Whenever I see in a law enforcement or other catalog that sells self-defense batons, such as the collapsible ASP (or any other baton), they state that they will not ship to CA, and most references I have seen state that it is illegal to posess (or at least to carry) these in my fair state. However, when I go to the CA law website (leginfo.ca.gov) and seach for “baton”, I cannot find a passage stating that it is illegal for civilians to have them. Does anyone know what the actual state of affairs is? I’m not really looking to buy one, but it has really piqued my curiosity.
I used to have a copy of the California Dangerous Weapons Code (or something like that), and IIRC batons were outlawed. It is (was?) also a felony to possess a blowgun.
California Penal Code Section 12020:
I was forced to go to the Peoples Republic of California in early 2004 for work and before I went I checked www.packing.org (yes I CCW). The laws out there are a confusing mess (my carry gun which is standard U.S. Border patrol issue is illegal in California for civilians), I asked around and found out that 6 “D” cell Maglites are considered Batons so I had to go and buy a 4 cell before I left.
I didn’t leave anything there that I can’t live without, I will NEVER cross the California state line again!
Unclviny
The only thing in there that resembles a “baton” is “leaded cane”. Is there something else in the statute that defines a leaded cane?
And I have a 6-Cell Maglite. Oops. But I’ve bought about 4 of them over the years (they keep getting stolen), and I’ve never had any catalog give me crap about shipping to California (as the same catalog does with batons). Good grief.
I think it’s the billy club part that may be the problem.
Other parts of the penal code say that it should not be interpreted as to prevent peace officers from buying batons and clubs for use in their job. Which seems to indicate to me, that somewhere in the California Penal Code, there is a law stating that you can’t possess a baton.
Fiiiiine, I’ll leave my air gauge knife and multiburst trigger activators at home next time I visit.
Actually, what are these?
air gauge knife: a knife concealed in a tire pressure guage
multiburst trigger activators: aftermarket add-ons to semi-automatic firearms that cause the gun to fire either full-auto or 3-shot (or other) burst. Usually attach near the trigger, and actuate it. hence the name.
Technically, that’s not full-auto or three-round burst. By definition, ‘full auto’ means that you get more than one round for each pull of a trigger. A multiburst trigger activator is a device, usually a crank, that pulls the trigger very quickly. You only get one round for each pull of the trigger, but the attachment allows you to pull the trigger so fast that it is virtually automatic.
Not an authoritative cite, but my buddy who was a reserve cop at the time told me that he knew of people being arrested in CA for having a sawed-off baseball bat in the car. There’s just no “I take it to my church league” excuse for a 3/4 bat, and it’s a billy club, which presumably the driver doesn’t have a card for.
I was at an RV store (I thought it was a camping store because it was called Camper’s World’) in CA about 10 years ago, and they had half-sized (or less) baseball bats. They called them ‘tire thumpers’, ostensibly so that you could thump your RV’s tires to… uh… find out something (like kicking thetires on a car?). They would make perfect billies.
Also, along the lines of Johnny’s presumably innocent “tire thumpers,” I’ve seen …umm… “fish thumpers” for sale at sportsmen’s stores. You use them to whack large line-caught flopping fish into unconsciousness. They always struck me as the perfect thing to take to a gang rumble. Not that I go to many gang rumbles, mind you.
A two foot long section of 4/0 aluminum service entrance cable can double as an emergency Adolph’s Head Tenderizer.
But my hairbrush knife is still ok, right?
And the official ballpark “Mini-bat day” scale replicas?
Do they still call them “rumbles”?
Bear in mind, they don’t spontaneously break into song at fights anymore. 
Ok, time for a bump for this thread. I’m pretty sure that although one section of code mentions that it’s ok for cops to buy/carry a baton, there is no corresponding section that says a civilian can’t.
The reason for the bump is that today I went to a flea market, and one of the vendors was selling cheap “made in china” knockoffs of the ASP batons. This was right here in California.
WTF?
Two points:
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It’s not a People’s Republic. It’s an actual republic as it’s a constituent State of the United States of America and thus is subject to the national Constitution.
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You didn’t have to go unless you were a slave & I’m fairly certain that you weren’t a slave at the time (or even now).
I wonder do the officers know the difference between this, and this, or if they hear the phrase “pen knife” and go into arrest mode?***** What I’m trying to ask is, do you think anyone has been arrested (initially at least) for stating that yes, they had a “penknife”? Pocket knives are fairly common around here, even I carry a Swiss Army knife because it’s a useful tool to have.
***** This is going by my understanding that pocket knives aren’t illegal, but the knives made to look like writing implements are.
As far as penknife goes, I think only the latter, which is disguised as a pen, is what is banned, not the term “penknife”, which colloquially means pocketknife.
pocket knives are a tricky issue. It is illegal to carry them concealed. But no one really knows what this means except that ones with a clip hangong on the waistband or pocket, plus ones in a belt sheath do not count as concealed. There is not yet any case law that I know of regarding this.
So, I could get in trouble in CA. for carrying one in my pocket or purse? 