The Right to Bear Nunchucks
Nunchuck bans remain in place in several other states, including Massachusetts and California. Shutterstock
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Arizona residents can legally possess nunchucks, now that a new state law has gone into effect.
Arizona residents can now legally wield nunchucks, thanks to a state law that went into effect this week reversing a decades-old ban on the martial arts weapon.
Nunchucks—two rods connected by chain or rope; sometimes referred to as nunchaku— were listed on the state’s roster of “prohibited weapons,” along with bombs, grenades, molotov cocktails and IEDs. Residents could use nunchucks, but only in preparation for martial arts competitions, and anyone found carrying the weapon in public could face a felony charge. The ban was put in place in the 1970s amid the height of Bruce Lee’s popularity and the Kung Fu movie craze.
The legislation, sponsored by Republican Sen. David Gowan, a self-proclaimed martial arts enthusiast, passed the state legislature with bipartisan support, though some Democrats opposed the measure on principle.
"Instead of figuring out ways that we can save lives, we're wasting time on nunchucks," Rep. Athena Salman, a Democrat who voted against the bill, told the Associated Press.
Gowan, the bill’s lead sponsor, was not immediately available to comment, but other proponents of the legislation said the reversal was a common-sense measure in a state that allows its residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
"I find it interesting that a state that allows you to walk around with a gun on your hip worries about nunchucks being a problem," Sean Sample, a Phoenix karate instructor, told a local news affiliate. "It's good to know that nobody's going to get arrested for carrying their nunchucks to their training.”
Nunchuck bans remain in place in several other states, including Massachusetts and California. A federal judge last year struck down a similar ban in New York, ruling that residents had the right to possess nunchucks under the Second Amendment.
"There is virtually no evidence that nunchakus are associated with, or have been used to engage in, criminal conduct,” U.S. District Judge Pamela K. Chen wrote in her ruling. “In fact, its intended use as a weapon for recreational martial arts practice and training appears to greatly outstrip its use in crime.”
In Arizona, at least one state official agreed: Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who posted on Twitter a video of himself showing off his nunchuck skills.
“Clearly, my years of martial arts training paid off,” he captioned the video, which shows him in an office waving nunchucks while wearing a dress shirt and slacks. “Pulled my old nunchaku out of storage...like riding a bike.”
The video was posted before the ban reversal was lifted, but Brnovich thus far has not been cited for it.
Kate Elizabeth Queram is a Staff Correspondent for Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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