Welcome back to our YouTube channel. Thank you for joining me today. I have an interesting question for you today, is a pocket knife considered to be a concealed weapon? Very good question, which a lot of people have asked me over the years. Well, first of all, it’s illegal to carry a concealed weapon under Section 90 of the Canadian criminal code unless you have a lawful purpose for it.
So what is the definition of a weapon, first of all, because that’s important. So a weapon is anything that’s intended or designed to cause death or bodily harm or threaten or intimidate someone. Now let’s think about it. People carry pocket knives for all sorts of reasons. I mean, it could be for work reasons. It could be for hunting. It could be for everyday use in the home. Many people carry pocket knives. Well, that’s the key. Is the intent. If you’re carrying it for work purpose, for an everyday purpose, that’s okay. A pocket knife is not a weapon. But if your intent changes to look, I carry this for self-defense. I’m going to carry it to threaten or hurt someone. That’s the key. So, for example, if the police came up to you and searched you on the street for some valid reason, and found a pocket knife, and you said to them you admit to them, I carry this for self defense, well you might get charged with a concealed weapon. If you said to them, for example, I just came from work, and I use this to cut the fish at work much different issue.
So it all goes back to the intent of what you’re carrying a pocket knife for. A lot of us carry pocket knives for all sorts of reasons, but if your ultimate intent is clearly just for self defense, or you’re going to use it or threaten to use it. That’s not a good purpose, and purposes can change. For example, let’s say you have a pocket knife and you’re in a bar, and then you get in a fight, and you pull out that pocket knife to defend yourself. Well, you may possibly get charged with the carrying a concealed weapon and whatever other charges there are. So it all goes back to the intended uses. But if a pocket knife is being used for what it is normally to be used for, that’s legal purposes, then that is not a concealed weapon per say. I will put it that way.
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