Is it legal to carry a Leatherman?

Hey guys,
Long time no posts. I've still been at it, I was just having a break from the forums I'm on as they started eating up quite a lot of time!

I've got a question for you. Is it legal to carry a Leatherman over here? I figure someone on here knows exactly what the law is (or where I can find that info).

I carry a Leatherman Blast and use it daily, whether it be to tweak something on the truck or to switch out hard drives in the servers at work.

I can understand the police not liking people randomly walking around with knives, but has the nanny-state bullshit got so bad in this country that I can't carry a multi tool? Someone said something about this the other day which is why I'm asking.

Thanks.

Although not a Leatherman, I've been carrying my Swiss army knife around with me for the past 9 years without raising an eyebrow and use it for similar purposes as you do. The police would in my opinion, be really grasping to attempt to charge me with carrying an offensive weapon.

Bit different down here, but its not uncommon to see guys wearing sheath knives on their belt in town, especially farmers, I've done it a few times myself. Generally no one looks twice at you. If you have a genuine reason for carrying it I would hope that most p.o's would ignore you and not make a deal out of it.

Was wondering where you got to

I do not know the laws but have herd if you have a legitimate reason for carrying one there is no issue, a farmer a hunter etc etc , I have knives sometimes 2 machete's in my truck most of the time, I farm sheep and hunt, I cut toi toi off my driveshaft weekly , lernt that lesson after ripping a driveshaft out and turning my hilux into a front wheel drive ute

If you were on the piss down town I think you would cause yourself bother, but if you use it for work carry on , and also its not just a blade yours is a multi tool

Just dont conceal it, or try and hide it.

I would suggest that you PM Savage1 and ask him his opinion.

While working for a security company for several years doing alarm response etc,I used to carry a leatherman blast with me every shift .. came to be a very handy tool to have with me ...I never had an issue with a police officer and actually had a couple say would be a great multi tool for themselves .
I always carried it in its pouch which was attached to my belt ,which was clearly visible :)

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Originally Posted by moonhunt

I do not know the laws but have herd if you have a legitimate reason for carrying one there is no issue

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That's sort of the kicker though isn't it. I could argue I use it for work but I don't think people should have to. Everyone should have a multi tool of some description. I use mine every day.

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Originally Posted by Rushy

I would suggest that you PM Savage1 and ask him his opinion.

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Hey Rushy.
Will do. Thanks.

My understanding is that its completely fine.
Until you get into a fight. Then it becomes an "offensive weapon" - the same way steelcap work boots do.

I think there used to be a test of whether the blade was over a certain length (4 inches?) but it looks like now if you have any type of knife on you in a public place, you have to have a reasonable excuse:

Crimes Act 1961, s 202A: "Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years... who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, has with him in any public place any knife or offensive weapon or disabling substance...".

Carrying a pocket knife or leatherman for odd-jobs would surely be reasonable, but wearing a sheath knife into a bank on Main St maybe not?

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Originally Posted by David

I think there used to be a test of whether the blade was over a certain length (4 inches?) but it looks like now if you have any type of knife on you in a public place, you have to have a reasonable excuse:

Crimes Act 1961, s 202A: "Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years... who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, has with him in any public place any knife or offensive weapon or disabling substance...".

Carrying a pocket knife or leatherman for odd-jobs would surely be reasonable, but wearing a sheath knife into a bank on Main St maybe not?

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Yep, so carrying a knife out on the turps in town or to a football game (ie Europe) is likely to give the plod an interest in you.

I have a 4 inch knife on my key ring, had various ones on there over the years, a useful tool. Im cutting open boxes, packages etc.
A copper would have to be a bit of a tool himself to try and charge someone for it. A kiddy cop or a power mad one maybe. Most coppers in NZ are generally quite sensible.

Unlike alot of the current american cops who are spending too much time shooting dogs and tazoring kids. or more recently forcing a man to under go a colonscopy, xrays, manual cavity searches, and enemas then send him the bill, all because he apparently clenched his bottocks.

Whatever the 'tool' or 'weapon' is, if it stays in its sheath, it probably won't attract special police attention. If in public, you pull it out...look out. Much like a penis really
Likewise, if you are in a fight and don't attempt to use it as a weapon, you'll likely get preferential treatment and a level of respect by the officers taking your statement, but if you unsheathed it and attempted to use it, you're getting arrested and charged with possession as a minimum.
Basically, whatever your excuse/reason for carrying one, remove it before going out socialising in a drinking environment or be labelled a bloody idiot

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Originally Posted by Hunt4life

Whatever the 'tool' or 'weapon' is, if it stays in its sheath, it probably won't attract special police attention. If in public, you pull it out...look out. Much like a penis really

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Lol as.

I carry my Spyderco everywhere, I usually leave it at home when going into town to do something but sometimes forget I have it on me.

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Originally Posted by savageshooter

A copper would have to be a bit of a tool himself to try and charge someone for it. A kiddy cop or a power mad one maybe. Most coppers in NZ are generally quite sensible.

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Unfortunately there are exceptions! A mate of mine got charged for having an offensive weapon, and you know why? He had a wheel-brace in the boot of his car.

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Originally Posted by GravelBen

Unfortunately there are exceptions! A mate of mine got charged for having an offensive weapon, and you know why? He had a wheel-brace in the boot of his car.

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Probably the most appropriate place for a wheel brace to be... short of being attached to a wheel!

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Originally Posted by GravelBen

Unfortunately there are exceptions! A mate of mine got charged for having an offensive weapon, and you know why? He had a wheel-brace in the boot of his car.

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Mine is under the drivers seat. Found it wasn't much use for engaging the hubs when it was in the boot full of rifle cases and bags. About the only suitable place for it unfortunately.

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Originally Posted by GravelBen

Unfortunately there are exceptions! A mate of mine got charged for having an offensive weapon, and you know why? He had a wheel-brace in the boot of his car.

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Yep...like I said "most" definately not all.

Did he get convicted on this charge?

I had my vehicle searched while at the carpark at Mt Eden Prison while visiting...they [screws] found my leatherman in the glovebox with the knife unfolded...claimed it as an offensive weapon...had it been closed or with the pliers open it would have been ok...had to do some sweet talking to get it back. What I had in my favour was he took the leather pouch as well and I pointed out that that was not necessary as it was not in pouch at the time of confiscation.

Surely there is more to the story.

Not calling bullshit or anything, but there must have been other contribing factors in this case?

Some one summed it up earlier, 'Nanna State' if simply having hand tools the boot of your car is an offence.

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Originally Posted by GravelBen

Unfortunately there are exceptions! A mate of mine got charged for having an offensive weapon, and you know why? He had a wheel-brace in the boot of his car.

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Originally Posted by Moutere

Surely there is more to the story.

Not calling bullshit or anything, but there must have been other contribing factors in this case?

Some one summed it up earlier, 'Nanna State' if simply having hand tools the boot of your car is an offence.

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Yeah that's a bit concerning. I always carry a full set of tools in my toolbox in the back of my truck... if a wheel brace gets you in the crap my toolbox would get me in trouble. I've had hoses come off and flat tyres etc. Fixing it yourself certainly beats getting charged for a towie to come out and take you home. That would seem a legit reason. It's not like I've got bolt cutters or anything.

It was a bit of a funny one really, we all thought he was joking when we found out. Maybe 5 years ago and I wasn't there in person so I might be a bit fuzzy on the details, but I've known him since we were kids and I know the guy who was with him, I have no reason to doubt them.

Young fulla, 18/19 at the time, never hurt anyone or been in trouble in his life sort of guy. He was wearing a ninja costume for some kind of fancy dress thing, I think an old lady had seen him getting into his car and called the cops (maybe thought he was stealing it? I dunno). 15 minutes or so later a cop finds him and his mate sitting in the car, parked up eating some burger king before going home.

Cop turns on the attitude, gets him out of the car for a roadside interrogation, refuses to believe anything they tell him, then decides that either way he's going to find something to charge him with and searches the entire car until he finds something he can call a weapon.

From memory he took diversion to make it go away, the lawyer talked him out of fighting it in court.

Basically its a prime example of the sort of ass-hat cop that tries to singlehandedly screw people's respect for all the good ones.

They have bullshit laws like that in the UK too, some poor disabled bugger got 2 years inside for having a pen knife in his glove box for slicing apples. I mentioned this to a pom and an Irishman and they said its his own fault for having the knife!.....I think they have a real "keep off the grass" peasant mindset over there. they have been brainwashed into believing that kind of thing is criminal, prossibly why so many of our UK brothers move here. Huntings free, fishings free, shooting sports are accepted as such.

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Originally Posted by savageshooter

They have bullshit laws like that in the UK too, some poor disabled bugger got 2 years inside for having a pen knife in his glove box for slicing apples. I mentioned this to a pom and an Irishman and they said its his own fault for having the knife!.....I think they have a real "keep off the grass" peasant mindset over there. they have been brainwashed into believing that kind of thing is criminal, prossibly why so many of our UK brothers move here. Huntings free, fishings free, shooting sports are accepted as such.

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Lets just hope that crap doesn't spread over here. It only takes a few no-good politicians and a bunch of indifferent ones to make that kind of stuff happen.

The UK is a disgusting excuse for a country that once spawned concepts of liberty.

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Originally Posted by GravelBen

Unfortunately there are exceptions! A mate of mine got charged for having an offensive weapon, and you know why? He had a wheel-brace in the boot of his car.

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That would be bullshit or you only got half the story.

No way would that stand up in court, the police prosecutor wouldn't even run it.

I'd say he got into a fight and went and got the wheel brace out of the car to use.

I've known the guy since he was about 5 so I think I'll take his word over yours, but thanks for your contribution.

You're quite right that it shouldn't happen, but what regular 18 year old kid is going to make a fuss about his rights when an aggro cop is imtimidating him on the side of the road? They were probably quite relieved when he took the diversion offer so they didn't have to look like idiots in court.

I wouldn't guess what the 'real' story was, but stories like that don't stack up and there's clearly an entirely omitted story behind that one.
Although, a mate of mine did get arrested and charged for wilful damage one night many moons ago. The two old coot magistrates had no choice but to throw out the charge, but fined him all the same as he was "an associate of the perpetrator!" My mate paid the fine on top of his $2k lawyers bill, all for something he never even had a hand in. I wouldn't have paid a cent and would've taken it to the media if it were me

Well if a lawyer talked him out of fighting it in court then I'd say there is definitely more to the story. Any reasonable lawyer would've told the cops to withdraw the charges and not backed down.

I used to carry a penknife growing up in Northern Ireland every day except at school. It was a French opinel. Classic and sharp. All my jeans had a hole in that pocket and the denim was worn the shape of the knife :)
At Uni, I carried a small 6 blade swiss army knife. First job, boss told me to drop it, not allowed at work. Got a Gerber multi-tool a few years later and wore it on my belt. As an Engineer it wasn't a problem. When the sheath wore out I stopped wearing it. I was blade-less for 4years and then one day I got a buck stockman, three-blade. Suddenly I had a blade to cut up my lunch apple, a blade to cut open boxes and a general blade. It's in my pocket all the time except when I'm in dress trousers. I'm naked without it.

The swiss army knife is in my last resort kit in my hunting pack :)

As far as I remember it was going to go before a judge who was quite well known for being very harsh with anyone below the age of 20, but other that I don't know. Maybe they just didn't want to end up in one one of those 'your word against mine' situations between him and the cop?

A bit like that Alexandra case where a cop pulled a u-turn in front of a teenage driver, and after the resulting crash charged the kid with dangerous driving and falsified evidence etc to cover up his own mistake. The cop ended up in jail for it eventually, but IIRC it took them years to straighten it out and clear the kids name. As much as we would like justice to be simple and transparent, when a person in a position of power abuses that authority its really not easy for someone (especially a kid) to fight it.

All a bit off topic now though - unless you end up annoying one of the rare bad cops, I imagine you should be fine with a multitool as long as you aren't waving it threatingly at people!

I don't usually carry one on me, but my keys are on a carabiner with a small fold-out knife that nobody (including domestic airline staff) ever seems to notice.

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Originally Posted by RimfireNZ

Lets just hope that crap doesn't spread over here. It only takes a few no-good politicians and a bunch of indifferent ones to make that kind of stuff happen.

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Unfortunately we have alot of top cops over here from Pomolgia, remember the "thumbhole" shit? Pom cops who think peasants shouldnt be allowed such things ..only the Sherriffs of Nottingham shall be so armed!

Imperialism at its best!

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Originally Posted by Savage1

Well if a lawyer talked him out of fighting it in court then I'd say there is definitely more to the story. Any reasonable lawyer would've told the cops to withdraw the charges and not backed down.

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I thought it merely highlighted the difference in advice between a free lawyer and one who knows his profession. Many people get shafted on bad advice from pisspoor lawyers.
Cops who refuse to admit they are capable of making errors and act like uncrowned kings are just as bad.

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Originally Posted by savageshooter

They have bullshit laws like that in the UK too, some poor disabled bugger got 2 years inside for having a pen knife in his glove box for slicing apples. I mentioned this to a pom and an Irishman and they said its his own fault for having the knife!.....I think they have a real "keep off the grass" peasant mindset over there. they have been brainwashed into believing that kind of thing is criminal, prossibly why so many of our UK brothers move here. Huntings free, fishings free, shooting sports are accepted as such.

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You are allowed three inches in the UK for public carry, I think the Svord Peasant I always have in my bag is prob a touch over that limit

https://www.gov.uk/find-out-if-i-can...-carry-a-knife