It is now legal to own Nunchucks in Arizona: NPR

It is officially legal to own nunchucks in Arizona.

On Friday, Republican state governor Doug Ducey signed a bill removing the nunchucks from a list of prohibited weapons including bombs, gun silencers and guns. automatic firearms.

Until Friday, people who practiced martial arts could be prosecuted for possession of nunchucks in public. Arizona has only authorized the use of weapons in the preparation of martial arts competitions.

"The average person can do a lot more damage using a baseball bat than the nunchuck," said Arizona Representative John Kavanaugh at the Associated Press before the adoption of the law. "They are not dangerous for anyone, and we should really let children and adults who wish to practice martial arts hold them legally."

According to the Arizona Daily Star, several states, including Arizona, adopted the ban in the 1970s, as martial arts movies, like those of Bruce Lee, became popular.

Last year, a federal judge overturned a similar ban in New York that the nunchucks were protected under the second amendment, the Washington Post reported.

Proponents of the bill celebrate the holiday by saying that it is unlikely that people who use weapons for martial arts will use them to commit a crime.

Phoenix karate instructor, Shawn Sample, told AZFamily.com that he was relieved that no one was arrested for driving nunchucks in their training. He said that he had never understood why they were illegal in Arizona.

"I find it interesting that a state that allows you to walk around with a gun on your hip worries that nunchucks are a problem," said Sample, referring to the law on free porting of the state.

But detractors of the decriminalization of Nunchucks say that these weapons are capable of causing a lot of damage.

Others said that the time spent decriminalizing the Nunchuck could have been used for more urgent issues, such as reducing gun violence.

"Instead of finding ways to save lives, we're wasting time in nunchucks," Arizona representative AP Athena Salman told reporters.