Is it legal to own samurai swords in New York?
Question:WE JUST PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES TO OUR NEW ASIAN INSPIRED LIVING ROOM. WE USED GOLDS, REDS, SILK PILLOWS, BAMBOO WOOD AND EVEN ADDED A WATER FEATURE. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SO FASCINATED WITH ORIENTAL WEAPONS. I WOULD LIKE TO BUY A FEW EXOTIC SAMURAI SWORDS, STARS, ETC. TO DECORATE THE ROOM AND ADD MORE FLAIR TO IT. BUT I AM AFRAID IT MIGHT NOT BE LEGAL TO OWN IN NEW YORK. I WANT A ROOM TO BE PROUD OF, BUT I DONT WANT TO GET IN TROUBLE FOR IT. PLEASE, I NEED SOME ADVICE.
Answers:
They're just fine to have, sharpend or false edge. It's actually suprisingly easy to obtain one. Stores that sell swords only require identification to prove the buyer is over 18, and internet purchases can be made with no questions at all. If you're worried about it though, try finding the purely decorative false edge type sword.
First, stop "yelling". (Typing in all caps is considered bad form and rude on the internet.)
Second, I don't live in New York, nor am I a lawyer, but I'll try to help you out as best I can.
Packing.org is about concealed handguns in particular, but has a lot of good information and links for general weapon law. In this case, here are the links for NY and NYC:
http://www.packing.org/state/new_york/...
http://www.packing.org/state/new_york_ci...
Now, legalese gives me a serious headache, but from my understanding, simply owning and displaying in your own home is fine. However, according to this:
http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuge...
"New York City Administrative Code § 10-133Possession of knives or instruments."
[EDIT: I had the entire section posted, but it turned into an unreadable mess. So just go to the above link and search for "blade" or something and §10-133 should come up.]
Basically, you just can't take it out in public unless you're going straight to a dojo to practice, going to a ren faire/expo, etc.
As for buying one, I'd direct you to a post I made the other day:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...
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