THE LAW REGARDING SHURIKEN

Australian Weapons Law - Last update November 2004
This page deals with both the Possession, Use, and Importation of shuriken.

There seems to be a somewhat grey area when it comes to the law on shuriken in Australia. The yellow posters shown hanging in gun shops with an array of prohibited weapons depict both shaken and bo shuriken, along with blowpipes, folding butterfly knives and nunchaku etc. They state that possession of these is illegal and penalisable by $5000 fine and/or 2 years imprisonment, a pretty hefty penalty by any standard.

According to a security-industry based colleague of mine, the wording of the law is deliberately left ambiguous to enable room for discretionary action by the state and federal police forces in interpreting the law on a case by case basis. This means there is room for various interpretations regarding possession and use of shuriken, and that it is up the officers of the law in their line of questioning to establish the intent of the individual.

UPDATE 24th November 2004: As of July the 1st, 2003, a new Weapons category, M, has been established to include martial arts weapons, distinguishing them from Category R weapons. This Category allows for the provision of a Collector's Licence or Miscellaneous Licence.
Source: http://www.police.qld.gov.au/pr/program/wlb/categoryM.shtml)

PLEASE NOTE: THIS UPDATE QUITE CLEARLY SHOWS THAT SHURIKEN ARE NOW LISTED AND DEFINED AS WEAPONS, AND THAT TO POSSESS AND CARRY THEM, YOU NEED TO BE LICENSED.

It seems that shuriken are now categorised as Category M weapons. The Queensland Police Service Weapons Licensing Categories listing under M is as follows:

Possession

Summary - the Regulations

Shaken, or throwing stars are classified as Category R weapons, under section 8 (m) of the Weapons Categories Regulation 1997 and therefore need to be licensed. Possession is prohibited unless the person:

And is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Maximum penalty is 100 penalty units (1 unit = $75) or 2 years imprisonment.

Bo shuriken do not appear to have a specific classification under the regulation, though according to the Weapons Licensing Branch of Queensland Police Headquarters, they are classified under Section 51 Subsection 5 of the Weapons Act 1990 as being a knife, although even that may be open to dispute, because the relevant clause states that it must cause injury when held in one or both hands, whereas the shuriken's purpose is to be thrown. "A grey area"

A person must not physically possess a knife in a public place, unless the person has a reasonable excuse, which may be to perform a lawful activity, duty or employment, form of entertainment, recreation, sport or exhibiting, and is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Carrying for self defence is not a lawful excuse.

Summary - the Interpretation

Police and law enforcement officers interpret the regulations according to their perception of the situation. Their questioning is to establish the intent of the person found possessing a weapon. If you are caught carrying a shaken you must be licensed and/or have lawful authority or justification, otherwise you will be subject to the penalty mentioned above. If you are caught carrying a bo shuriken, it will be interpreted in much the same way as carrying a knife. If it cannot be shown that the weapon is in your possession due to some connection with a lawful or reasonable activity, then you will be subject to a penalty of 20 units (I unit = $75) or 6 months imprisonment. It is also important to note, whether you are carrying weapons lawfully or not, being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while in possession of Category A - H and R weapons, and knives, is an offence.

These are the laws regarding carrying. The laws regarding use are different altogether. While you cannot lawfully carry any weapon for self defence, it must only, if at all, be for protection of property. When the situation arises that you or someone else is in immediate, life-threatening danger, that you are, or that someone else is "fearful for their life", then you are allowed to use any means at your disposal to protect that life. If one is carrying weapons of any kind, serious questions will be asked about your intent, but if it can be shown that you were within the law in carrying and use of the weapons, there will generally be no penalty. However, as in all cases, the final decision rests with the satisfaction of the law enforcement officers, and/or the presiding judge if it goes to trial.

There is talk at the moment of prohibiting the carrying of a screwdriver without due cause, no doubt because of this tool's use in a number of attacks recently.

Importation

The importation of prohibited weapons in Australia is governed by Australian Customs (www.customs.gov.au). It is their duty to examine and decide on items that have entered Australia by way of mail (postage) or importation (shipping). It appears their guidelines are somewhat in line with the current Weapons Categories Regulation Act, however there is some slight variation. Customs offer 3 fact sheets (Importing knives into Australia, Importing martial arts weapons into Australia and Importing weapons into Australia) They mention throwing "stars", but do not specifically mention bo shuriken or throwing spikes as such. Bo shuriken could possibly be included in the "dagger" category as per the written regulations, but on discussion with the QLD Customs office it appears that bo shuriken are not categorised as daggers in the end, as they do not have an "attached handle". Still a grey area.

WEAPONS ACT 1990
Source: The Australasian Legal Information Institute

WEAPONS REGULATION 1996 - 1996 Amendment to the Weapons Act 1990
Source: The Australasian Legal Information Institute This law covers licensing and all its definitions

WEAPONS CATEGORIES REGULATION 1997 - 1997 Amendment to the Weapons Act 1990
Source: The Australasian Legal Information Institute Lists the various types of weapons and groups them in certain categories.

PROHIBITED WEAPONS - State of Victoria, Australia definitions

Overseas Law

US: Code of Virginia, Chapter 829 relating to personal protection; permits; penalty; study.

CALIFORNIA CODES
PENAL CODE
SECTION 12020-12040

12020. (a) Any person in this state who does any of the following is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison:

(1) Manufactures or causes to be manufactured, imports into the state, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale, or who gives, lends, or possesses any cane gun or wallet gun, any undetectable firearm, any firearm which is not immediately recognizable as a firearm, any camouflaging firearm container, any ammunition which contains or consists of any flechette dart, any bullet containing or
carrying an explosive agent, any ballistic knife, any multibursttrigger activator, any nunchaku, any short-barreled shotgun, any short-barreled rifle, any metal knuckles, any belt buckle knife, any leaded cane, any zip gun, any shuriken, any unconventional pistol, any lipstick case knife, any cane sword, any shobi-zue, any air gauge knife, any writing pen knife, any metal military practice handgrenade or metal replica handgrenade, or any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a blackjack, slungshot, billy, sandclub, sap, or sandbag.

IRELAND

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