2w ago

Michigan court affirms ban on brass knuckles, says right to bear arms doesn't fit

The Michigan Court of Appeals, in an 18-page opinion, declined to interfere with a 1931 law that carries a five-year prison term for simply having brass knuckles, also known as metallic knuckles.

A “ban on the possession of metallic knuckles falls within the historical tradition of prohibiting the concealed carry of metallic knuckles as a dangerous and unusual weapon,” Judge Christopher Murray wrote in a 3-0 opinion Tuesday.

Brass knuckles are usually a single set of rings that fits on someone’s hand. A punch can inflict serious injuries.

95 comments

America is weird af. Ban brass knuckles but allow semi-automatic weapons that kill thousands every year.
Weird. As. Fuck.
- People will still sell them labeled as key-chains or paperweights.
  
  This guy capitals.
  
  They have been doing this for years. They add a little bump and sell it as a belt buckle, or add a little notch and sell it as a bottle opener. Most insane is it is fine to put a knife blade on it and sell it as a knife.
  
  I've got an antique real pair that belonged to my grandpa. They don't make em like this anymore.
- You do realize america is almost entirely built on weapons manufacturing right?
  
  I just did some looking into this.
  Apparently defense contractors get paid twice.
  They get paid by taxpayers when they get the contract.
  They get paid by foreign nations when the equipment is sold.
  It's so fucked beyond belief, I hope this generation can do something about it.
  
  Which doesn't make it less weird and fucked up, at all.
- Yep, they sell them as belt buckles. I got one at a gun show because it was cheap, figured why not. I eventually looked up the legality and I would be better off legally if I carried a pistol. Actually crazy lol.
- Obviously the answer to the paradox is to have semi-automatic brass knuckles invented.
- This is an honest reply. It really depends on the situation. Feral hog sounders are a very scary thing, and fairly common in areas that commonly vote against their own economic interests. That bit in the Hannibal the cannibal movie, about the pigs, holds its share of truth. But in a city things that are necessary outside of one should be appropriately regulated.
  That meme about European woodland being pleasant and the American woodland being a hellscape, is not very far from the truth.
  
  Why can't I fight the feral hogs with my brass knuckles?
  
  I want to answer honestly as well. I looked up the numbers, and we have 2 million wild boars in Germany. Germany has roughly the size of Montana.
  High estimates say, there are 9 Mio in the US, 3 Mio in Texas (twice as large as Germany). So the numbers are rooouuughly comparable, a little more swine here in DE.
  I guess, the feral hogs are really back to being wild nowadays despite stemming from domesticated pigs. So I will classify them as scary as a wild boar. Which they are, they are scary.
  How do we manage this? Each year about 600 000 boars are shot by professional hunters. The general population doesn't need weapons for that. And the hunting rifles are bolt action or single action, not automatics.
  The main damage they cause is not to live and limb, but to property, namely crop fields. Our solution is, that each hunter is assigned a district and a number he must shoot. If the farmland in his area is damaged more than x% that is also his responsibility.
  
  Another honest reply from a european, is commonly known in italy that if you want to have troubles you can always go to the country side and do a stroll among the fields and in the woodlands where based on the area you can meet friendly beasts like hogs, bears, wolves and drug dealers hiding on trees and holes in the ground making animal noises or whistling and you can find wandering drug addicts, if you cross path with one that is high enough you have a machete fight at your hand if you are lucky enough to not find the one with the handgun and if you start smelling weed an nobody is around it means you are near a cannabis plantation you can try to get some in the spirit of the adventure but be careful the local mob could think you are snitch and zero you before you can even grab a flower, so come over and bring your sword this fairy tail is awaiting you.
  But on a more serious note since i roamed for real these places at night i ensure you that the woodlands are scary as it can get both if you find an animal or a person, the woodlands are the perfect place to hide for animals and shady people all over the world, this is not fantasyland and memes are just jokes.
  Here an example articles about hogs destroing cocaine stashes in the woods
  https://www.newsweek.com/italy-drug-bust-wild-boar-hidden-cocaine-destroyed-smuggling-operation-1471472
  Plus two other on topic
  https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2016/11/15/police-clear-milan-drug-dealing-wood-in-huge-op_e86a036a-c453-4672-ac44-e678136e7311.html
  https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2021/09/30/priest-caught-buying-cocaine-in-tuscan-wood_4a5e3a2a-9847-4eea-af20-a373ea8020df.html
  
  Yeah Europe forgets it killed it's scary megafauna. America has grizzlies and wolves and the boars are invasive with no natural predators
- Reggie Kray on the other side of the sea about self defense:
- In most states you need a license to carry a gun with you though.
  
  I found this humdinger that may or may not be accurate
  
  I thought it was to conceal carry? My state I don’t think you need a license for any type of carry though. Which seems pretty legit now, considering. I feel like open carrying is way more sketchy than concealed.
  
  Not anymore. Most states now have constitutional/permitless carry. Doesn't apply if you're a felon, have a history of drug abuse etc etc (varies by state).
  
  In 21/50 you need a license.
- Afaik it's because there's absolutely no other applications for brass knuckles to work. You can only assault people with brass knuckles.
  Fire-arms can be used for "defence" and "hunting".
  Edit: inb4 I don't agree with laws around brass knuckles, or most laws about most weapons.
  
  My dude, you never been hunting until you punch the lights out of a deer.
  
  A brass knuckle can also be used for defence.
  If you CAN use a firearm for defence, you're not properly storing your firearm...
  You don't need large magazines or semi-automatic weapons for hunting...
  
  If someone attacks you first, and you slip on the brass knuckles before defending yourself, then surely that would be a defensive use?
  
  That's bullshit and you know it
- North America? South America? Michigan is only a state in part of North America. Just want to be clear.

The solution is clearly to start carrying brass knuckle guns.
- Apache Pistol FTW!
  
  Easiest way to shoot yourself in the face haha
  
  Worst of all worlds, I'd rather just have a 5 inch fixed blade. Or a stick.
- trench-knives are pretty solid

Michigan also forbids pepper spray and stun guns. They interpret the right to bear arms as the right to make gun manufacturers rich. By the way, a pistol also fits in one hand and can be used to inflict serious injury. Pistols also get used to ambush people. Ever heard of armed robbery?

They're going to be surprised if it gets to the Supreme Court:
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/577/411/
“the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding,”
Woman bought a stun gun to protect herself from an abusive ex. State of MA charged her saying that stun guns didn't exist back in the day, and were "dangerous and unusual" so the 2nd amendment doesn't apply.
- Another weird af hypocrisy where MA didn't want stun guns to count but assult rifles were A-OK.
  It truly is a wonder how America has lasted this long.
  
  We had a run. Considering how much of our founding was based on and sustained by slavery, it might be good to call it.
  
  America lasted this long simply from momentum and good courtesy after WW2. That's literally it.
  
  Assault rifles have been illegal nation wide for decades
- By the logic of Massachusetts, you only have a right to a muzzle loader and a sword then. What would they say if I were walking around in Boston with a katana or a British officer's sabre?
  
  Those existed at the time. You're also free to choose from axes, clubs and blades to giant semi-automatic crossbows. Sorry, sorry no giant crossbows, that tech was lost by then.
  
  And Cannon. Don't forget cannon.
  
  Why would you buy a foreign sword and take a job away from a decent, hardworking American blacksmith?
- “the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding,”
  That's why I'm allowed to always carry a vial of the rage virus from 28 Days Later, in case I get mugged and need to end civilization.
  
  Please do. There's little worth salvaging

Sap gloves are easy to make and not obvious. A pair of gloves with powdered lead sewn into little pouches over the knuckles and along the knife edge of the hand. A slap or punch will quickly put someone on the floor. Lots of cops wear them. You can get them online.

But we still have the right for BEAR arms right??

Of course bear arms don’t fit. They’re for fingers, and human ones at that though perhaps a cub could surprise a few.
- I mean, I don't know about you, but my trained attack bears have custom machined brass knuckles. only the best for my trained bears.
  
  My assault bears are outfitted with those wolverine blades. They are absolutely devastating to my furniture.

The US looks stupider and stupider with each passing day.
Brass knuckles? No no.
Automatic weapons? A citizen’s right.
The world is laughing at you.
- Automatic weapons are regulated and cost more than a new car. Our firearms laws are lax and have many problems, but that isn't one of them.

Metallic only? So you could make one from alternative material, like composites?
- composites tend to not react well to impacts. The reason brass is used, also, is because it's heavy and adds significantly more force.
  I would suggest making a cestus, you can also buy "weighted gloves"... which a lot of cops just love, which are gloves with pockets over the knuckles weighted with lead.
  The advantage to the cestus is you could say it was for historical reenactment, and you're just LARPing or something.

No switch blades, no brass knuckles, oh well, guess they'll just have to shoot each other.

i never got that. arms shouldn't be limited to firearms, clearly the founding fathers fought with swords and bayonets so that would have been on their mind

Pretty sure fingers are part of the arms but ok.

What the fuck is wrong with judges?

That red one has a bottle opener

95 comments