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 »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 »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 »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 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 »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 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 »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 v Lopez
This article appeared in Knife Magazine in June 2023. Know Your Knife Laws – Teter v Lopez By Anthony Sculimbrene, Attorney and Knife Expert 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 […]
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 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 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 »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 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 »