the benefits of re-writing the laws into a language that was more accessible to the common man/woman. And to my surprise I found that very high ranking lawyers, judges and prosecutors argued strongly against this initiative. You would think the ultimate goal for a lawmaker, or society even, would be that everyone knew, understood and abided by the applicable laws. That would make life predictable for everyone, which was the motivation to invent laws in the first place.
One can only speculate why these people would be against such an effort. It never materialized.

That's fascinating. I once read a rhetorician's book who spoke of "officialese" as a separate dialect, whose purpose it was to confuse and to keep ignorant even the educated layman. I think the practice of using "officialese" to obfuscate must be spread across many professions.

[Xplorer]

Lots of good information has been shared here. I would add that I've lived in So Cal for 51 years and for 35 of those years I've carried whatever pocket knife I feel like carrying without concern for legal limits (not saying everyone should do that, just stating a fact). I've never once had the slightest issue with police or anyone else. I have a cousin who's been an LAPD officer for over 20 years who I've spoken to about carrying knives in So Cal and he basically said, "if you don't give an officer a reason to check your knife it won't matter what knife you have". While I suggest the safest bet is always to know the law and follow the law...the day-to-day reality comes down to how a person acts with their knife. If you act or appear to act in a threatening way any knife is going to be a problem and one bigger than 3" makes the penalties worse. If you don't act threatening or find yourself being frisked for committing some sort of crime your knife will not be questioned.

[RustyIron]

I'm curious is anyone familiar with Orange County in California, the county's legal blade length limit for like a folder?

Hey, Crypt. I've lived behind the Orange Curtain for decades, but I'm no legal scholar. There's a free app titled LegalBlade that shows legality for every state and many cities. There's nothing specific to OC, though, and it's been two years since the app was updated.

Looking at it right now, the things that would apply to me and the types of knives I carry, no lockers greater than 4" are allowed in government buildings, and only non-locking folders under 2" are allowed in schools.

[akapennypincher]

Disneyland is in OC California, Anaheim to be exact. No Weapon Allowed, ever SwissArmy Pen knife. Zero Tollerence. Remember friend who was LAPD Active Officer who was carrying off duty Firearm. Disneyland said can't come in.

Disneyland is real messed up.

[Basko00]

The previous couple of posts sum it up pretty well. I’ve lived here a long time and I’m familiar with the attitudes of law enforcement in SoCal. LEO’s don’t care what the blade length of their own knife is and, with that, if you’re going about your daily activities in a responsible manner, they also don’t care what folder blade length you’re carrying.

California LE is understaffed and overwhelmed. They just aren’t out there looking for petty violations these days. Since Covid, even less so. Leave your knife in the car if you need to go into a courthouse or such. Not surprisingly, most of the colleges and schools prohibit carry. Be discreet when it’s called for and use common sense. You’ll be fine with most any folder you want. California is actually pretty relaxed when it comes to knife law. That’s good and bad. Nearly every homeless you see on the street is carrying a fixed blade, concealed or openly. Concealed fixed blades are illegal in California and they tend to use them on each other and, more importantly, innocent civilians far too often. Cops could be jacking them up all day long on that violation alone, but they don’t. Again, it’s primarily a manpower issue.

[shunsui]

When I visit Southern Calif I take a knife with less than 3" blade.
Delica, Para3 LW, etc.

Just my best guess from looking at not so helpful guides.

[James Y]

I've lived in Southern CA my whole life, except for the near-decade I lived overseas in the '80s into the '90s. I've always carried whatever folder I've felt like carrying. I live in San Diego, which is not as strict as the City of Los Angeles and, IIRC, the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento. L.A.'s limit for a visibly carried folder is 3", but I recall reading that if the folder is concealed (fully down in the pocket), it can be any length. I'm not a lawyer, though. Just saying where I live, I've never had a problem.
Once, while carrying my Military clipped, I passed by a few cops standing around and chatting away, and one looked at me, smiled and gave a little nod, then continued talking to the other cops. Him being a cop, I'm pretty certain he (and probably some of the others) noticed the Military's clip on my pocket (they were on my right as I passed), but he never gave it a second look.

BTW, I'm not trying to give any legal advice on knife carry laws, nor am I pretending to be an 'expert'.

When in CA, don't try to carry any knife into a concert, sporting event, zoo, amusement park, airport, government building/courthouse, etc. But I'm pretty sure that's no different from most places in the US.

On knife forums, people act like CA is the absolute worst place in the US for carrying knives, but it's not as bad as people make it out to be. I'd be more concerned about carrying a knife in places like NYC, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and some other locations.

Jim

[RamZar]

When in CA, don't try to carry any knife into a concert, sporting event, zoo, amusement park, airport, government building/courthouse, etc. But I'm pretty sure that's no different from most places in the US.

A few years ago we went to the Orange County Fair and they wouldn’t allow any knives. Didn’t get there in my own car so I had to go bury my knife in some potted plant.

In addition to the list given by James Y, museums, libraries, etc.

[brancron]

I’m a resident of Orange County and am not aware of any county-created or city-created knife restrictions. So just the state ones would apply.

Summary of state law:

You can carry a folder of any size, either open carry or concealed carry. Switchblades, however, must be less that 2”.

You can open carry a fixed blade of any size, but concealed carry of fixed blades* is prohibited.

There are various prohibitions on carrying knives in public buildings, etc. that are of less interest.

*Actually, it’s "dirks and daggers" that are prohibited from concealed carry, but they are defined as knives "capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death." (Pen. Code, § 16470.) Most fixed blades will be considered by courts as being a dirk/dagger, so it's best to be conservative. There are exceptions, though. One court determined that a bread knife with a rounded tip did not constitute a dirk/dagger under the statute. (People v. Barrios (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 501, 506.

[sal]

Hi Crypthomes,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

[kennethsime]

Oh yeah, guys, I know it ain't legal advice. It's just an EDC knife for daily use, for work as well. Just a folder. I was mostly curious what would be around the legal length in OC if peeps were familiar with it, so I can figure out the length for a new knife

In your shoes, I’d be looking for a 3” or under knife like the Para 3 LW. The Delica is just under 3”, the Chapparal is 2.8”, and the Dragonfly is 2.25”. If you prefer American made, the Lil’ Native is 2.5”.

All great options for EDC. Good luck, and let us know what you go for!

[Murphy Slaw]

I think the Persistence is one of the best buys, most legal and toughest work knives ever built.

But I might be a redneck...