An old-time self-defense tool has been making a strong comeback in recent years: brass knuckles. Also known as knucks, knuckle dusters, or even “paperweights,” these tools can make for an effective impact weapon for self-defense. There’s always an air of mystery or a reminiscence of a bygone era when you see a set of these. That wasn’t always the case — they were pretty common to find in local stores and in large mail-order catalogs until about the 1960s.
Criminalization of brass knuckles began as early as the 1920s, as big cities tried to crack down on inexpensive or readily available weapons. They were fully swept into the class of blackjacks and switchblade knives by the 1960s in most major jurisdictions. Some would have you believe they were on the same level as weapons of mass destruction. Thankfully, many states began revising their weapon statutes in recent years to legalize automatic knives, and, in many cases, state and local bans on knuckles were repealed as well.
A danger of using a tool such as these that had disappeared for a generation or two
