Quote Originally Posted by Bruno View Post
that means 1 of the following:

- they were never searched or had to explain the knife to a police officer.
- they have a valid reason for the knife like going hunting, or being a groundskeeper (boswachter) or taking it to a flea market, etc.
- the knife is not deemed a weapon (such as a swiss army knife).

I strongly suspect that the only reason they didn't get into trouble was that noone simply knew.
Realistically, I could carry a handgun and I would not get into trouble either. As long as the police never knew, I wouldn't have any problems.
And given that police searches are very rare here, that could be my entire life.

However, as soon as I used it and the police became involved, the story would be quite different.
It's much the same as here then.

The thing is though. The police have to have a REASON to assume that you were planning to use it as a weapon.

Just becasue you had a potential weapon doesn't mean you were planning to use it as such and they can't prosecute you for that. The burdon of evidence is on THEM. Not on the person that they stop in the street.

There's some areas in Amsterdam (And maybe some other places) where this isn't true and where any sharp edge will get you in trouble. But most of the country is just fine.