RFRA and concealed weapons

[Eugene Volokh]

    In State v. Singh, 1996 WL 741995 (Dec. 31), the defendant was
convicted of carrying a concealed weapon for wearing a kirpan, with a
2 1/2" dulled blade, sheathed and sewn fast to the waistband of his
undergarment.  The Court ultimately reversed the conviction on
statutory grounds, but spoke favorably of Singh's RFRA defense (which
it didn't have to reach).

    Question:  My guess is that the current state of kirpans
(blunted and sown into the sheath) involves a sort of "reverse
accommodation" -- religions accommodating their demands to secular
law.  Unless I'm mistaken, after all, the kirpan symbolizes the
Sikh male's duty to help those in peril; I suppose that once it
was actually supposed to help fulfil this duty.  Does anyone know for
sure whether Sikhism ever demanded that kirpans be real, usable,
deadly daggers?  Does anyone know whether there are currently any
strands of Sikhism that still demand it -- or would demand it if the
law appeared to create an exception for them?

                               -- Eugene Volokh, UCLA Law