Why Calontir doesn't Allow Rapier Fighting was Re: ANST - White Scarves as <

[Raymond Catz]

> To pick a nit, I would say, rather, that the mock broadsword is sporting 
> equipment and therefore is LEGAL. However, just like a baseball bat, if
they 
> think you intend to use it as a weapon, you could have legal trouble.
Since it is 
> weirder than a bat, you may have a harder time proving your innocence 
> (hassled until proven innocent, ya know). N'est-ce pas?
> 
> Dore

Never mind what I said about my reply to Wolf.  That went out privately. 
Here's the whole poop.

A baseball bat is by its nature general method of use, a readily
recognizable sporting object.  You are correct that it only becomes a
deadly weapon when used as such.  On the other hand, the SCA mock
broadsword is, by all appearances, simply a club as that term is defined in
the law.  

The real answer is that, at least in Texas, a baseball bat is not
specifically defined as a prohibited weapon.  A club is so defined.   The
bottom line is that when you carry an SCA broadsword in the backseat of
your car, you are engaging in a behavior that is a prima facie violation of
most state's criminal codes.  The fact that you claim that it has some
obsure sporting application may be an affirmative defense that you can use
at your trial.  It will not shield you from arrest in the event some police
officer chooses to enforce the letter of the law, nor will it shield you
from conviction in the event your judge decides that what you claim is a
mock broadsword is really a club.

These arrests don't generally happen, of course, but the law is as stated
above.

						Jeremy  

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