Current Knife Law info...

J

J2X

Joined
May 5, 2013
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Sorry if I missed it while conducting a search.

I am in need of a listing (here or external site) covering all current U.S. knife, sword, and edged tool (multitools, etc.) laws. Not only for myself, but for some friends and family in NYC and LA.
A friend in LA is in dire need of a close quarters blade. She has a sword, but not a good one and lives with two roommates that are useless in a fight, much less anything else. Apartment setting, works at night, and has to use public transport and/or a bicycle. She is one tough cookie though. I was thinking a small quality kitchen knife at the least, self made sheath.

Then there's a friend in NYC who got his arse handed to him by the NYPD. The knife was part of his everyday job, besides for self protection and his family while out. There's a bad feeling he's going to be made an example of. Damn. What was once a clean record is now smeared with shi...mud.

On top of all that, some family down here in Free America have to visit NYC in the coming months. Myself included. I'm going to be an Uncle for the first time!!! I'm too pretty for jail by the way. :D
 
J2X said:
I am in need of a listing (here or external site) covering all current U.S. knife, sword, and edged tool (multitools, etc.) laws.
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That's next to impossible. Each of the 50 states has it's own laws on the matter. There are a handful of websites out there that try to list it all, but I have found them to be out of date or inaccurate. I can provide detailed info on the areas you mentioned though.

For Los Angeles, you have to keep in mind that a person in that city must follow California State law too. Under state law, a folding knife of any size is perfectly legal and can be carried concealed or openly. Any fixed-blade knife must be carried openly in a belt sheath; they cannot be carried concealed. California has no restrictions on what you can own in your home. She can legally keep a broadsword under her pillow for all the law cares. Los Angeles prohibits open carry of any knife with a blade over 3 inches. When combined with state law, this means while she's in LA she can still carry any folder she wants concealed, but if carrying a fixed blade it has to be under 3 inches and carried openly.

NYC I usually don't touch, but put simply, any knife openly carried is illegal. Period. Even a keychain swiss army knife. If the NYPD sees it, it's illegal. Knives carried concealed must be folders, must have blades under 4", and must not lock in the open position (due to an MORONIC court decision that labels all knives that lock as "illegal gravity knives" because of a poorly worded statute.)
 
Much thanks glistam, I'll pass on the information. I was hoping there was a database similar to the NRA-ILA one pertaining to firearms, just knife oriented. I just realized I haven't visited that source in some time. Need to check that too...

Regarding NYC, their 'lock' portion of current law was the main thing that landed my friend in trouble. It blows my mind. I'm happy I vacated the place for so many reasons.

My LA friend will be happy to know what she can do legally. I can send her some suggestions on what models/types now.
 
J2X, first check out this website: www.kniferights.com and second, have your friend in NYC get in touch with Doug Ritter of Knife Rights. He may be able to help.

The whole idea behind the current NYC knife crackdown is to make examples of individuals, to terrorize the population.
 
What was your friend charged with in NYC? Locking blades them selves are NOT illegal, but if you can flick it open it is then a gravity knife ( or so it is said to be for now).
 
tom19176 said:
What was your friend charged with in NYC? Locking blades them selves are NOT illegal, but if you can flick it open it is then a gravity knife ( or so it is said to be for now).
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Wait wait, let me do my Carnac impression :)

He was just minding his own business doing nothing suspicious at all when the pocket clip of his knife was seen by a member of the NYPD. The officer detained him, took out his knife, grasped it by its blade and repeatedly swung it through the air very hard, nearly taking his own thumb off in the process until finally the handle's weight swung away from the blade far enough for the lock to barely engage. Then kept the knife and gave your friend a citation for criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
 
Esav Benyamin, .com would not work. But .org did. That's the correct site, yes? Anyway, THANKS! Bookmarked.

tom19176, locks are allowed? I thought that changed at some point in NYC.

Whoa, glistam, you have part of that account right. He had just finished his shift and was coming back from the local grocer/market with his wife and young son. The LEO's saw the clip in his right front pocket, stopped him, then the fun began. I heard the lock (liner) and the fact it was "easy to open" was at least part of the arrest and charge(s).
Criminal possession? Check. What degree? I don't know currently. Hopefully I'll find out more about this mess.
 
J2X said:
Esav Benyamin, .com would not work. But .org did. That's the correct site, yes? Anyway, THANKS! Bookmarked.

tom19176, locks are allowed? I thought that changed at some point in NYC.

Whoa, glistam, you have part of that account right. He had just finished his shift and was coming back from the local grocer/market with his wife and young son. The LEO's saw the clip in his right front pocket, stopped him, then the fun began. I heard the lock (liner) and the fact it was "easy to open" was at least part of the arrest and charge(s).
Criminal possession? Check. What degree? I don't know currently. Hopefully I'll find out more about this mess.
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It's not so much the lock per se. I will explain. The New York State law on knife carry is outlined below. I've removed some parts that aren't relevant just for sake of brevity, but if you want to see the whole statute go here: http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS
§ 265.01 Criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
A person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree when:
(1) He or she possesses any firearm, electronic dart gun, electronic stun gun, gravity knife, switchblade knife, pilum ballistic knife, metal knuckle knife, cane sword, billy, blackjack, bludgeon, plastic knuckles, metal knuckles, chuka stick, sand bag, sandclub, wrist-brace type slingshot or slungshot, shirken or "Kung Fu star"; or
(2) He possesses any dagger, dangerous knife, dirk, razor, stiletto, imitation pistol, or any other dangerous or deadly instrument or weapon with intent to use the same unlawfully against another; or
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§ 265.00 Definitions.
5. "Gravity knife" means any knife which has a blade which is released from the handle or sheath thereof by the force of gravity or the application of centrifugal force which, when released, is locked in place by means of a button, spring, lever or other device.
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The gravity knife definition was originally intended to prohibit Nazi German Paratrooper knives that literally "fall" open and lock. The problem with the definition is it's unintentionally inclusive of any locking knife you can "flick" open via inertia. To explain: some modern folders have sufficiently mobile pivots that if you swing them through the air hard in a small arc, the blade will swing open without being touched. All other states in the US with such gravity knife laws have ruled this does not count as a gravity knife because it would effectively ban totally normal knives like Buck 110s that have been around for 100 years. However in New York the courts not only allowed it to include normal knives that are "flickable," they actually ruled that even if it can be opened by grasping the blade and swinging, that it still counts as a gravity knife. Nearly any folder can be opened this way because the handle has far greater mass than the blade, and the courts allow the officer in court to try over and over again to flick it until he succeeds. This in effect bans all locking knives unless it has a peculiar mechanism or a really tight pivot that can withstand 30 minute of abuse without loosening. Knives that don't lock, like Swiss Army Knives, don't count.
 
.org !

What I find especially frustrating about NYC's gravity knife policy is this. We know laws often derive from prejudice or misunderstanding. But laws against true gravity knives do have a rationale. You can hold one surreptitiously, press the release and click! you have an open blade, and you hardly moved or gave a sign you deployed it.

That is garishly untrue with an officer flailing wildly again and again to get the blade to move. Hardly a tactic to gain an advantage in a fight.
 
Thanks everyone for the help.

Jeez. I remember the 'old' Times Square and Chinatown, back when you could buy all that stuff.
It's weird you mentioned the Buck 110 glistam. I have my fathers and there are some funny stories connected to it. Like the time we went to the U.N. many, many moons ago and...

Ah, good times.
 
J2X put your friend in touch with Kniferights as they are fighting this in court now. Was he using the knife for work? which Boro of NYC was this in? The law has not changed since your China Town/Times Square days but enforcement has. Let us know more details when you have them. The charge would either be NYC Admin code 10-133 ( for the exposed knife or over 4" blade) or NYS PL code 265.01 ( CPW4 for a "gravity knife"). If he was given a summons then it could only have been the Admin code as the PL requires him being handcuffed and booked these days ( and most likely held over night).....
 
I will pass the kniferights.org information on to him and his wife.
This went down in Queens. I'm trying to get as much info as I can. What bothers them the most is not the arrest, etc. It is what their son is going through. The poor kid is trying to make sense of what happened. :(
 
Queens is second only to Manhattan in this enforcement. The Queens DA actually went to a jury trial over calling an Assisted opener a switchblade- the jury found it was not. I find it rather insane that an officer would make a stop never mind an arrest of a man with his wife and child for a possible knife law violation. Tell him to take it very seriously and not to plead guilty to anything without talking to a lawyer/KnifeRights.
 
It's been some time since I was able to post here. I fell very ill and was not able to do many things. Long story.
Anyway...
During conversation, my friend in NYC requested I not post anything further regarding his fun with certain members of the NYPD.
He recently stated it was alright to say that legal cousel was retained immedieatly after the incident, and it looks like pretty much everything will be dropped soon. So, it looks like there's going to be a happy end to this!
Thanks all for the help.
 
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