Illegal to use a cane as a weapon??

[RAM4171]

I like to make cane size walking sticks, only made a few. I like to look for branches of trees that their natural shape lends them to this purpose. I use one when walking in the woods. I keep one in my room, and haven't need to yet, to take with me in the event that I have to go to some place that weapons are not allowed. Mrs. RAM, had a conversation with an aquantance other day who is also into self defense, teaches some a of martial arts. However the conversation got here doesn't matter, but he told her that it was illegal to use a cane soley as a self defense tool, that if you are not in need of the use of the cane "doctor instructed" then it is illegal to use as defense and is considered premeditation. I said that in that case that carrying a gun is premeditation. She rebutted that "you have a license to carry a gun and that doctor recomedation gives you purpose to carry a cane, which would do away with any premeditaion".
I told her I didn't buy it. I know clubs are illegal, and I've heard that is illegal to carry a baseball bat without other equipment. I just would like to know the PC that states that a cane is illegal for defensive use or considered an illegal club. I will do my own research, but would like to see what says the esteemed forum.

[RPB]

illegal to carry a baseball bat without other equipment. I

Someone's been fibbing to you

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/d ... /PE.46.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
ch 46 weapons
(1) "Club" means an instrument that is specially designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting serious bodily injury or death by striking a person with the instrument, and includes but is not limited to the following:

(A) blackjack;

(B) nightstick;

(C) mace;

(D) tomahawk.

6 D-cell Maglights are what's in my car made for the purpose of illumination
Yes clubs are illegal, I know a truck driver that carries a tire knocker (looked like a club to me and if I was a cop, it'd be a club)... I know a guy with fishing stuff in his car that carries a fish whacker stick ...
I carry a walking stick cane, for walking, and balance it's designed for ... walking ...and sure ... if i need to, as dog defense when on my bike.
premeditated dog attack avoidance stick? sure.


That said ... my first pair of Bruce Lee nun-chucks resides at the Dallas Police Dept ... you can't carry them under the seat of a car (loaned to a friend who did)

[MoJo]

I just did a quick search nothing I found specifically prohibits one from carrying a cane unless it's a sword cane or a cane gun. Here's the link http://ss.utpb.edu/media/files/universi ... N-LAWS.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Interestingly, there was nothing saying you cannot have a baseball bat but, a roll of quarters in a sock is a weapon.

Often times urban legends take on a life of their own.

[RPB]

Yes, sword canes, gun canes are designed/adapted to be weapons
so if you design your walking stick with 1000s of sharpened nails coming out of it or poison tipped ones.... it would probably be illegal.

It's the design or adaption that seems to define... not the use.

One might can use a brick as a self defense weapon legally, that's not what they were designed for, though they can be quite effective.
If you walk with a cane, and need to use it as a weapon, I'd not hesitate.

[Oldgringo]

In two words: offense or defense? Therein, without pretending to be a legal expert, lies your answer, Grasshopper.

[alvins]

you could have a gun cane if you registered it with the atf.

[RAM4171]

In two words: offense or defense? Therein, without pretending to be a legal expert, lies your answer, Grasshopper.

exactly my point.
She brings me these questions because I am her resource for such things.

[The Annoyed Man]

AFAIK, a cane is not a weapon....it is a cane. And that is what I use mine for. That said, I chose my cane very carefully. I'm like Alton Brown. I like an instrument that's a multi-tasker.

Here's mine: http://www.whistlecreek.com/hawrootwalst.html


I can imagine several uses for it, among which are included assisting me to walk when I'm in severe pain. My only regret about it is that it doesn't make that satisfying "PING!" when you whack something with it......I mean....assist someone to see a different view of things with it.

[srothstein]

Here's the link http://ss.utpb.edu/media/files/universi ... N-LAWS.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This looked to me to be a very good quick reference on our weapon laws. The trick is to remember that the black printing is the law, the blue printing is teh precedent that the courts have set and can be used against you, and the red printing is the author's opinion of what the other two mean.

I think the most important part of the document, in reference to the OP's question, is the quote here:

Alexander v. State, 617 S.W.2d 269 (Tex. Crim. App. 1981) “The fact that an object is capable of inflicting serious bodily injury or death alone does not bring the object within the definition of club.” “Instruments readily capable of inflicting serious bodily injury but not specifically designed to do so, such as baseball bats and rolling pins, are excluded, if a person carrying one of them has intent to use them to inflict injury and his criminal design progresses far enough, however, he can be prosecuted for an attempted or completed assault.”

Anyone can use a cane or walking stick without a doctor's orders. Many hikers use them when walking in the woods. Even if you used it as a weapon, it does not make it illegal by definition. It might be used in court to help establish that you intended to assault someone, but I don't think it will help much in that case.

Now, designing the cane to look like a club might be questionable, but if it looks like a cane or walking stick, you should be good to go.

[Skiprr]

Here's the link http://ss.utpb.edu/media/files/universi ... N-LAWS.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This looked to me to be a very good quick reference on our weapon laws. The trick is to remember that the black printing is the law, the blue printing is teh precedent that the courts have set and can be used against you, and the red printing is the author's opinion of what the other two mean.

I think the most important part of the document, in reference to the OP's question, is the quote here:

Alexander v. State, 617 S.W.2d 269 (Tex. Crim. App. 1981) “The fact that an object is capable of inflicting serious bodily injury or death alone does not bring the object within the definition of club.” “Instruments readily capable of inflicting serious bodily injury but not specifically designed to do so, such as baseball bats and rolling pins, are excluded, if a person carrying one of them has intent to use them to inflict injury and his criminal design progresses far enough, however, he can be prosecuted for an attempted or completed assault.”

Anyone can use a cane or walking stick without a doctor's orders. Many hikers use them when walking in the woods. Even if you used it as a weapon, it does not make it illegal by definition. It might be used in court to help establish that you intended to assault someone, but I don't think it will help much in that case.

Now, designing the cane to look like a club might be questionable, but if it looks like a cane or walking stick, you should be good to go.

I'll add that I have no personal knowledge that "Escrima" sticks are illegal. They are essentially a wooden dowel one inch in diameter. Wooden dowels are not illegal.

When I lived in the Philippines and trained in Arnis, the sticks I used were purpose-made of rattan. The long sticks were customized to be the length from your armpit to the bend of your wrist, and the short sticks were measured from your elbow to the bend of your wrist. The long sticks had a leather thong inserted through the wood near the base for your middle finger, and all the rattan sticks were tapered slightly from base to point.

BTW, Arnis is the original Filipino martial art--it encompasses many systems from several of the Philippine islands--and includes hand-to-hand and bladed weapons. The term "Escrima" arrived much later as a competitive sport. Don't even get me started on the term "Kali." Dan Inosanto fabricated that one, and it has absolutely no basis in fact or history.

I could argue that such a precisely-customized set of sticks would be defined as a "club" under the Penal Code.

But a wooden dowel you bought at Home Depot? A walking stick you bought or made? A simple cane you bought at Walgreens or one you carved yourself?

Not for me to decide the legality, but my humble opinion is: Nope.

[Jumping Frog]

When my kids were in martial arts, there were schools that taught how to fight with a cane. One of the instructors told me he liked it better than other "martial arts weapons", because it was perfectly legal to carry a cane at all times anywhere.

Yep, I've even carried a cane through TSA and onto an airplane in the post-9/11 era.

[The Annoyed Man]

When my kids were in martial arts, there were schools that taught how to fight with a cane. One of the instructors told me he liked it better than other "martial arts weapons", because it was perfectly legal to carry a cane at all times anywhere.

Yep, I've even carried a cane through TSA and onto an airplane in the post-9/11 era.

Yep, me too, although I had to surrender the cane for x-ray even though I was depending on it to stand upright and walk, and I was bent over and in severe pain like a stooped over old man (which I guess I am) and forced to endure standing there like that while they scanned me. The titanium implants in my spine set off the scanner too, so then they frisked me on top of all the other indignities. Then, when I was on the plane, the flight attendants confiscated my cane (both legs of the trip), and forgot to give it back to me so that I could exit the plane standing up. I had to remind them more than once. I would have been unable to get up and go to the bathroom without it during the flight. Thank God I didn't have to.

So, yes, they don't treat the cane like it was a gun, but when you need it, TSA still don't let you have it, and the airline's flight attendants treat it like it's a nuisance for them, and not a necessity for you.

[NEB]

Swords, (non pocket) knives, daggers, nunchaku, eskrima (sticks), etc. are all illegal weapons and cannot be carried.

I guess it depends on where you're at. In most places, there is nothing illegal about carrying fixed-blade knives in Texas unless they are throwing, dirk, dagger, bowie, double-edged, or stiletto knives. As long as the blade is not past 5.5" from the front of the guard and they don't meet the definition or connotation of the previously mentioned terms, you can lawfully carry them concealed or unconcealed.

[CowboyEngineer]

I'm still confused. Is the Mattock handle I carry while walking the dog street legal or not?

[Jaguar]

I don't have one yet, but an Irish Shillelagh might be in my future.


Yes officer, it's a walking stick...