Or any other colour, for that matter. Keychain self defense devices are quite popular, even though the old standby of placing your keys between your fingers still works fine, if you have the opportunity to get them in place, of course. Texas is a state which allows a rather stunning range of weapons, all perfectly legal. But a hard plastic pussy cat? Oh no, can’t have that. Those things are dangerous, y’know!
…Just last year, a law went into effect making it legal for Texans to carry machetes, Bowie knives, swords, spears and daggers — any knife with a blade longer than 5 1/2 inches — in most places across the state.
…Lawmakers also passed a law that made it legal for licensed Texans to openly carry handguns as of Jan. 1, 2016. Before then, it already was legal to carry concealed handguns and shotguns or AR-15s in public.
Now Gun Owners of America has pinpointed Texas as their next battleground for constitutional carry, which would let gun owners carry their weapons openly or concealed without first getting a permit.
[…]
But plastic self-defense key chains — particularly those shaped like cats or dogs with pointy ears — are off-limits and illegal.
“It’s a prohibited weapon,” said Shannon Edmonds, a staff attorney with the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. “Unlike a firearm … these are always and everywhere prohibited.”
These key chains, which have been in the news recently in Texas, can cost less than $10 — unless you’re caught with them in Texas.
If that happens, you could end up paying as much as $4,000 in fines and spending up to a year in county jail, under state law.
“It is odd to have a situation where a person carrying a plastic pink kitty cat key chain could be arrested and sentenced to a year in jail while the person carrying a 9mm handgun next to them is free to do so,” said Mark P. Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston. “But, at the same time, the person carrying the 9mm has a (license) … whereas the person with the key chain may not.
“This is a case where a well-intentioned law to prevent the use of brass knuckles and similar weapons was written before the existence of” self-defense key chains, he said.
Oh Texas, where you can seldom expect any sort of common sense. You can read all about this at Star-Telegram.
Yeah but if it was tactical black damascus it’d be constantly spammed into my inbox.
True. They do have a black bulldog one. Perhaps they need to put ‘tactical’ in the name.
,,,a well-intentioned law to prevent the use of brass knuckles…
These were never well-intentioned laws (not in USA). These were laws enacted purely so the people without the means to buy guns (i.e. poor and poc) have no way to be armed.
Laws that would actually help to prevent/reduce crime in poor and poc communities (like properly funded and free education, health care and functioning infrasturcture with good acces to jobs) on the other hand, nonononono, those would be too socialist and therefore evil.
In one youtube video about the proposed ban on sending knives per mail in UK there were some commenters frothing about those “liberal jackals” trying to ruin the knife makers.
None of them seemed to note that laws prohibiting knives etc. are mostly the work of conservatives (they certainly are in UK and USA) who are trying to keep populations under control without having to solve the underlying problems.
Hey, those pink knuckles are really dangerous! Don’t you see that if you hit a manly man with them, you could infect him with “teh gai?” You misandrist!
It really doesn’t.
Sonofrojblake @ 5, yes, it does, as long as someone knows what they are doing. That would be the standard caveat of any type of self defense. That said, keys are not my choice and never have been. I prefer my embroidery stiletto. And yes, I know how to use it most effectively. Everyone should be trained in some form of self defense, and that said, it won’t do any good at all if you can’t keep a cool head.
Charly:
Truth. My state is a perfect example of the idiocy of weapons law. Last year (I think), the governor removed all licensing from carrying a concealed gun, you just need a driver’s license. Knives? Oh, all manner of them are legal here, but they cannot be concealed in any way. So you can get arrested for having a pocket knife in your pocket, but a gun? Hey, that’s okay.
In Pennsylvania it is a felony to make a dagger. Unless you are a knife-maker. No shit.
That is all completely in line with Charly’s point.
Oh and you can only have a dagger if you are a collector. Whenever I think of that I picture V opening his cloak to reveal way too many daggers, “its OK I’m a collector.”
I would just like to mention that the bikers who shot eachother up (and got shot by cops) haven’t gone to trial yet and probably never will go to prison. Now you can picture them slugging it out with cat-knuckles. Would there have been as many casualties? (Melee weapons are generally so horrible in action that people have trouble using them compared to a gun.)