Carry Laws in NYC

tonyricciardi

tonyricciardi

Joined
Nov 30, 2012
Messages
101
It always seems to be murky, but does anyone know where I could find a clear and concise carry law for NYC? I want to make sure my EDC is within limits.
Thanks.
 
New York Penal Law Section 265.15

If you want to save yourself the trouble of googling+reading, the knife can't be over four inches, NO PART of it can be in view of others, unless your using the knife at that moment, and it cant open with any applied force that doesnt involve the thumb stud (ie: wrist flick).
 
The best advice one can get regarding knife carry in New York City is: don't.

We do have a separate forum here on bladeforums dedicated just to knife laws. You'll probably get a more through answer if you post your question there.
 
My EDC are all Spyderco's with blades under 3", but I'm always unsure about it. I read about the Paragon bust a few years ago.
 
The law seems to allow them, but ... the Manhattan District Attorney claims that any knife that can be opened by centrifugal force can be considered a gravity knife.

Holding a Spyderco by the opening hole and snapping outward by wrist action will open the blade = gravity knife.

Practically speaking, NYPD officers have been trained to consider any locking knife to be a gravity knife. If a court throws out the arrest, great -- but the knife owner still has to go through the associated agonies.
 
Spyderco UKPK variants work great to get around these laws in NYC. For the edification of everyone else that's not from This area, this BS is only in the city, elsewhere in NY state, the knife laws aren't nearly as bad.
 
So what about a fixed blade. It's a gravity knife? I hold it. I let go. It falls to the ground. Seriously though, is a fixed blade legal in NYC? I'm in the city all the time.

BTW, no knives at the Empire State Building. A street vendor made a pirate sword out of balloons for my 5 year old and when we went in the Empire State Building for the tour, they confiscated it.
 
Fixed blades are legal by th same rules as folders: under 4" blade, completely concealed. But be aware a police officer may decide it looks like a dangerous weapon anyway.

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Esav Benyamin said:
Fixed blades are legal by th same rules as folders: under 4" blade, completely concealed. But be aware a police officer may decide it looks like a dangerous weapon anyway.

Support KnifeRights. www.kniferights.org
Click to expand...
True. Best bet is to choose a knife with a conventional blade profile. If I lived in NYC or had regular dealings there, my carry knife of choice would likely be a CS "Pendleton Hunter". It has a 3.5" fixed blade of traditional sporting style (no tanto points or serrations). Its small size would allow for easy concealment; a must-do in NYC. Just my $0.02 worth!
 
Another thing to add, it cannot lock.
Quoted from Doug Ritter himself.
 
Just don't let anybody see it, or you can still get charged... Read back on the forum, it's happened. A guy had a SAK on a keychain lanyard IIRC.
 
Just got stopped and frisked by a group of 3 officers (three! two more came later on) yesterday at around 6 PM in Union Square when I was crossing the street because I had an Spyderco Endura clipped to my pocket; mind you my pants were black and the knife and clip are black too. Not exactly advertising it. I was with my brother and we were going to get dinner after seeing the Christmas market. We both look more or less like the average college aged kid. One of the officers grabbed the knife from my pocket and opened it by holding the blade and flicking open the handle which he then labeled as a "gravity knife" even though you can do that with basically any folding knife. They actually were about to cuff me and send me to central booking to have me processed before I told them I spent 3 years as a police explorer in New Jersey. They gave me a summons in NY Criminal Court instead and confiscated my knife. I'd say I was being very polite and cooperative but I guess that doesn't matter anymore.

Seriously? 5 cops to detain 2 kids walking around Union Square? Meanwhile in Far Rockaway people get jumped coming out of the train station every night. Where are the police then? What really gets me is that they wanted to slap me with a criminal record. C'mon, I gave 3 years of service to the police dept. as an explorer getting cussed at by angry soccer moms, directing traffic, and all sorts of thankless jobs FOR FREE.

The knife laws of NYC in particular are pretty basic. Don't carry. NYPD will find a way to call it a "gravity knife" or whatever they want really and they'll f--- you over with it, even a SAK or as someone mentioned before a Spyderco UKPK. In fact, since the UKPKs look so much like any other folding knife, I doubt they'll even think twice about the fact that it doesn't lock. Stay safe out there guys, and don't live in New York City unless you like being told what to do every second of your life.
 
Was the summons written up as a violation of NYC AD Code 10-133? They did not need to take the knife for that charge. Yes, you were lucky they did not take you for CPW 4 for a "gravity knife". You were smart to speak of your past police activity......Sad very sad......Mayor Mike has created a place were freedom is not a word to descibe NYC life.....Any NYPD officers with time are all counting their days to retirement and the new officers are a number driven police department that is not allowed to think freely under the constant threat of a bad work evaluation.....
 
Really? So the confiscation of my first knife that I got for my birthday 2 years ago wasn't necessary. Great. And yes, 10-133c. I read the statue and it seems to allow a huge amount of play with its interpretation. I was told the judge would probably throw the case out but I've heard otherwise from others on the forums. Are you LE tom19176?
 
The law you were given a summons for states that the method of carry was not legal but has nothing to do with the knife being illegal. If you make an illegal left turn do they take your car when they give you a ticket? No. Chances are the officer feels he gave you a break and "took" your knife as he felt he could have arrested you for an illegal knife since he could flick it open and it locks....Did he voucher it? Maybe. I would not persue its return, but he did not have to take it for the law he accused you of breaking. As for what could happen when you go to court....A fine is most liklely, a dismissal is possible (ACD), but less likely lately. There was another recent case like yours on this site so do a search for the details. Manhattan is the hardest of the five boros on this charge, so assume you will pay a fine. Like it or not, you DID break a NYC Admin Code as silly as it maybe......
 
tom19176 said:
Like it or not, you DID break a NYC Admin Code as silly as it maybe......
Click to expand...

Oh I'm not denying that fact. My permanent residence is in rural New Jersey so being a creature of habit, I didn't really go look into NYC statute as well as I should have. I guess I am to blame for that but then again I didn't see myself being considered a "high risk" perp. Not going to pursue it's return, I know enough about confiscated articles to know not to open that can or worms. I just praying this won't show up as a criminal complaint on my record. Finding a job is gonna be hard enough as is......
 
The charge the summons was written for is a VIOLATION in NY law which is a step below a criminal offense. Confirm this before accepting any plea for this charge, but the penalty for it falls into the defintion of a violation and not a crime. The NYC Admin code has violations of different levels within it, but it fails to clearly define what status they fall in as the Penal Law does. A summons is not an arrest but made in lieu of an arrest, and most applications ask if you have ever been convicted of a crime, or felony. This should not be either of those, and the only applications I have seen that have questions about this low level type of offense are ones that deal with law enforcement jobs.
 
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