# New Zealand knife laws?



## jzmtl

A buddy is going to New Zealand for a year and half, I may give him a knife or MT on the condition that he carries it on person. What are the knife laws there that I should know so I don't end up getting him in trouble? Pretty sure he'll be in Wellington if that makes any difference.


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## iTorch

OK the laws here are pretty harsh, you can not carry any knife anywhere for any reason, period.
Not fixed, nor folding, nor locking and certainly not flicking, gravity, or balisong type knives, I suspect that assisted are also illegal.

Doulbe edged and push daggers are also illegal-attempting to bring them in in his/her luggage may get you a free return ticket home.

So saying all that you are allowed blades in the home, and if you are on a hunting trip, bush walk, farmers, camping etc, then no one would blink if you had a sak, leatherman or small hunting knife of some sort, carryng a machete, rambo style knife or a kukri would not be a good idea though.

Further though, and here is a grey area, whilst the police can and will lock you up for walking around with a knife (or even a screwdriver - I kid you not) on your person, if you have a very good reason, you may get away with it: note though, a good reason is something like "I work at the docks, cutting ropes/string and if i leave it at work someone will pinch it-if you have proof thats where you work you may get away with it IF you are on the way home/going to work-will not work at the pub.
Please note : " I carry it for self defence" will end you up in the cells so fast that your head will spin and the knife WILL be destroyed.

These laws may seem harsh, we are not allowed guns either, they are the laws and if you come to our country then you have to accept out laws, otherwise you should not come here.

So saying all that it is still possible to carry knives, bad guys often carry knives, and if you know how to use one then by all means carry one if you want to break the law (I have to say that because of my job).
Ginving your friend a good pair of running shoes may be a better idea though!
You can buy some knives here-they are just stupidly expensive, but its possible-if you want them to have a knife give them a sak or a leatherman, if you want them to have a SD knife, and they know how to use it, maybe give them a spyderco or a Zero tolerance flipper, or a emerson, something small and fast to draw.

I would not give them a fixed blade unless they are going to be working/living on a farm, or as a guide or something like that.

Hope this helps...


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## jzmtl

Thanks, but wow... That's insane...

Guess I'll stick with a MT then. Won't be visiting him either because I'll probably get a life sentence for the stuff I carry on me.


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## nzbazza

+1 on what iTorch said wrt the law, but the Police tend to use that law only when they have too. That said wearing a big knife would not be a good idea.

I have carried a small pocket knife/leatherman around for years in my daypack with no issues.


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## jzmtl

Would a pocket knife clipped to pocket with clip exposed gather any unwanted attention from police, or would it best to conceal it? Also would one with 3.5" to 4" blade length considered a big knife? Because that's the size I'm comfortable with due to handle size.


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## iTorch

I am sorry i do not know what a MT is so i can not advise on it-but do not clip anything, the cops are not stupid and they will notice something unusual like a clip...best paln is to put it in your deep pocket-like on cargo pants, or in a bag, I too carry a Wave in my bag and have never been stopped, would be a problem if I had to use if for SD...but NZ is fairly safe, while there is violence like anywhere else you can usually avoid it fairly easily with a little brains and preperation.

So saying someone got knifed to death the other day when he heard a girl scream and when to help-however it made national headlines so it was very unusual.

Not sure of the statistics on violence here but it is not super common, a good pair of shoes works well!

Seriously though if you need to carry keep it well concealed and remember-no stun guns, no cs gas sprays, no knives and absolutely no guns-and hopefully the bad guys will not have them either.

A little bit of kiwi ingenuity and you can make a very effective weapon that fits into your pocket for a few bucks though-may not be legal but is not illegal depending on your intent, can be dumped quickly and can be explained away a little: two padlocks and 3 feet of stong but not massive chain or para cord. Lock on either end, packs down small, can be used for chaining your luggeg/laptop.bag at work etc, with chain can block a knife stike and when swung will strike flesh without bouncing back much...


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## Bernard Cristobal

Hi iTorch,

I'm from Manila, Philippines and we have plans to travel to New Zealand early next year.

I plan to ship my folding knives via courier into Auckland:
a) Spyderco Military
b) BM Griptilian

Is it ok to import these knives in New Zealand?
Are these knives legal to own in New Zealand(Auckland)?

looking forward to your kind response

thanks,
Bird


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## iTorch

No problem getting them here, you could even bring them in your luggage (not carry on but normal), as long as they are not flick knives, the Spyderco I am familier with, the Griptilan I am not.

Once here you need to be more careful however, whilst you are allowed to own them - you are not allowed to carry them. Silly law but there you have it.

However if you are backpacking around then as long as the knives are in your packs and not obvious, then you will be fine - the police are not nasty, so long as you are oberying the law and not running around with your knife out in the open stabbing people, then you should have no problems.
Knives are very useful - the police know this too.

Keep them in your bags, dont go clubbing etc with them, or take them into museums/art gallerys and you will be fine.


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## BIGIRON

There's a couple of other threads re this subject if you'll search. We're planning an OZ/NZ trip over the holidays and I did some research of the actual laws (they're readily avilable if you'll just google them) and they are very restrictive. iTorch's first post pretty well sums it up.

A couple of states, NSW is one I think, specifically exempt SAKs and multitools. The rest of it is up to the discretion of the state -- you have to prove you're legal, not what we have where the state has to prove you are not legal.

I totally agree with"... they're our laws and if you can't obey them, maybe you shouldn't come...". Well said.

It would be a fine point, but I wonder what the perception of the SAK Trekker (the one-hand linerlock) would be. It's certainly a SAK. And a very adequate utility and SD knife.

Anyway, we'll take a couple of Leatherman and SAKs of some type. I'm also going to brush up on my decades old stick fighting training. Who's going to worry about a silver haired tourist with a telescoping hiking staff.


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## Bernard Cristobal

Thanks for the input iTorch.

will drop a note here again after We get settled in


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## UbiquitousChe

iTorch said:


> OK the laws here are pretty harsh, you can not carry any knife anywhere for any reason, period.
> Not fixed, nor folding, nor locking and certainly not flicking, gravity, or balisong type knives, I suspect that assisted are also illegal.
> 
> Doulbe edged and push daggers are also illegal-attempting to bring them in in his/her luggage may get you a free return ticket home.
> 
> So saying all that you are allowed blades in the home, and if you are on a hunting trip, bush walk, farmers, camping etc, then no one would blink if you had a sak, leatherman or small hunting knife of some sort, carryng a machete, rambo style knife or a kukri would not be a good idea though.
> 
> Further though, and here is a grey area, whilst the police can and will lock you up for walking around with a knife (or even a screwdriver - I kid you not) on your person, if you have a very good reason, you may get away with it: note though, a good reason is something like "I work at the docks, cutting ropes/string and if i leave it at work someone will pinch it-if you have proof thats where you work you may get away with it IF you are on the way home/going to work-will not work at the pub.
> Please note : " I carry it for self defence" will end you up in the cells so fast that your head will spin and the knife WILL be destroyed.
> 
> These laws may seem harsh, we are not allowed guns either, they are the laws and if you come to our country then you have to accept out laws, otherwise you should not come here.
> 
> So saying all that it is still possible to carry knives, bad guys often carry knives, and if you know how to use one then by all means carry one if you want to break the law (I have to say that because of my job).
> Ginving your friend a good pair of running shoes may be a better idea though!
> You can buy some knives here-they are just stupidly expensive, but its possible-if you want them to have a knife give them a sak or a leatherman, if you want them to have a SD knife, and they know how to use it, maybe give them a spyderco or a Zero tolerance flipper, or a emerson, something small and fast to draw.
> 
> I would not give them a fixed blade unless they are going to be working/living on a farm, or as a guide or something like that.
> 
> Hope this helps...



I'm checking up on New Zealand knife and blade laws myself. I am not a lawyer, and nor am I an expert. But I think this information is misleading and it's worthwhile to correct it.

The New Zealand Ministry of Justice website has the following to say about knife possession laws.



> 9. There are currently two offences covering knife possession, one in the Summary Offences Act 1981 and one in the Crimes Act 1961.
> 
> 10. Section 13A of the Summary Offences Act 1981 (possession of knives) states:
> _Every person is liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding $2000 who, in any public place, without reasonable excuse, has any knife in his or her possession.
> _
> 11. Section 202A of the Crimes Act 1961 (possession of offensive weapons or disabling substances) states:
> _Every person is liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 2 years who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, has with him in any public place any knife or offensive weapon or disabling substance
> _
> 12. A power to search is contained in section 202B of the Crimes Act. Where the Police have reasonable grounds for believing that a person is carrying a knife or offensive weapon in a public place, they have the power to stop and search that person or any vehicle from which the person has alighted. The search power will be moved to the Search and Surveillance Bill.
> 
> ...
> 
> The relevance of reasonable excuse
> 19. Knives are a common item, found in homes and workplaces. Many people have a knife in their possession for a legitimate reason, such as for picnics, barbeques and farm-work. The two knife possession offences therefore contain a "reasonable excuse" proviso. It is necessary to retain such a proviso in order that people with a legitimate purpose for carrying a knife are not unreasonably criminalised. Removing the proviso would make the law difficult to enforce.



So basically, you *are* allowed to carry a knife if you have a reasonable excuse to do so. If you carry a knife with you at a picnic, you're not going to get penalized for knife possession. But if you rock up to a bar in town with a machete for no apparent reason, then that's an offense.


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