Nunchucks are legal to own in California. The Legislature repealed Penal Code 22010, the statute that had made it a crime to possess, manufacture, import, sell, give, or lend nunchaku, so simple ownership no longer carries criminal penalties.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 22010 – Nunchaku What you do with them is a different question. Waving them at someone or striking a person with them still triggers the same weapons charges that apply to a knife or a bat.
Why Possession Is No Longer a Crime
For decades, PC 22010 treated home possession the same as street-level trafficking. The statute swept in anyone who manufactured, imported, kept for sale, offered, gave, lent, or possessed nunchaku, and it carried the threat of imprisonment for all of it.
Federal courts elsewhere had started striking down similar bans on non-firearm weapons. A federal court in New York invalidated that state’s nunchaku ban in 2018 after 15 years of litigation, finding the weapon in common use and protected by the Second Amendment. California ultimately repealed PC 22010 rather than keep defending it. As of 2025, Massachusetts is the only state still maintaining a complete ban, so if you travel with a pair, that is the border to watch.
How the State Still Defines Nunchaku
Penal Code 16940 keeps the definition on the books: two or more sticks, clubs, bars, or rods designed as handles, connected at one end by a rope, cord, wire, or chain, in the design of a weapon used in martial arts or self-defense practice.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 16940 The wording is broad enough to reach traditional wooden pairs, metal versions, and modern training variants with flexible or foam-padded cords.
The definition still matters because other statutes referencing deadly weapons pull nunchaku in depending on how they are used. A foam training pair swung in a dojo lives in a different legal universe than a hardwood pair swung at somebody’s head.
Brandishing Charges Under PC 417
Drawing or displaying any deadly weapon in a rude, angry, or threatening manner violates Penal Code 417. Nunchaku fit that category the same way a knife or baseball bat does. Brandishing a non-firearm deadly weapon is a misdemeanor with a minimum of 30 days in county jail.3California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 417 That is a floor. Sentences climb based on the circumstances, and location aggravators, such as brandishing near a school, can push the charge higher.
Assault With a Deadly Weapon
Actually striking someone with nunchaku, or trying to, triggers Penal Code 245(a)(1). Assault with a deadly weapon is a wobbler, which prosecutors can file as either a misdemeanor or a felony. A felony conviction carries two, three, or four years in state prison, or up to one year in county jail, plus a fine of up to $10,000.4California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 245 This is where nunchaku cases most often land now that possession itself is legal. The weapon’s design makes it easy for prosecutors to argue it qualifies as deadly and capable of causing serious injury.
Battery When Someone Is Actually Hurt
Battery charges can stack on top of an assault charge when the strike lands and causes injury. Severity tracks the extent of harm. A solid hit from wooden or metal nunchaku can cause fractures or head trauma, and that pushes charges toward the upper end of the range.
Using Nunchaku in Self-Defense
Owning nunchaku for self-defense is fine. Using them defensively still has to meet California’s reasonable-force standard. You can use force proportional to the threat. Non-deadly force is justified when you reasonably believe it necessary to prevent an immediate physical attack. Deadly force requires a reasonable belief that you face death or serious bodily harm.
Nunchaku sit awkwardly on that spectrum. A full-force swing to the head can qualify as deadly force, so using them that way is only justified against a proportionally serious threat. Striking an attacker in the legs to create distance is a different legal calculation than aiming for the skull. If a court later finds your force unreasonable, the self-defense claim collapses and you face the same assault or battery charges as an aggressor.
Carrying and Transporting Nunchaku
California does not have a statute setting out how to carry nunchaku in a vehicle the way it does for firearms. The practical risk is a brandishing charge under PC 417 if you carry them visibly in a way that alarms people or reads as threatening.
The safest practice is to keep them in a bag, case, or your trunk when traveling, particularly on the way to or from training. Leaving them on the passenger seat during a traffic stop is the kind of avoidable situation that creates legal problems even when you have not broken any law.