Chelsea Deffenbacher| cdeffenbacher@registerguard.com
When Gerald Otis Evans was arrested last week, accused of pulling a knife on first responders, he was charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon.
And while the felony charge of felon in possession of a firearm is more commonly known, its misdemeanor cousin— the weapons possession charge— may not be.
The felon in possession of a weapon charge means that anyone convicted of a felony cannot own or possess a switch-blade, a butterfly knife, a clubbing instrument, a Taser or a stun gun.
Convicted felons also are not allowed the carry a dirk, dagger or stiletto — meaning a bladed weapon sharpened on both sides of the blade — in public.
Lane County senior prosecutor Erik Hasselman said he can recall the most unusual weapon he prosecuted a convicted felon for possessing: a silhouette image of a woman from a mudflap, with her legs sharpened on each side into bladed edges and her feet sharpened into a stabbing point.
Convicted felons may possess daggers, dirks or stillettos in his or her residence, but may not carry them in cars or in public. The other weapons cannot be owned.
Additionally, in a separate charge, felons are not permitted to own body armor if their felonies were related to an act of violence.
Felon in possession of a firearm is a Class C felony, while felon in possession of a weapon is a Class A misdemeanor.
Hasselman said that other than adding stun guns and tasers to the list of restricted weapons, the Legislature hasn't modified the law in more than 20 years.
According to the city of Eugene's most recent crime statistics, there was a 22 percent increase in the number of felons arrested with weapons, including both firearms and restricted weapons, with 86 cases in 2016 and 105 in 2017.
