Florida knife regulations

T

tnozh

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Hi,

I have a rather primitive question probably typical for a foreigner who recently immigrated to the USA.


I am rather confused as to what the law is in Florida concering carrying knives. Surely, there must be some kind of laws limiting sizes, knife types (automatic opening), or locations. For example, I looked up http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?Mode=Search Statutes&Sub[B]menu=2[/B]&Tab=statutes and found out that knives are listed under the "concealed weapons statute". But the type fo knife is not specified (unless I missed something which is possible, the search engine was down a lot while I was looking through these statues). So what does it mean, a small Swiss Army knife with a 1,5 inch blade in my pocket would require a concealed weapons permit? Surely not.

==>But then, will I get in trouble if a carry a 3,5 inch blade folding utility knife like, for example, a Benchmark Doug Ritter RSM Mk1?<==

And who makes the decision anyway? The police, the Sheriff department, the State cops, the FBI, Parks & Recreation, Fish & Wildlife, the Coastguard, the State Troopers, or each and every one in their own jurisdiction? What about overlapping jurisdiction like Sheriff's department and police?

(-: I won't even mention Homeland Security, or the TSA in airports/railways stations & trains :-)

Alternatively, do citizens simply have to accept the subjective opinion of whatever official from any of these branches of government they encounter and count on their understanding and kindness?! Surely not either...

Anyway, if any among you are Floridians or knowledgeable about Florida laws, I would really appreciate getting some info!

Many thanks in advance!

TN

PS: here is the statute with got me so perplexed: (excerpt - emphasis edded)

790.06 License to carry concealed weapon or firearm.--

(1) The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is authorized to issue licenses to carry concealed weapons or concealed firearms to persons qualified as provided in this section. Each such license must bear a color photograph of the licensee. For the purposes of this section, concealed weapons or concealed firearms are defined as a handgun, electronic weapon or device, tear gas gun, knife, or billie, but the term does not include a machine gun as defined in s. 790.001(9). Such licenses shall be valid throughout the state for a period of 5 years from the date of issuance. Any person in compliance with the terms of such license may carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm notwithstanding the provisions of s. 790.01. The licensee must carry the license, together with valid identification, at all times in which the licensee is in actual possession of a concealed weapon or firearm and must display both the license and proper identification upon demand by a law enforcement officer. Violations of the provisions of this subsection shall constitute a noncriminal violation with a penalty of $25, payable to the clerk of the court.
 
We have a Knife Laws Forum here on Bladeforums. You might be able to find answers in there. I will request that this thread get moved into that forum.
 
Nice avatar!

I looked at the other forum, but did not find the info I was looking for.

If at all possible, I would request that this post not be moved since there are far more viewings here than there.

[can a thread be only echoed/copied on the other forum?]

Thanks!

TN
 
Hey TN,


I've moved this thread to the appropriate forum for the topic you've brought up. Those with knife law knowledge hang out here and should be able to respond to your request.
 
Moving ...

Yes, there are more people on the Blade Discussion forum. There are even more people on forums discussing popular television shows.... It's better to ask where there are people who know the answer than where there are lots of people but they know nothing about it. :cool:
 
Here is the law in Florida in regards to knives:

790.001. Definitions.
(3)(a) "Concealed weapon" means any dirk, metallic knuckles, slungshot, billie, tear gas gun, chemical weapon or device, or other deadly weapon carried on or about a person in such a manner as to conceal the weapon from the ordinary sight of another person.

(13) "Weapon" means any dirk, metallic knuckles, slungshot, billie, tear gas gun, chemical weapon or device, or other deadly weapon except a firearm or a common pocketknife.

The carry permit allows you to carry what is legally considered a "weapon". Subsection 13 ctates that a "common" pocketknife is not a weapon.
 
http://www.thehighroad.org/library/blades/knifelaws.html

This might help.

It's my understanding that (as Shootist mentioned) is that a "common pocketknife" is okay, and not considered a concealed weapon. If you try to look up the definition of "common pocketknife", you'll find a big void, which means it depends on the officer on the street, and/or a trial to decide. I carried a Benchmade AFCK for years in Florida, and was never once questioned about it poking out of my pocket. I would do so again without worrying about it.

If you are going to be in FL for a long time, consider getting a concealed weapons license. Then you can carry a Busse Battle Mistress concealed under your jacket with no worries. :D

It's also apparently legal to carry just about anything openly in Florida, but I've never talked to anyone who has done so. I would imagine some people would get nervous seeing that, so were I to do that, I would "hide it in plain sight" somehow.

Good luck!
 
FoxholeAtheist said:
http://www.thehighroad.org/library/blades/knifelaws.html

This might help.

(...)

It's also apparently legal to carry just about anything openly in Florida, but I've never talked to anyone who has done so. I would imagine some people would get nervous seeing that, so were I to do that, I would "hide it in plain sight" somehow.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Yes, this did help. Thank you!

The amazing thing is that in most countries it would be the other way around, i.e., carrying a weapon in plain sight would be considered highly provocative and would get the immediate (and hostile) attention of the cops.

Now the question becomes: if a carry my knife on inside my pants with just the top of the knife and the belt clip sticking out - is it "concealed" or "in plain sight"?! (Carrying a knife on a clip *ouside* is inconvenient since it risks falling off more readily (in particular if it the clip hooks some doorhandle or whatever). Maybe I should carry it in my pocket, but with the belt clip sticking out..., but then this makes the "weapon" concealed and only puts the belt clip in "pain sight".

Any suggestions are welcome!

Thanks & cheers

TN
 
i was just talking to a guy at a knife show yesterday who was telling me autos are legal, and bali's are iffy. he also told me that 4 inches is the limit, and that i would be okay with an AFCK, however this other knife he held up for comparison was merely a smidgen over the AFCK (you could barely telll) and that it was not legal. i think odds are if a cop wants your knife he's going to get it unless its a SAK, and it's going to be a hassle to get it back (if you even can)
 
what's a "bali"?! the only one I know is an island (really beautiful), in Indonesia (if anyone goes there, stay away from Kuta & make sure you go to the north part). anyway - surely Bali is not outlawed :-)

SAK? "Swiss Army Knife"? "Stop all Killing"? Server Appliance Kit"? or "Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjarjesto" (Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions)

just kidding (again)
 
Man, this should be a sticky.

To clarify:
Common pocketknife does not apply to balis or autos. You may buy them, but you cannot carry them without a ccw, as they are considered weapons.

Also,
whenever concealed carry is legislated, open carry becomes illegal. There are counties spread around the south that allow you to carry anything openly, they are not in florida.

Your Ritter, or any regular pocketknife like that, is fine for any method of carry you prefer. You can also call the police station, or SO to get a little more info, but beware, they may be idiots relating to knife law.
 
"...whenever concealed carry is legislated, open carry becomes illegal..."

Okay, I have you telling me this, and the link I provided telling me that I can openly carry a knife in Florida. Care to elaborate?
 
I'm sorry-Concealed carry applies to weapons, not a common pocketknife. When states allow for the issuance of Carry of a Concaled Weapon permit, generally, open carry of a firearm is made illegal. Yes, it was legal in a few states to carry a firearm openly with no permit.

Your pocketknife is not a weapon, so it is not subject to the same regulations, and you can carry however you like within size limits.

Hope that clears it up.


For example of open carry of a firearm being legal:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50416-2004Jul14.html
 
so dijos, in your opinion is an 806 legal or illegal and does it matter if its open or not? what about smaller locking folders, is there a certain length before it becomes a weapon?
 
I think that the limit for length is determined by the municipality. Generally, I've read that limits hover around 3". Although, I carry 2-3 knives all over the place, including a gunting (nearly impossible to hide) and on campus, until I graduated. I've never been hassled at all, regardless of length, and that includes 806-length knives. I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV. FL is pretty liberal about weapons, in comparison to a lot of the country, but I believe that a locking knife of ~4" should be OK.

Edited to add:
I don't know when a common pocketknife becomes a weapon. I believe that they could be considered dangerous objects. Look up FL v clyde buxler, the statutory law is long and most of his case is about appealing a decision to wrongly classify a knife as a weapon.
 
Dijos said:
Your pocketknife is not a weapon, so it is not subject to the same regulations, and you can carry however you like within size limits.
Click to expand...

Hi Dijos,

Let me add a comment here: as far as I can tell, Florida law says nothing about the size of a knife. It does only speak of "common pocket knife". So this suggests that the knife's legality does depend on two things:

1) it has to be carrying in a pocket
2) it has to be "common"

now what the heck does that mean?!?!? Obviously, "pocket knife" is close to impossible do define and "common" is probably totally impossible to define.

I would add that there are countries in which knives which can be opened with one hand are illegal (whether these are automatic or not), or in which blades over a specific size are illegal. Lastly, there are countries which limits the location where one can carry a knife or the purpose for carryign it. I like none of these, but at least these are definable.


But "common pocket knife" really is undefinable and this is no jocking matter. I looked up the crime on a database, and it turns out that carrying a concealed "weapon" (*any* knife besides a "common pocket knife") is a first degree misdemeanour punishable by up to one year in jail. Now if you hear about the luxourious accomodations provided in Floridian jails and the friendly tenants living there, not to mention the dog-assisted, billy-club waving landlords, this is an awefully unpleasant experience to undergo beause some unlucky combination of cop and judge decided that a "common pocket knife"'s definition does not include a Ritter RSK.

What a lawyer would do is look into how this law has been applied by the courts. So here is my question: does anyone know of actual cases of anyone charged with carrying a knife (whether concealed or not) and who has been charged and convicted for it?

Kind regards,

TN
 
very scary stuff... untill this clears up i'll be using my vic soldier. no way i'll leave this to the cops and judges around here. btw i called the local police dept. it rang with no answer. i called the non emergency line and they gave me another dept. number which rang without answer. the funny part is my dad works in community drug prevention with kids etc. and he works with all gov. agencies. i would ask him to ask his buddies at work but he already disapproves of it (he's a NKP)
 
Well, I wouldn't fret too terribly much. Back a few years ago, I carried a Delica around UF campus for a while, and in more recent years, my AFCK around the PJC (Pensacola Jr Coll) campus, with no problems at either place. I carried an AFCK for years (work, school, banks, malls, etc) with nary a worry because I generally stayed out of situations where people would be concerned with someone carrying a pocketknife. A lot depends on your demeanor and actions, honestly.

That having been said, I would like to see the law more carefully written, as long as it doesn't involve outlawing one-handed openers or (as in Canada) any knife that can conceivably be opened without touching the blade.

As a show that not all cops are a-holes about this, soon after I moved to Massachusetts for a year, these three state police (violent criminal unit, no less) came to the house where I was living looking for some felon who had given that address (erroneously) as his home address. After verifying that I wasn't the guy they were looking for, I took the opportunity to ask them about carrying my AFCK and they said "no problems at all".
 
ok i just got through finally, to miami springs PD and talked to a police officer... before i forget here is what he said:

a knife under 3.5 inches that is not a switchblade or self propelled is legal. i asked him about a butterfly knife and he said "well yes that would be legal, however i have never seen a switchblade under 3.5 inches" and i kind of chuckled and said yeah they're around. that alone kind of puts doubts in my mind, but then again i'm glad to get an opinion. i also asked if he would typically take somebody down just for a knife in violation or if it would be for piling charges on someone and he just said "yeah." and dont forget it totally depends on the individual cop and whether he's in a bad mood.

edit: finally after going through a maze of telephone numbers i got through to the kendall dept. just now and he basically confirmed the above^ as long as the blade is not a switchblade and under 3.5 inches it is considered a common *pocket* knife and is completely legal. also, you do not need to have it clipped or visible or whatever nonsense it can be completely in your pocket as it is after all, a common *pocket* knife. he was kind of being a dick and put emphasis on POCKET every time :rolleyes: i also confirmed that a balisong is legal if the blade is under 3.5 inches. both cops were really jerks, like well no **** if a butterfly knife isn't a switchblade then DUH its legal.... wahtever.

oh, i also asked what would happen if a person had a SAK (or similar non locking knife) over 3.5 inches: he said well then they would be taken down for concealed weapons.... ow.
 
neosporin said:
ok i just got through finally, to miami springs PD and talked to a police officer... before i forget here is what he said: a knife under 3.5 inches that is not a switchblade or self propelled is legal.(...) i also asked if he would typically take somebody down just for a knife in violation or if it would be for piling charges on someone and he just said "yeah." and dont forget it totally depends on the individual cop and whether he's in a bad mood. (...) oh, i also asked what would happen if a person had a SAK (or similar non locking knife) over 3.5 inches: he said well then they would be taken down for concealed weapons.... ow.
Click to expand...


Benchmade 812SBT Mini-AFCK balde length: 3.25''
Buck Tempest BU-295RD blade length: 3.25"
EDI Genesis blade length: 3.9"
Benchmade AFCK BM800SBT blade length: 3.9"
Benchmade Doug Ritter's RSK Mk1 blade length: 3.44"
Kershaw's Ken Onion Boa KE-1580/1580ST blade length: 3.5"
A. G. Russell™ StrikeForce Folding Camp Knife blade length: 3.75"

and I could go on for much more.

According to the copper you spoke to all these knives are illegal due to their blade size (not to mention that they are also locking) even though Florida law says nothing about blade sizes (or locking). That's quite depressing and frankly scary.
 
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