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Are collapsable batons considered prohibited weapons or illegal to carry on your person?

WOW, I didn't know that. I actually looked at some at the last gun show (Dallas Market Hall) and nearly bought one.

QB wrote:WOW, I didn't know that. I actually looked at some at the last gun show (Dallas Market Hall) and nearly bought one.

I believe it's legal to _buy_ one, but you can't carry or use it.

Yeah, I would never have looked that up to find out it was illegal to carry or use. Probably no disclaimer on it or given by the vendor so I wonder how many people bought one that day and plan to carry it and/or use it. No excuse for ignorance of the law but I didn't even think about the baton being classified as a club. I'll mark that off my "to buy" list, that's for sure. No use wasting my money.

It is interesting people are licensed to carry firearms but not less-lethal items. But, an improperly used baton can do a lot of damage.
It's why I frequently carry a stock cane when walking my dog or in some circumstances. More than once I have readied my mighty stick!
Oh, no blackjacks either, or fixed blade knives, or double edged knives, or throwing knives, or bombs. But if we were in Florida.....

dubya wrote:But, an improperly used baton can do a lot of damage.

Uhh...I think you're missing the point of an impact weapon.

A baseball bat, however, is perfectly legal to carry. You can even bring it on school property for your friendly softball game.

KD5NRH wrote:

dubya wrote:But, an improperly used baton can do a lot of damage.

Uhh...I think you're missing the point of an impact weapon.

Remembering the baton class I took decades ago (pre-collapseable), it was all about wrist flicks and leverage.

Not once was it touted as a club.

Katygunnut wrote:A baseball bat, however, is perfectly legal to carry. You can even bring it on school property for your friendly softball game.

Write Lon Burnam. I'm sure he'll be offended by that loophole.

Mike1951 wrote:

KD5NRH wrote:

dubya wrote:But, an improperly used baton can do a lot of damage.

Uhh...I think you're missing the point of an impact weapon.

Remembering the baton class I took decades ago (pre-collapseable), it was all about wrist flicks and leverage.

Not once was it touted as a club.

For the same reason that cookbooks don't often include a recipe for boiling water; they assume you can work that bit out on your own.

KD5NRH wrote:

Mike1951 wrote:

KD5NRH wrote:

dubya wrote:But, an improperly used baton can do a lot of damage.

Uhh...I think you're missing the point of an impact weapon.

Remembering the baton class I took decades ago (pre-collapseable), it was all about wrist flicks and leverage.

Not once was it touted as a club.

For the same reason that cookbooks don't often include a recipe for boiling water; they assume you can work that bit out on your own.

Nope, was just dancing around the idea that anyone using it as a club was ignorant of how it should be used.

Didn't want to insult anyone.

dubya wrote:no...fixed blade knives

Penal code reference?

gigag04 I have seen references to it being legal and some that it is questionable or even not.
And, I may be wrong. Certainly my preferred fixed blades, Bowie knives and bayonets are out.
I am not sure about my sheathed Old Timers. I was under the impression they were a "problem."

Could fall into "dagger" or "Bowie knife". Or "over 5.5 inches" or double edged restrictions.
Folding knives are measured at the blade but on fixed length where is the measurement - the hilt or the full tang?
A fixed blade knife under 5.5" is likely OK but if that is a full tang knife like an Old Timer I have nothing that short.
Someone will chime in who knows the knife laws better; problem with them is they are interpreted different by each county Sherrif it seems. Knife laws in San Antionio are extremely strict as I bet you know.

Workers wear fixed blade knives with no issue typically. But the size I have, even small ones, raise eyebrows many places.
So, it is an iffy area. Someone tell us more.


Regards,
JW

As to the statute:
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/d ... /PE.46.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(6) "Illegal knife" means a:
(A) knife with a blade over five and one-half inches;
(B) hand instrument designed to cut or stab another by being thrown;
(C) dagger, including but not limited to a dirk, stiletto, and poniard;
(D) bowie knife;
(E) sword; or
(F) spear.

Fixed blades are fine. I have a 5.25" fixed blade in a belt sheath that I wear openly here in the Houston area all the time. The courts have consistently held that "dagger" means a double-edged blade with a cross guard... in the world of 1873, think an Arkansas Toothpick or other type of knife designed as weapon which isn't quite a "bowie knife," although the terms overlap quite a bit before about 1930. I really wish all these knife-related terms were actually defined, but notwithstanding all that, a typical fixed blade is OK based on precedent.