Today in America, it is legal for a man to openly carry an "AK-47 like" rifle but he will be arrested for carrying a collapsible police-style baton in his backpack without a valid concealed-carry permit. SMDH
Serious question here: What is the difference between a base ball bat and a police style baton, ? I would assume they would do just as much damage if you used either to hit someone ( or something say a windscreen / windshield), in which case it makes this law rather er pointless eh.
@zleap @jackiegardina
In the US you can definitely get arrested for having a baseball bat in the trunk of your car. It is common advice to also have a glove in the trunk with the bat as that can be used to demonstrate that it is a sporting goods item and not a weapon.
Any sort of knuckles, even plastic ones, are also prohibited in many states.
It's a shitshow here.
@SamYourEyes @zleap I think my question is if you are going to regulate a bat or baton why wouldn't you regulate the weapon that kill multiple people from a distance.
As I understand it, it comes down to the 2nd Amendment,. The right to bare arms and form a militia.
Written in 1776 or maybe just after.
@zleap @SamYourEyes Well, it comes down how #SCOTUS is interpreting the Second Amendment right now - and it is a recent phenomenon.
I am from the UK, so not American, I feel that if you could take a time machine, go back and bring George Washington, Jefferson and the others who signed the constitutions back then forward to 2023 and showed them some news reports of mass shootings, or even just everyday shootings of innocent kids going to the wrong house in error they would be Horrified.
.
Yeah, I wonder what JFK would make of this RFK who is doing bad stuff now ( or seems to be ), I would assume they would be related in some weay.
@zleap @SamYourEyes they are - JFK would be his uncle.
So what would JFK think of him?
@zleap @SamYourEyes Well I can't say what JFK would say but I can say what JFK's grandchildren are saying - and they are not happy.
White ppl's militia fantasies don't require baseball bats or batons, so guns are legal while other self defense tools are not.
Stupid laws like this have a special benefit of giving police the *discretion* to choose who to arrest (black/brown ppl). If a white person and black person are pulled over and searched & cops find plastic knuckles in the car, only 1 of them is likely going to jail. Goofy laws that make random things illegal always further white supremacy.
@zleap @SamYourEyes You could bring back Ronald Reagan and he would be horrified.