I wonder if New York city would consider this knife to be illegal. I know for sure that around the turn of the century this "shank" or "shiv" was highly illegal by the Ohio State Reformatory where it was made. This prison was later converted into a maximum security prison...closed around 1990.

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I'm more interested in your ruler. Can you show a picture of the rest of it? I had one as a kid and its lost to history. Its one of the things I look for at every antique show and mall. Mine had a section of "Butternut" wood and I really liked it. Then came a home tour a few years ago where a woman had a Butternut kitchen! All the cabinets were just great. She was a nasty old hag, but she had a great kitchen.

__________________
Dick Burg

Everything you need in a knife and nothing you don't.

__________________
Not in jail.

Purchased when I was about 12 at a souvenier shop I'll soon be 80 in a month. Came from Florida trip my dad took my sister, my mom and me on. I love quality pocket knives and would be interested in doing a trade if you like...no junk however. You can private email me at [email protected]

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NYC- Illegal to possess/carry any knife w/a blade length 4" or more.
(Carry/possess on the street/ any public areas, parks, ect)

Illegal to open carry any knife (blade exposed or not) in public.
Confusing exceptions abound,,parade use, ceremonial display, lawful use during employment (construction, electrician, meat packer,,,,).

Lock open blade folding knives are illegal in NYC

LEO and certain Military exempt.

Here's a link to the NYS and NYC laws.
They can be confusing.
Knife Rights - New York Knife Laws

I think at least for the moment anyway, the ruler is still legal in NYS.
It may pose a problem in NYC as a potential sharpened stick however.

Similarly, in New York's past, an ice pick was apparently a popular murder weapon.

"The Ice Pick Seems Antiquated, but It Still Shows Up on the Police Blotter"

Ice Picks Are Still Used as Weapons - The New York Times

Wow...I didn't know this. My 12 yr old son was carrying a lock blade when we visited nyc 4 yrs ago...he had to empty his pockets to pass through a metal detector to enter the 9/11 memorial (security theater, but that's a different discussion). The security officer didn't say anything about it.

Being caught having an "illegal" pocket knife on your person probably wouldn't have any consequences unless you were caught performing some other criminal act. That shank is no more dangerous or illegal than most kitchen knives. I probably have at least 5 knives in my kitchen drawer having blades more than 4" long. One of them is a heavy bladed 10" professional butcher knife which is about the most wicked looking thing you can imagine. Were I intending to stab someone, that would be the knife I'd use.

In NYC almost everything is illegal! The ONLY thing they don't arrest you for is IF you are Illegal!

Switchblades were recently made legal in Oklahoma and I purchased a Lightning "out the front" double action knife and have been carrying it, and I like it more than I thought I would. Sword canes were also recently made legal and I can't really see myself carrying one but I may have to buy one just for the "cool factor" .....and because I'm not getting any younger.

Then the security officer either wasn't paying attention, didn't realize it was a locked blade knife, was not looking for small knives, or, most likely, wasn't properly trained. Security guards at such buildings are not police officers - they are private security.

The NYPD doesn't guard office buildings as a rule. Most of them have their own security if they elect to have metal detectors. Of late I have not entered an office building in NYC that did not have a metal detector and private security. Admittedly, I am routinely in NYC due to family and we have various reasons to enter such buildings. It's very annoying to have to leave ANY knife at home or in a car.

That said, you have to realize that since the guard was not a police officer even if he KNEW that the knife was illegal he certainly did not have a police officer's obligation to do anything about it.

That would not be correct. NYPD LEOs WILL arrest you if they catch you with an "illegal knife" so if you plan to carry a knife in NYC make sure that (1) it is very difficult to open/takes two hands so the police cannot claim that it is a gravity knife and (2) that it does not lock back. My choice for my last trip was a Swiss Army knife and an Opinel.

I do have a small, lockback knife that I occasionally carry in NYC but my defense to that is that I bought it in NYC so how can it be illegal to possess it there? I couldn't find it last month so I took the Opinel. And my defense could fail - I know that!

If you do anything hinky then the knife makes the arrest easy but I caution everyone to NOT carry a locking blade, easy to open pocket knife and NEVER NEVER NEVER use a clip to attach it to a pocket where it is visible.