Everybody's holy book says everyone else's holy book is ballocks. I submit to you that this provides excellent anecdotal evidence that all of them are ballocks.
I'm in California. If you feel the need for a defensive weapon, the most you can get away with is a plain, wooden cane from a drugstore. Even then, if a cop thinks you don't need that cane, you'll get the shit beat out of you and the stick taken away.
We'd never get a ban here in the states. How else would preachers and Republican congressmen get a date?