It is important to know which knife is considered a cold steel when you purchase such an item for yourself or as a gift. The main thing is not to be mistaken, because otherwise serious problems with the law may arise - up to criminal liability. For this reason, it is necessary to clearly understand what kind of weapon is cold, what kind of knife any person can buy without additional information and permits, what responsibility is provided for carrying cold steel.
Cold Steel Definition
Understanding the question of which knife is considered a cold weapon, you need to know the following. This type of weapon includes a weapon intended primarily for hitting a target due to muscular strength while directly approaching an opponent.
In order to thoroughly understand which knife is considered a cold weapon, it is not superfluous to turn to the law "On Weapons". There this definition is contained in the first article.
Definitely cold weapons are drafts, daggers, sabers, daggers, Finnish knives, stilettos, brass knuckles, as well as some varieties of knives. In general, all objects that one way or another can be used to hit a living target, be it a person or an animal.
Cold Steel Classification
The weapon to which this article is devoted is conditionally divided into several groups.
Firstly, it is a piercing weapon. In this case, the damage is caused mainly by punching. As a rule, stabbing weapons are divided into blade and pole arms. This rapier, stylet, dagger, bastard, which are extremely dangerous for life and health.
Secondly, it is a stabbing and cutting weapon. These include a dagger, a sword, a bayonet-knife and some types of knives.
Thirdly, chopping weapons. This category includes a battle ax, berdysh, labris, tomahawk, beard ax, and valax.
Fourth, crushing weapons. This is bo, buzdykhan, mace, brush, club, war hammer, nunchucks, brass knuckles, morgenstern, tonfa, telescopic baton.
What is allowed to have any citizen?
If you decide to get a knife, you should know in what cases it can be mistaken for a dangerous cold steel. According to Russian laws, it does not include items intended for domestic and industrial use. First of all, these are kitchen, pen, garden and shoe knives. They can be in any home, no permission to carry them is required.
In the event that it is doubtful whether a particular knife should be considered cold steel or not, a forensic examination is appointed that can give an unambiguous answer.
It is worth remembering that, by law, any citizen of our country is entitled to acquire hunting weapons, including cold weapons, only with the appropriate permission. This procedure is spelled out in article 13 of the law on weapons.
Hunters and Cossacks
When such a purchase is made, a corresponding entry is made in the buyer's hunting ticket.
Some Cossacks have the right to acquire and have at hand cold steel. Together with the Cossack uniform they are allowed to have a blade weapon, it can also correspond to some national costumes of the peoples of our state. Most often, permission can be obtained for carrying sabers, daggers and knives.
The attributes of national costumes are determined by the federal government. In this case, the acquisition and storage of these weapons must be licensed.
Thus, if you are neither a hunter, nor a Cossack, nor a bearer of a certain national costume, then you are not supposed to have any cold weapons.
Prohibited Melee Weapons
In this case, there are varieties of knives, which is prohibited in principle. In our country, there are strictly prohibited brass knuckles, boomerangs, meerkens, brushes, as well as other items that can be used as impact-crushing and throwing weapons. Such samples are forbidden to use both for official, and especially civil use.
Also, the Law on Weapons prohibits the circulation of cold bladed weapons, as well as blades and blades, the length of which is more than 90 millimeters. It is forbidden to turn edged weapons, in which the blade is automatically removed from the handle after pressing the corresponding button, and after that it is fixed automatically. Here's the answer to the question of whether a butterfly knife is considered a cold weapon. It just falls into this category, so its circulation and carrying are prohibited.
Responsibility provided
Our country provides liability for the illegal carrying of knives. Until 2003, this crime fell under article 222 of the Criminal Code.
Recently, amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses have appeared. Now, as a rule, a citizen is brought to administrative responsibility for illegal knives. A fine of 500 to two thousand rubles is provided. As well as the seizure of such weapons.
Interestingly, it is provided for onerous exemption. This means that this weapon will be sold, and the proceeds will be returned to the owner, minus the costs incurred.
In recent years, new moments have appeared in the criminal code. If until recently a punishment of up to two years in prison was provided for the illegal presence and acquisition of knives, now you can only go to jail for illegal marketing. For this, up to two years of the colony are provided.
The criminal liability for the illegal manufacture of knives, also for up to two years, has been preserved. But for wearing or storage you will pay only an administrative fine.
How to distinguish edged weapons?
Currently, two regulatory documents in Russia regulate the circulation of such weapons. These are GOST "Knives for survival" and GOST "Knives and daggers hunting". If you look at these documents, you will accurately determine which knife is considered a cold weapon in Russia.
The knife is as structurally as possible similar to knives, and besides, almost any knife can be used as a dangerous weapon if desired, so the line between them is barely perceptible. The main thing is that the knife should still be officially considered a cold weapon, absolutely all design features related to this type should be present in it. In addition, there should not be a single factor that would exclude it from the category requiring special permission to purchase and store such an item. Having delved deeply into this issue, you can easily determine for yourself which knife is considered a cold weapon.
Characteristic signs
The first key sign for a dangerous cold weapon is the length of its blade. Immediately it is worth determining that the professionals call the blade a metal warhead of a knife or other cold steel. It has one or more blades that are part of this strip. In this case, the blade is considered only a sharp sharpened edge related to the warhead of cold steel. It looks like an edge at an acute angle.
In order to measure the length of the blade and understand how long the knife is not considered a cold weapon, it is necessary to accurately calculate the distance from the tip to the limiter. If the latter is absent, then the length is measured to the cut on the handle or front end of the sleeve.If the folding knife has a fixed stop, which is necessary to open the blade itself, the length should be measured exactly to this stop.
There is a strict parameter for such a dangerous weapon. The length of the blade must be at least 90 millimeters. Now you know what size of a knife is considered an edged weapon. In this case, the normative length of the blade is not spelled out in any document. So there is no answer to the question of how long the blade of a knife is a cold weapon. Pay attention only to the blade.
We can conclude that if you have a knife in your hands whose blade length is at least one millimeter less than 90, then be sure that it will not be classified as a melee weapon. It can only be called structurally similar to a dangerous knife, but it cannot be attributed to knives.
Thickness and hardness
The following two important signs are the parameters of the butt and blade. In order to understand which knife is considered edged weapon in Russia, it is necessary to measure the thickness of the butt. Doing this is in the thickest part of the blade itself. If the thickness is not less than 2.6 millimeters and not more than six millimeters, then you have a cold civil blade weapon.
Interestingly, you can often find a thickness of 2.4 millimeters. This parameter was not taken by chance. GOST "Cutting and skinning knives" separately states that it is allowed to use a handle on a knife if the blade thickness does not exceed 2.4 millimeters. This is what many knife manufacturers use, focusing on just such a parameter.
The hardness of a blade for melee weapons should be at least 42 Rockwell units. Obviously, you are unlikely to be able to measure this parameter at home. But, as a rule, this information is indicated on the blade itself by the manufacturer. Therefore, you can easily determine which knife blade is considered a melee weapon.
This parameter is applicable to all types of knives without exception. If the hardness is 42 units or higher, then this is definitely a cold weapon.
Safety handle
Another sign that will help to understand that you have cold steel in your hands is the presence of a safety handle. It should have a limiter or, at a minimum, a fingertip.
The limiter should stand out by 5 millimeters. Not less. If there are two such limiters, then together they must not exceed a parameter of 5 millimeters.
The same is true for the sub-fingered recess in the absence of a stopper. But in the presence of several subdigital recesses, their total depth should not be less than 4 millimeters.
If your knife has neither one nor the other, then it cannot be considered a cold weapon in any way.
Sharpened blade
Another factor that will help determine whether to attribute a knife to melee weapons or not is the sharpening of the blade. In order to determine how sharpened the knife is, one should not resort to household methods. If it cuts paper, then sharp. This approach is subjective and amateurish. It is better to adhere to GOST.
If you follow this document, the sharpened knife is considered such if it can be used to cut a birch branch with a thickness of 10 to 12 millimeters and a moisture content of about 12 percent. At the same time, do this at least five times, and the slice after should remain without any chatter, as smooth as possible.
Also, many experts are guided by the fact that a sharpened knife has a cutting edge. It is often used by ordinary people and even representatives of law enforcement agencies to find out in the field whether this particular knife can be mistaken for a dangerous weapon.
To summarize, it is worth recognizing that, knowing all the signs of such a weapon, it will not be difficult to establish what your knife is. True, all this is relevant only for the legal market, smuggled products and homemade knives, of course, will not correspond to this description.
Melee weapons in Belarus
In order not to have problems with the law in a neighboring republic, you should know which knife is considered a cold weapon in Belarus.In this country, laws are similar to Russian.
Only hunters are allowed to carry and carry edged weapons (and only with permission). They are allowed to have a cold blade weapon. An exception is also made for those who have a license to store collection weapons and exhibit them in compliance with all security measures.
Everyone else is strictly forbidden to have knives. In Belarus, the circulation and transportation of brass knuckles, boomerangs, shafts, as well as other impact-crushing and throwing items is prohibited.
After reading this article, you can accurately determine in which cases the knife is considered a cold weapon.