The following articles dive deep into the intricacies of what to know about knife laws, exceptions, interpretations, definitions, enforcements, and defense against convictions. They are provided to assist the legal profession and the knife community with a better understanding of knife laws and their ramifications.
The authors are Anthony Sculimbrene and Daniel C. Lawson, both attorneys and knife experts. Mr. Lawson contributed his time and expertise to the American Knife & Tool Institute and its members from 1999 to 2023 and originally researched and wrote the state knife laws on this website.
AKTI sincerely thanks Knife Magazine for sharing these articles with their readers on a regular basis.
A Century of Puzzlement
The beginning of the period of “puzzlement” is a decision by the California Court of Appeals in 1928, namely People v. Ruiz, 263 P. 836. It involved the application of the California restriction to the 1917 dirks and daggers statute.
Read More »A Gravity Knife by Any Other Name
The Virginia legislature passed a law in 1849 that made it unlawful to "habitually carry about hid from common observation any pistol, dirk, bowie knife or weapon of like kind." The use of the adverb "habitually" is consistent with the concealed carry anti-dueling measures of that era. A few minor changes have been made in the years since.
Read More »Affirmative Defenses
Laws that restrict the possession and carry of knives sometimes provide an exception to the offense specified where certain facts can be established by the offender. Such provisions are referred to as affirmative defenses.
Read More »Age-Based Knife Laws
Statutory restrictions involving knives based on age are in effect in roughly half of the U.S.
Read More »An Illinois Blueprint for Analyzing Heller
In 2008, District of Columbia v. Heller held, for the first time in U.S. history, that the right to bear arms was a personal right. What that means, however, is still being figured out on a case-by-case and state-by-state basis.
Read More »Applying Knife Law Standards – State v. Wilson
This article appeared in Knife Magazine in April 2024 Know Your Knife Laws – Applying Knife Law Standards Complicated – State v. Wilson By Anthony Sculimbrene, Attorney and Knife Expert Weapons laws are exceptionally complicated. They are complicated for two independent reasons: 1) weapons are complicated, and 2) weapons have become intensely political objects. When you […]
Read More »Automatic Knives No Longer Illegal in Massachusetts
This article appeared in Knife Magazine in November 2024. Know Your Knife Laws – Automatic Knives No Longer Illegal in Massachusetts – Commonwealth v. Canjura By Anthony Sculimbrene, Attorney and Knife Expert Ground-breaking news that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled on August 27, 2024, that the State’s nearly 70-year-old ban on automatic knives violated […]
Read More »Bianchi v Brown – Why It Matters to Knife Folks
This article appeared in Knife Magazine in January 2025 Know Your Knife Laws – Bianchi v Brown – Why It Matters to Knife Folks By Anthony Sculimbrene, Attorney and Knife Expert Landmark civil rights cases are always more complex than people think. Brown v. Board of Education was actually a series of cases–one where the notion […]
Read More »Brandishing a Knife
The offense of “brandishing” typically involves the manner of open carry or display. The offense does not involve making a threat but rather exhibiting a “threatening manner” while in possession of a visible weapon.
Read More »Bruen Decision – A First Glance
On June 23, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc v Bruen. The knife community welcomes the confirmation of what we understood to be a limitation on the government. While knives are rarely used as weapons, people have a right to defend themselves and carry items - "arms" - suitable for that purpose. This right includes knives.
Read More »Canjura Redux
If there were a Christmas tree for knife knuts in 2024, one of the gifts under that tree would be the recently decided Commonwealth v. Canjura....Last year, I wrote about how the great Second Amendment lawyer Dan Lawson saved Christmas a few years ago. This year, it was Kaitlyn Gerber, a line attorney at the Massachusetts Public Defender, known as the Committee for Public Counsel Services or CPCS. All of our constitutional rights deserve protection, and those protectors, in turn, protect us all. In a nation of laws, that is truly a gift.
Read More »Circumstances of Possession
When interpreting laws regarding the possession of knives, courts have occasionally opted to incorporate a “circumstances of possession” element into a statute, thereby rewriting the law.
Read More »Collectors
Many believe there is a get-out-of-jail free “collector” exception to laws regarding the possession of restricted or prohibited knives.
Read More »Concerning Concealment
Concealed carry restrictions applicable to knives present the issue of which knives are included, and when is a knife "concealed?"
Read More »Daggers by Design or by Description?
Daggers are often maligned and frequently restricted. ... The most common dagger restriction is concealed carry.
Read More »Driving While in Possession of a Knife
Many among us in the knife community pay little heed to the knife in a pocket, purse, sheath, or backpack as we go about the day or take a seat in a car. The simple act of riding in, or driving, a vehicle while in possession of a knife may have legal consequences.
Read More »Exceptionality
“Knife laws” that impose restrictions on possession or carry are often expressed as absolute. Terms such as “any person” or “whoever” are used in statutes to designate the class of individuals to which the law will apply.
Read More »Federal Legislative Efforts
Given our unprecedented times and court setbacks in civil suits, legislative efforts are needed to give knife owners and knife makers the freedom to carry tools that the Constitution has always protected.
Read More »FSA – A Huge Problem Foreseen
The legislative history behind the Federal Switchblade Act of 1958 (FSA) reveals that enforcement issues and uncertainties were foreseen due to the “many exceptions” it provided. A “huge” problem was pointed out to legislators by the Secretary of Commerce when he read the bill before it was passed.
Read More »Is the Federal Switchblade Act Invalid?
This article appeared in Knife Magazine in August 2024 Know Your Knife Laws – Is the Federal Switchblade Act Invalid? Knife Rights v Garland By Anthony Sculimbrene, Attorney and Knife Expert Does Bruen invalidate the Federal Switchblade Act (FSA)? That was the question Knife Rights brought up in the case of Knife Rights et al. v. […]
Read More »Is There a 50-State Legal Knife?
The question of which knife is legal in all 50 states was recently posed to the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI). A good number of people have jobs that require that they travel to various states assisting customers ... Some people may simply want to select a knife for travel purposes that will be “legal” in every state, as well as Washington D.C.
Read More »Knife Laws Scrutinized
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v Bruen in early November 2012. ...The Supreme Court has long employed different degrees or standards of review when considering the constitutionality of laws.
Read More »Knife Rights v. Philadelphia
Philadelphia's ordinance was truly one of the worst in the country. While a ruling of law from a court would have more force and be harder to overturn than an agreement between the parties, this is a good result and another option in the Bruen toolkit.
Read More »Knives and Heller
There is some evidence in Heller itself that the 2nd Amendment extends beyond simply firearms to include other weapons “typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.”
Read More »Knives and Social Media Censorship
There is something you can do now! The Federal Trade Commission recently launched an inquiry on technology censorship. They are requesting public comment on how tech users have been banned, shadow banned, or otherwise censored. You have until May 21, 2025, to submit a comment at this link https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FTC-2025-0023/document. You can comment individually, as an employee, or on behalf of your business. All comments can be seen publicly. If you are concerned about your identity being revealed, there is an anonymous option.
Read More »Knives as Arms
Many seem to ignore the state constitutions and misunderstand the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as applying only to firearms.
Read More »Knives in Outdoor Pursuits
Statutes in one-third of the United States contain a provision for hunting knives or the carry of knives for hunting. Other pursuits – primarily fishing and fur trapping are often included. The statutes in this category typically establish an exemption from general prohibitions regarding the carry or possession of specific knives.
Read More »Location – Location: Sensitive Spaces
Knife laws with location-based restrictions on the possession and carry of knives can be placed into three categories, namely home/residence, public carry, and sensitive location. These restrictions are premised on the view that the restricted knives are weapons. Culinary and table knives are rarely the subject of possessory limits despite the fact the same are often employed as weapons.
Read More »Preemption Law and Knives
A complicating factor when deciding whether and how a certain knife may be carried is the existence of multiple layers of legal restriction or “law.” In the United States, we have various levels including federal, territorial, Indian Country, state, and “local.”
Read More »Range v. US AG
Only recently have we seen post-Bruen cases look at WHO is covered. Work on these kinds of cases is occurring all over the US, with federal defender offices regularly pursuing cases that challenge or seek to overturn firearm arms convictions in federal court.
Read More »Schools and Knife Laws
State laws applicable to knives on school grounds are in force in essentially every state, although wide variation exists as to what is restricted. It is recognized that school-aged children have not reached emotional maturity and may lack the discretion to operate motor vehicles, vote, carry weapons, and enter into certain binding contracts.
Read More »Search, Seizure, and Pretext
In the US, people are “secure in their person, houses, papers, and effects” against unreasonable Government searches and seizures....But, like with every legal principle, there are exceptions.
Read More »Specious in Seattle
A severe restriction on the public carry of knives in the City of Seattle has been protected for decades by questionable rulings emanating from small majorities of the Washington Supreme Court. Those rulings are a tangled web which, when unraveled, is recognized by the high court of that state that aspects of Washington knife law violate the state and federal constitutions.
Read More »Statistics and Steak Knives
We do not intend to imply that legal restrictions regarding “steak knives” are indicated. We do not suggest that the UCR Program is flawed or unreliable.
Read More »Swords and Sensibilities
A bright-line distinction between sword and knife is not easily defined. Sword blades are obviously longer than knives, but no clear limitation exists. Edged instruments incorporate design features that often favor a particular use.
Read More »Teter II
The Teter case has been winding its way through the courts for years, and the contours of that case presage where things are headed with knife laws. I have written about it in this column before. This most recent opinion is not good for knife owners. But before we get to the recent development, let's recap. Teter was brought by a group of knife enthusiasts claiming that Hawaii's law banning balisong or butterfly knives violated their Second Amendment rights. The federal district court in Hawaii heard the case, and Teter lost. The case was then appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-person panel reversed and Teter won.
Read More »Teter v Lopez
The follow-on effects for Bruen continue, and while some high-profile cases are getting a lot of media attention, other cases are actually doing a lot of legal work in shaping how Bruen actually works.
Read More »The Bowie Knife Exception
One particularly fascinating glitch in Second Amendment jurisprudence surrounds one of the most iconic patterns in all of knives – the bowie knife. There are countless articles, books, and videos online recounting the history of the bowie knife and why it is so famous, but to my knowledge, there is nothing that delves into why the bowie knife, among all other knives, stands out in a legal context as, almost certainly, beyond the protections of the Second Amendment.
Read More »The Bowie Knife Frenzy
The American Knife & Tool Institute suggests that restrictions based on an identifier such as “bowie” fall far short of explicit standards. During the bowie knife frenzy, the legislation created was intended to address the destructive vestige of trial by combat. Those laws, some of which remain in effect, were well-intended but defective from the outset. The term “bowie knife” remains in common use and is casually applied to a broad range of knives without common characteristics apart from a sharp edge and blade that tapers to a point.
Read More »The Elusive Stilleto
Enter the word “stiletto” into a search engine and then select “images.” Roughly 95% of the images on the screen will depict a well-turned ankle along with shoes featuring long thin heels. A few of the images will depict a long - 10 to 15-inch - metal shaft, tapering gradually to a point hafted to a straight handle with a cross guard.
Read More »The Everyday Knife
This piece is intended to address the basic questions concerning the routine public carry of pocketknives concealed in one’s pocket or handbag. Millions of us in the knife community carry a "pocketknife" type every day and have done so for a lifetime. If doing so created some threat to an orderly society, evidence of the same would have been obvious.
Read More »The Federal Switchblade Act – Is it Constitutional?
In this article, we examine whether the restrictions imposed on automatic knives by the Federal Switchblade Act (FSA) are constitutional, given the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Those restrictions are not insignificant of consequences. The FSA provides a penalty of up to five years imprisonment and or a fine of up to $2,000 for a violation.
Read More »The Full Nelsen – United States v. Douglas Nelsen
Legislative bodies in 21 states have considered "switchblade knife" restrictions impulsively enacted and voted to repeal such laws. Thousands of state congress members and senators representing millions of citizens have more than validated Douglas Nelsen's interest in knives.
Read More »The Lawson That Saved Christmas (Twice)
This article is not a case review, but one that I think is both festive (we can still be festive, right?) and interesting. It is a story that ties into one of the most important legal issues of the day for knife owners–the dreaded Federal Switchblade Act, 15 USC 1241 et. It also shows how that Act is both incomprehensible AND anti-business.
Read More »The Long and Short of It
Knife carry restrictions based on blade length are common across the United States. Distinctions that derive from a measurement – as opposed to name or type classification such as poniard, dirk, or bowie – offer a higher level of objectivity or predictability. In some instances, a blade length limitation is combined with or serves as an alternative basis for legal restriction.
Read More »The Misunderstood Dirk
Very little guidance is provided in either statutory or decisional law as to what differentiates the dirk from any other knife. Most case law from across this country involving dirks, arises from attempts to indiscriminately, or elastically, apply a dirk restriction to some other non-restricted knife for the mere sake of a conviction.
Read More »The Other Part of the Iceberg
It is prudent for those in the knife community to be aware of the aspects of knife law that often escape our attention. While many of us might know what styles or blade lengths may lawfully be carried in the state in which we live, the consequences of even a simple possession violation can be far more profound than what is perceived.
Read More »The Pocket Clip Conundrum
Whether “pocket clip carry” - a knife clipped to a side pocket along the trouser seam - is concealed or open carry is an ongoing controversy. The issue extends to knives clipped to a pocket on a purse or handbag. It is especially troublesome for people in the seventeen states where concealment is determinative as to what type or size of pocket knives may be carried with confidence that one is not violating a concealed carry restriction.
Read More »The Ripple Effects of Bruen Continue
The ripple effects of Bruen continue as governmental units, federal and state, struggle to figure out just how to apply its test. A recent case out of California, Miller v. Bonta, 2023 US Dist. LEXIS 188421 (D. S. Cal. October 19, 2023) helps tease out exactly how the Bruen test works.
Read More »The Tool That Would Not Be Killed
On April 4, 1956, the Governor of Pennsylvania signed two bills into law. The first of the two in the sequence created an entirely new section of the penal statutes captioned "Selling or Dispensing Knives, etc., Commonly Called "Switch-Blades." This new section made it a misdemeanor to sell, dispense, give, deliver, or offer for sale any automatic knife.
Read More »The Uncommon and Extraordinary Pocket Knife
If you are among the millions of people who routinely carry a pocket knife, you have probably been asked why you do so. Occasionally, the officious questioner will suggest that you violate some law because you have a concealed weapon. That individual typically declares that one does not need to carry a knife. A useful and polite response to such a question is to point out that Abraham Lincoln carried a pocket knife. He and his wife were viewing a dramatic performance at a local theater. Today, we might call it a “date night.” The contents of his pocket included eyeglasses, a handkerchief, a five-dollar bill, and a slip-joint knife with ivory scales and silver bolsters.
Read More »The Unwelcome Butterfly
“Butterfly knife” seems to be the most common identifier for the folding knife that wins the award for the most flourishing opening performance. “Balisong” and “fan knife” are other identifiers. Within the field of criminal law, the knives have even been held to be "dirks," "switchblades," or "gravity knives."
Read More »The Useful Sword Cane
The knife and the stick are among man's oldest implements. Through millennia, these two elmeents have been combined to create more efficient tools such as spears, pikes, axes, and pruning hooks.
Read More »Tools or Weapons
A few states in the United States do not restrict specific knives that law-abiding adults may carry. Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Indiana, South Carolina, and Idaho - among a few others - allow individuals to make that decision without regard to government-imposed restraints.
Read More »U.S. v Rahimi
Regardless of the outcome, one lesson above all comes out of this case: knife advocates should be mining these federal criminal cases for language and ideas to support knife owner rights. Because of the cost and risk of litigation, few places generate more good laws for the rights of everyday people than a public defender office.
Read More »Uncertainty in New Jersey
The phrases “without any explainable lawful purpose” and “under circumstances not manifestly appropriate” which appear in New Jersey knife law sections are undeniably vague and indefinite...The ability to steer between lawful and unlawful conduct – choosing a “legal” knife - requires the laws must be precise.
Read More »Vagueness
The vagueness or “void for vagueness” doctrine is not unique to knives or to weapons. It derives from the provisions of the U.S. Constitution requiring due process - fairness - in the promulgation and enforcement of penal laws.
Read More »What Does the FSA Mean?
This article appeared in Knife Magazine in September 2024 Know Your Knife Laws – What Does the FSA Mean? By Anthony Sculimbrene, Attorney and Knife Expert As I wrote last month, Knife Rights et al. v Garland was decided in a distinctively unhelpful way. Instead of ruling on whether Bruen invalidates the Federal Switchblade Act (“FSA” […]
Read More »What Is Concealed Carry?
Despite billions of dollars and countless hours spent on political campaigns regarding concealed carry laws in the US, there is little legal consistency about what counts as concealed carry from state to state.
Read More »What Knife Owners Need to Know About Bruen
Bruen clarified how the Second Amendment works. The question for us knife owners is whether Bruen gets us closer to concluding that knives, like firearms, are similarly protected. Bruen doesn’t say so explicitly, but it gets us as close to the goal as possible.
Read More »When Smart People Disagree
The follow-on effects for Bruen continue, and while some high-profile cases are getting a lot of media attention, other cases are actually doing a lot of legal work in shaping how Bruen actually works.
Read More »Why Even Liberals Should Hate the FSA
Freddie Gray's arrest and death should be sufficient justification for everyone to support the elimination of the Federal Switchblade Act (FSA). More clarity in knife laws would have saved his life. Eliminating the FSA would prevent abuses like this from happening. The reasoning for that argument relies on understanding how police work occurs in the US.
Read More »Why History Matters – Ocean State Tactical v Rhode Island
Remember, in Bruen, restrictions on the Second Amendment are per se invalid unless the government can prove that the restrictions are part of a historical tradition of restricting weapons in the same or similar circumstances. With this new rule, weapons laws across the country have come under new scrutiny.
Read More »