My experiences have been similar. I've had two interactions with the police in the last year, both involving me going to fencing practice, with my rapier, in scabbard, over my shoulder. In the first I was in a fast food restaurant getting something to eat, and a cop was in line ahead of me. She asked about the sword and we spent a few minutes talking about Olympic style fencing versus SCAdian fencing.
The second time was in January. I got stopped by a foot patrol who asked to see the sword, and politely asked that I start carrying it in a bag or case, as there are a lot of bars, and thus drunk people on Elgin and I have to walk down it to get to and from practice. I agreed and asked about whether or not that could get me in trouble for carrying a concealed weapon[0] and they laughed it off.
Of course, as the son of a middle-class white family, my experiences and expectations may not be typical.
[0] And in the ski bag I now use, it technically is according to C-46 s. 90, but the courts have often applied the same standard of 'dangerous to the public peace' or for the purposes of committing a separate crime that s. 88 has, and they've also applied similar logic to the 'without lawful excuse' language in s. 89. However, s. 90 doesn't have the same language, and a literal reading just makes it an offence unless you've got an authorization under the Firearms Act. So the cops could make a big deal out of it if they wanted to. This is all a complicated way of saying, I didn't think I was being overly cautious to ask them that question. And why I was carrying the sword openly in the first place.
--
"This is not some swishy-pokey, Japanese finesse thing.
This is a big ****ing chisel. Use it appropriately."
- Jarl Sir Nicholaus Barchatov of An Tir - Sword training at Pennsic '03
The second time was in January. I got stopped by a foot patrol who asked to see the sword, and politely asked that I start carrying it in a bag or case, as there are a lot of bars, and thus drunk people on Elgin and I have to walk down it to get to and from practice. I agreed and asked about whether or not that could get me in trouble for carrying a concealed weapon[0] and they laughed it off.
Of course, as the son of a middle-class white family, my experiences and expectations may not be typical.
[0] And in the ski bag I now use, it technically is according to C-46 s. 90, but the courts have often applied the same standard of 'dangerous to the public peace' or for the purposes of committing a separate crime that s. 88 has, and they've also applied similar logic to the 'without lawful excuse' language in s. 89. However, s. 90 doesn't have the same language, and a literal reading just makes it an offence unless you've got an authorization under the Firearms Act. So the cops could make a big deal out of it if they wanted to. This is all a complicated way of saying, I didn't think I was being overly cautious to ask them that question. And why I was carrying the sword openly in the first place.
--
"This is not some swishy-pokey, Japanese finesse thing.
This is a big ****ing chisel. Use it appropriately."
- Jarl Sir Nicholaus Barchatov of An Tir - Sword training at Pennsic '03