Alaska Knife Law

[knerd]

Alaska - Article 2, Section 11.61.200. Misconduct involving
weapons in the first degree. (a) A person commits the
crime of misconduct involving weapons in the first degree
if the person... (3) manufactures, possesses, transports,
sells, or transfers a prohibited weapon... (e) As used in
this section, (1) "prohibited weapon" means any... (D)
switchblade or gravity knife... a gravity knife is one in
which the blade opens, falls into place, or is ejected
into position by the force of gravity or by centrifugal
force.

- 11.61.220. (a) A person commits the crime of misconduct
involving weapons in the third degree if the person (1)
knowingly possesses a deadly weapon, other than an
ordinary pocketknife, that is concealed on the person.
(b) In a prosecution under (a)(1) of this section, it is an
affirmative defense that the defendant was... (1) in the
defendant's dwelling... (2) actually engaged in hunting,
fishing, trapping, or other lawful outdoor activity that
necessarily involves the carrying of a weapon for personal
protection.

So... What is considered an ordinary pocket knife. Would a small neck knife be considered a concealed deadly weapon? I've heard several times that Alaska is pretty lax with knife laws, but I've also heard that there are certain blades you can't conceal (like fixed blades or double edged knives). I'm not planning on EDC'n a full sized Ka-Bar, but I'd like a little more elaboration on this law.

Anyone have any insight on this topic? Thanks.

 

[Ice Tigre]

the way I've always seen/heard it, is that the enforcement is lax, not the law itself, as shown by your quote the law is there. The last time I read it,-- same section IIRC too... it said anything under 3" blade concealed was legal....

So, my interpretation has always been carry anything short of a switchblade open/visible, and anything 3" blade or less concealed. Then again, I don't wear anything concealed, and even worn open, I've never been hassled for a full size kabar, or a neck knife. But thats in Fairbanks/the interior... I wouldn't try it in downtown anchorage, without asking a troopers office first.

This might not be a popular idea at this kind of forum, but I'd say go into a state trooper office, and ask for a definition - take the neck knife along-- not wearing it, or at least a picture of it-- and ask if its legal carry concealed and open- The only way for a definate answer IMO.

G.

 

[DWK2]

I once asked 4 different police/sheriffs offices here in LA and got 4 different answers---all of which were wrong. However, one useful thing you can sometimes get from LEOs is their "enforcement guideline". Two of my LEO friends were taught 4" at their academies and their offices used that as an enforcement guideline (even though it appears nowhere in the codes/statutes). The only problem is that the enforcement guideline isn't legally binding---just a good thing to know.

I don't have Ice Tigre's local knowledge but in over a dozen trips to AK (some very lengthy) I've never been hassled about a knife. Not even in Los Anchorage. So I think Ice Tigre is correct that enforcement is generally pretty lenient. But in the very unlikely event that you run in to a cop who woke up on the wrong side of the bed and decides to make an example out of you, you'll want to have a pocketknife that is indisputably "ordinary".

DancesWithKnives

 

[knerd]

Thanks for your responses, I've noticed it isn't enforced very strictly here. I live on the Kenai Peninsula and I've never been hassled for any knives I've carried, but then again I didn't carry folders that had ~4" blades. I have heard that Anchorage has some different guidelines for knives though.

I guess I could go and ask at the trooper station just as a precautionary measure in case I ever do get hassled for my blade(s).

 

[zignal_zero]

Thanks for your responses, I've noticed it isn't enforced very strictly here. I live on the Kenai Peninsula and I've never been hassled for any knives I've carried, but then again I didn't carry folders that had ~4" blades. I have heard that Anchorage has some different guidelines for knives though.

I guess I could go and ask at the trooper station just as a precautionary measure in case I ever do get hassled for my blade(s).

i know that feeling, we didn't even have LEO's in my village. children rode motorcycles to school, people carried rifles slung over shoulders, it was nice

 

[raybateson]

Los Anchorage speaking here.

To whoever it matters to know, I EDC a 6" vaquero primarily. Somedays I'll throw on a neck knife as well. The funny thing is I haven't been hassled once for either, though I've been stopped and searched at least three-dozen times in the past couple years (because now I walk much). Then again, in certain sides of anchorage at night, getting found with even the most "ordinary pocketknife" is *usually* going to be an interesting conversation with the authorities in the very least.

 

[Idaho Jarhead]

Although your municipality may differ, Alaska statues do not prohibit the carrying of a concealed weapon as long as you follow the laws for concealed carry. You DO NOT need a permit to carry.

Switchblades and knives with finger rings are illegal.

I don't think you would have a problem carrying any knife unless you either are to dork or acting like a dork.

 

[RussMo]

Although your municipality may differ, Alaska statues do not prohibit the carrying of a concealed weapon as long as you follow the laws for concealed carry. You DO NOT need a permit to carry.

Switchblades and knives with finger rings are illegal.

I don't think you would have a problem carrying any knife unless you either are to dork or acting like a dork.

IJ, Who told you about, " knives with finger rings are illegal"???

Ah found it, "AS 11.61.210. Misconduct Involving Weapons in the Fourth Degree" class A Misdemeanor

To further add go here. You have to dig a little, but it there.

Alaska Statutes.
Title 11. Criminal Law
Chapter 55. Weapons

 

[glistam]

Let's see here... Anchorage Code of Ordinances... blah blah blah...
Ah, here we go:

8.25.020 Concealed weapons
A. It is unlawful for any person other than a peace officer to knowingly carry concealed about his or her person in any manner:
...
2. A switchblade knife, gravity knife or any knife other than an ordinary folded pocket knife (one which has the blade stored in the handle and requires the bearer to physically pull the blade from the handle before it can be used), or a dirk or dagger;
3. A slingshot, metal knuckles, club, billy, blackjack or any other instrument or thing the principal purpose or use of which is as a weapon;
4. Any other instrument or thing which, because of the manner in which it is concealed and the accompanying circumstances, could reasonably be construed as being kept as a weapon or in order to achieve some violent purpose, and by which injury could be inflicted upon the person of another.
B. It is an affirmative defense in a prosecution under subsection A.1. that a defendant, under 21 years of age at the time of possession, was in the defendant's dwelling or on land owned or leased by the defendant appurtenant to the dwelling, or actually engaged in lawful hunting, fishing, trapping or other lawful outdoor activity necessarily involving carrying a weapon for personal protection.
...

Is anyone else's eye twitching in frustration that you can carry a flippin GUN in your pants but not a little dinky knife?

 

[dougo83]

i know that feeling, we didn't even have LEO's in my village. children rode motorcycles to school, people carried rifles slung over shoulders, it was nice

Where is that? My bags are still packed from Portland...I could be on a plane tonight...

 

[Idaho Jarhead]

IJ, Who told you about, " knives with finger rings are illegal"???

Ah found it, "AS 11.61.210. Misconduct Involving Weapons in the Fourth Degree" class A Misdemeanor

To further add go here. You have to dig a little, but it there.

Alaska Statutes.
Title 11. Criminal Law
Chapter 55. Weapons

Hey Russ,

I am currently dispatching at the local PD. Its a great job because everyone is a knife knut. Anywho...one of the sergeants, who knows I got it worse than anyone else, mentioned in conversation that finger rings are a no-no. I showed her a picture of the Busse Barf and she said that one might fly, but the WWII-style trench knives would not.

I don't think anyone is going to inspect your local collection, but I wouldn't carry around any finger ring knives if you value your freedom.

 

[zignal_zero]

Although your municipality may differ, Alaska statues do not prohibit the carrying of a concealed weapon as long as you follow the laws for concealed carry. You DO NOT need a permit to carry.

Switchblades and knives with finger rings are illegal.

I don't think you would have a problem carrying any knife unless you either are to dork or acting like a dork.

this is the way i understood it, as well. i hope i'm correct because my cousin still lives up there and i was telling him i don't think he's committing a crime by carrying his Springfield XD, concealed. is that correct?

i was a little concerned about the Kershaw Blur i planned on sending him for Christmas due to their switchblade law.

 

[knerd]

this is the way i understood it, as well. i hope i'm correct because my cousin still lives up there and i was telling him i don't think he's committing a crime by carrying his Springfield XD, concealed. is that correct?

i was a little concerned about the Kershaw Blur i planned on sending him for Christmas due to their switchblade law.

As long as he is of legal age he should be in the clear. As for the Blur, AO knives are perfectly legal here. I see Kershaws in my local stores all the time.


I've always interpreted the laws here as meaning you can carry knives as long as you aren't doing something illegal with them and if they aren't switchblades or gravity knives. And it looks like that's the case ftmp. I know brass knuckles are illegal so the finger ringed knives makes sense. But I'm still wondering about bali-songs, they sell them and don't question you when purchasing so I'm thinking they're legal. But in Anchorage it seems like anything other than a folding knife is illegal.

Also wouldn't a bali-song be considered a gravity knife to most LEO's?

 

[darth kcorbe]

Let's see here... Anchorage Code of Ordinances... blah blah blah...
Ah, here we go:



Is anyone else's eye twitching in frustration that you can carry a flippin GUN in your pants but not a little dinky knife?

or a fixed blade for that matter, which has the advantage of already being open regardless of how fast your auto is.
yeah, that kind of inconsistency in legislation is a big part of what motivates my "survivalist" tendencies. if they can't see the lunacy in laws like that....etc, etc...

 

[Ice Tigre]

Hey, a thought here; are double edged knives legal/illegal here in AK? As in the carry of them...

A buddy wants a couple knives for self defense and was thinking of a double edged dagger sorta deal... bad idea for SD IMO, but I got to thinking, they're highly illegal in a lot of places.

That Anch. excerpt says no daggers, but I can't find any mention anywhere as to double edged, regaurdless of shape...

Thanks fellows,
G.

 

[tom19176]

I don't like the wording of their gravity knife defintion as this is almost the same as NY and any knife that can be flicked open has been so classified when the LEO decides to do so...here is the wording posted above

"a gravity knife is one in
which the blade opens, falls into place, or is ejected
into position by the force of gravity or by centrifugal
force."

The centrifugal force has been allowed in NY to mean any circular flick that causes the knife to open. The NY law requires the blade to lock open, but this one does not. Hope they don't start to view things in the NY way in the enforcement and courts up there.

 

[glistam]

I don't like the wording of their gravity knife defintion as this is almost the same as NY and any knife that can be flicked open has been so classified when the LEO decides to do so...here is the wording posted above

"a gravity knife is one in which the blade opens, falls into place, or is ejected
into position by the force of gravity or by centrifugalforce."

The centrifugal force has been allowed in NY to mean any circular flick that causes the knife to open. The NY law requires the blade to lock open, but this one does not. Hope they don't start to view things in the NY way in the enforcement and courts up there.

That wording for gravity knives it present in many states. However, it seems to me that NY is alone in it's somewhat off-the-wall interpretation. NY courts have upheld the flicking thing, where as most other state courts threw such an interpretation out as, well, stupid and beyond the intention of the legislature.

State V. Weaver (1987) established that gravity knives are illegal, but threw the appellate's conviction out because the trial court failed to prove that the knife was, in fact, actually a gravity knife.

State v. Strange (1990) established that balisongs in Alaska are NOT gravity knives and entered a weapons expert's opinion:

At the first hearing in Fairbanks, the defendants called Wayne Ross, a local attorney, as a weapons expert to testify that the terms switchblade and gravity knife have a commonly accepted meaning in the weapons trade and that balisong or butterfly knives do not fall within either meaning. He testified that gravity knives, like switchblade knives are released by a button, but differ from switchblade knives in that they do not have a spring. Ross testified that gravity knives were developed by German paratroopers in World War II as a utility knife to cut parachute shrouds.
...
Finally, these knives do not appear to fit the common understanding of the term gravity knife or the way that the term is used in common usage. See, e.g., Quattrone, 260 Cal.Rptr. at 47-48. It is instructive that the expert testimony in Quattrone apparently paralleled the expert testimony given at the two evidentiary hearings in this case regarding the meaning of the term “gravity knife.”

The judgment of the superior court is AFFIRMED.

 

[tom19176]

glistam thanks for the added info. I know NY is anti any thing that even appears like a weapon, so I am glad to hear this is not what is happening everywhere....