The definition of Bludgeon was brought to law to regulate the use of black jacks, saps, brass knuckles, or any device meant to strike and cause injury that employes lead/heavy weighted metal in the form of shot, powder or solid ect. Yes this makes the SAP gloves worn by some Police (knuckles filled with lead powder) also illegal.
An A.S.P. or expandable baton is not classified as a Bludgeon in law. It is classified as a "tactical" Baton, like the PR-24, and not a billy club.
Now will some idiot prosecutor try to fool the legal system by knowingly trying to classify an A.S.P. as a bludgeon? Yea I can see that happen.
I will still carry my A.S.P. Baton because if I have a chance, I would rather smack the wrist of an idiot who tries something, rather than use deadly force if I am allowed that opportunity to not use deadly force. It would seem the court system would see that as a more preferable outcome, but until recent history we saw Tasers as illegal.
See below the Bludgeon must contain lead, or be weighted with metal. This was the legal definition since time and memorial and still is in fact. A club is not a bludgeon and a Bludgeon is not a club in "legal" terms. We the people most be VERY careful to not interchange terms because if we do one day those fuzzy legal terms can and will be used against us. This is no different than gun owners buying into the term assault rifle which are defined as AUTOMATIC weapons not Semi Auto, yet gun owners in an act of stupidity call the semi auto assault weapons, and cause problems for ourselves. If we are here to educate others then we are required by the rule of common sense to call a spade a spade and a shovel a shovel and not mix the two into one. Definitions are very important in our fight.
see definition from law dictionary:
What is BLUDGEON?
a dangerous weapon or a club made of a heavy wood that sometimes has "lead" at its centre. <---Note I emphasized the "lead" part with " "
http://thelawdictionary.org/bludgeon/
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/il-court-of-appeals/1506098.html
We look to the dictionary as well. Instead of bludgeon, we first turn to the definition of “blackjack.” Black's Law Dictionary defines a “blackjack” in several ways, including as “[a] short bludgeon consisting of a heavy head, as of metal, on an elastic shaft or with a flexible handle.” Black's Law Dictionary 154 (5th ed.1979). Thus, a blackjack meeting this specification is a bludgeon. Not all bludgeons are blackjacks, but all blackjacks consisting of a heavy head, as of metal, on an elastic shaft or with a flexible handle are bludgeons. In essence, a blackjack is a specialty type of bludgeon. The common definition of “bludgeon” simply does not specifically list this subset of bludgeons. Even Black's Law Dictionary defines “bludgeon” in the general sense as “[a] heavy club or stick used as a weapon, commonly weighted in one end by metal.” Black's Law Dictionary 157 (5th ed.1979).
From the linked case, bold emphasis is mine:
When I read "usually" in that definition it seems to me that a bludgeon is not required to have those characteristics to be considered a bludgeon.
I can definitely see a prosecutor pushing that point in court, I would.
Bronson