(1) 18 USC 930 definition of prohibited weapons is too strict, and
(2) Federal Regulations (which are lesser known, but "count" as well) can drastically increase prohibitions on weapons.
(1) 18 USC 930 Prohibits the following from Federal buildings:
The problem with this is that almost anyone that carries a knife has one longer then 2-1/2 inches. This would include a Leatherman, Swiss Army knife, etc. Walk into a Post Office or other benign Federal Building and you're now a criminal.The term “dangerous weapon� means a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than 21/2 inches in length. (GH: Note that firearms were specifically excluded as well.)
Proposal: Update the definition to be commensurate with the definition of weapons as defined in the State in which the Federal building is situatated. This way, a state resident legally carrying such items would not suddenly become a Federal criminal because he walked into the wrong building. Exception: Additional restrictions can be imposed in any Federal building that installs metal detectors and is staffed with security personnel to enforce the more restrictive rules for that building. The stricter regulations would apply only insde the secured area.
(2) My second beef is with the Federal Regulations. Individual agencies can pass more restrictive regulations which have the force of the criminal code. One example is NASA which bans dangerous weapons on their real property (14 CFR 1204.1005 ) and points out that by violating this Federal Regulation, you can also be convicted under the criminal code via 18 USC 799. So, even if you leave your leatherman in your car when visiting a Space Center, you are committing a Federal Crime.
The postal service has a similar restriction in 39 CFR 232.1(l) prohibiting your leatherman or pocketknife or pistol on the real property of the post office (note: they do exclude most sidewalks). So, all of us Texans that have a CHL and drive through and use the drop-off mailbox are violating a Federal Regulation. Even if you leave your pistol (or rifle or shotgun) in the car, you are still in violation. This is NUTS.
Who knows what other Federal Agencies have hidden away in the Federal Regulations.
Proposal: Insert language similar to that used by the states to indicate the further subdivisions of the Federal Government cannot place more restrictive regulations than those posed by 18 USC 930. If a Federal Agency feels that they need more restrictive weapons laws, let them use the more rigorous criminal code process rather than the "under the radar" Federal Regulation process. (For those that don't know, Fed Regs are written by civil servants, not Congress.)
GH
