Craig
03-10-2006, 07:05 PM
http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/st01/st01384.htm
This bill is interesting, and perhaps of concern, to someone like me because of their broad definition of machete:
For purposes of this section, “machete” means “a heavy knife at least 18 inches in length and having a blade at least 1.5 inches wide at its broadest measurement.
It appears that owning a machete and carrying it will only be legal for the purpose of cutting vegetation. Yet, the imprecision of the definition for "machete" means that the bill could affect sword owners as well. It's quite possible, for instance, that a grossemesser could be found to fall within the definition of "machete" under the bill. Theoretically then, a person using a blunt grossemesser for sparring in a park, or doing cutting practice with a sharp grossemesser could be found in violation of the law.
Grossemesser illustration by Peter Johnsson:
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/8984/grossemesser4zg.jpg
This bill is interesting, and perhaps of concern, to someone like me because of their broad definition of machete:
For purposes of this section, “machete” means “a heavy knife at least 18 inches in length and having a blade at least 1.5 inches wide at its broadest measurement.
It appears that owning a machete and carrying it will only be legal for the purpose of cutting vegetation. Yet, the imprecision of the definition for "machete" means that the bill could affect sword owners as well. It's quite possible, for instance, that a grossemesser could be found to fall within the definition of "machete" under the bill. Theoretically then, a person using a blunt grossemesser for sparring in a park, or doing cutting practice with a sharp grossemesser could be found in violation of the law.
Grossemesser illustration by Peter Johnsson:
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/8984/grossemesser4zg.jpg