Here is the virginia law on concealed weapons
[quote]§ 18.2-308. Personal protection; carrying concealed weapons; when lawful to carry; penalty.
A. If any person carries about his person, hidden from common observation, (i) any pistol, revolver, or other weapon designed or intended to propel a missile of any kind by action of an explosion of any combustible material; (ii) any dirk, bowie knife, switchblade knife, ballistic knife, machete, razor, slingshot, spring stick, metal knucks, or blackjack; (iii) any flailing instrument consisting of two or more rigid parts connected in such a manner as to allow them to swing freely, which may be known as a nun chahka, nun chuck, nunchaku, shuriken, or fighting chain; (iv) any disc, of whatever configuration, having at least two points or pointed blades which is designed to be thrown or propelled and which may be known as a throwing star or oriental dart; or (v) any weapon of like kind as those enumerated in this subsection, he shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. A second violation of this section or a conviction under this section subsequent to any conviction under any substantially similar ordinance of any county, city, or town shall be punishable as a Class 6 felony, and a third or subsequent such violation shall be punishable as a Class 5 felony. [b]For the purpose of this section, a weapon shall be deemed to be hidden from common observation when it is observable but is of such deceptive appearance as to disguise the weapon's true nature[/b]. It shall be an affirmative defense to a violation of clause (i) regarding a handgun, that a person had been issued, at the time of the offense, a valid concealed handgun permit.[/quote]
Long story short. They don't want you to carry some concealed funky weapon unless its a handgun and you have a valid CHL. I wouldn't carry that if I were you. for 2 reasons
1) Knives/swords/bladed weapons are horrible self defense weapons and your chances of being seriously injured are significantly higher than without.
2) The legality. Given the text above if you were found to have such a device you would most likely be arrested.
Other than this, your best bet is to call the local police station and ask them.
English
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Short answer: yes it is illegal to carry in public.
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Wellllllllll. *technically* swords aren't mentioned in the text. But that would be something that you would have to argue in court after being arrested.
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Where are the other laws associated with this one? I guarantee you this is not the only one.
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The only other applicable law isn't relevant to the OPs case. tl;dr It just said that you cannot own brass knuckles. throwing stars, or ballistic knives.
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Well, it isn't one of the weapons listed there, but the part in bold leaves room for interpretation....
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Edited by Funkbrotha10: 1/22/2013 5:40:33 PMThis is true, But that would be something that you would have to argue in court after you were arrested. Which is why I would err on the side of caution and not carry it. And the bold part just says that OPs weapon would be counted as concealed. Because on the outside it looks like a walking cane, But there is a bladed weapon on the inside.
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Well, they certainly can't list every possible weapon in the law's language, hence the bold part. The bold part makes it pretty clear that a swordcane [canesword?] would not be legal to carry in public.