Thread: Is it legal to carry a Leatherman?

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.

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.

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.

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.