Hi Mr. Rawles,
I live on the sinking Titanic that is California, where this morning one of our co-workers failed to come into work and we could not reach him. We finally heard from him. He had just got out of a night in jail by posting $1,500 bail. Why? Because after a car accident last night, he consented to a police search of his vehicle where they found, of all things, a blackjack. Yes, an old-fashioned small club like the bad guys used in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Years ago he found it in another state and had carried it in his car here, never realizing it was illegal. Had it instead been a large, hard baseball bat, this nice young man would not have spent the night in jail, lost $1,500, or gained a police record.
Yes, blackjacks are illegal in California according to our Dangerous Weapons Control Law. I can only hope that this is one of those absurd left-over laws from the 19th century.
Lesson learned: Protect yourself from absurd laws, and protect your privacy, by refusing to consent to search. The laws do not always have our best interests in mind. – Jason P.