Used to play it in the schoolyard. ALWAYS had my blue handled Cub Scout knife on my person.No one batted an eyelash if you had a pen knife at 8 years old in the 50’s.
I'm about the same age. I used to drive myself to high school, take my .22 Cal target rifle out of the back seat, walk through the halls and put it in the Rifle Team coach's closet, then get it at the end of the day for practice. No one ever raised an eye and certainly no one ever got hurt.