The movies love to shock audiences with incredible bar fights and unrealistic gang brawls.  In theater, these scenes show the gruesome nature of hand-to-hand combat.  Combatants pick up and use whatever they have handy to take down their enemy. Too often in street fights, we see small pocket knives and folding blades used as a primary weapon.  This has the potential to foster thoughts that pocket knives have the strength and safety needed to take down an assailant.  So, let’s be clear.  The primary use of pocket knives is that of a TOOL for use in one’s job, repair work, or hunting and fishing. It is not designed as an offensive weapon or for self-defense purposes.

From a straight legal perspective, the use of a folding knife in a self-defense scenario can constitute a major felony. Using a pocket knife is dangerous because these blades, though often very durable and well-built, are not meant to harm a person’s body.  Fighting with these blades could result in the knife actually turning and/or folding on you.

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