Can You Legally Carry Hand Knives?

A recent incident started me thinking about the legality of carrying hand knives.

A friend gave me a very nice pocket knife. I really liked it, but I scoffed at the prospect of carrying it with me. We live in such a sensitive world, I worried that walking around with a measly pocket knife would cause trouble.

Is that true?

Well, if you use some common sense you can definitely and legally carry a knife.

Common Sense
Start by carrying a small knife, like the one my friend gave me, a Leatherman, or a utility knife. If you stick to those types of knives you should be fine.

Second, be careful where you take your knife. You want to keep it away from places where security is paramount, like courts and airports, and where they have a zero-tolerance policies for such things, like public schools.

Other Types of Knives
If you want to carry or own a different type of knife, you’ll need to know the law. There’s only one federal law pertaining to carrying and owning a knife and each state has their own set of knife laws.

For example, it’s illegal to own throwing stars in New York state, but completely legal to own them in Washington state.

Switchblade Knife Act
The lone federal law concerning knives is the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958.

This law makes it illegal to transport and mail switchblades from one state to another. It does not permit owning, possessing, or carrying one.  

Local Knife Laws
Many states do prohibit the owning, possessing, and carrying of switchblades as well as other kinds of knives.

On top of that, municipalities may also have knife laws and unless the state government has a preemption clause (state laws trump local laws), you’ll have to abide by those laws too.

State knife laws fall into three categories: ownership, carry, and other.

Ownership
Ownership laws prohibit owning certain types of knives. Lawmakers outlaw knives they deem too dangerous. That’s why many states have outlawed the bowie knife.

Carry
Carry laws prohibit the carrying, either concealed or open, of certain knives. Generally, lawmakers outlaw the carry of knives that think are weapons. They usually don’t outlaw utility knives.

Other
Some states have passed laws about brandishing a knife during a crime. In these jurisdictions, the use of a knife while committing a crime will garner a harsher sentence then if the crime was committed without a knife.

To learn more about knife laws in a particular state click here.

Of course, if you really want to be safe just keep your Hyde hand knives in your tool box.