I hear schools are knife free zones in Illinois

[marshall3]

Let me start by saying that I don't think high school kids and younger should have knives at school but this applies to college campuses as well. I have only been able to find law that mentions dangerous knives( in Illinois knives with 3 inch and over blades) but alot of websites claim schools are knife free zones. I think it's messed up that the college kids are old enough to join the military and a lot of them old enough to to own a handgun and become a cop. Either way old enough to die for your country but still to young to have a chef's knife in your dorm room to prepare meals.

 

[stonemedusa6264]

What if you go to school to be a cook? I'm assuming it's not exactly like that. It's probably more of how and where you can carry a knife.

 

[Rich S]

No knife zone is pretty much country wide for public schools and a few colleges. I carried a knife since 3rd grade through grad school and for 30+ years of college teaching. Today I'd get arrested for carrying a blade at any of those places. Sad.

 

[The Hawk]

I agree with you. However, it is the law and should be followed unless you want problem. I got a job as a substitute teacher after I retired from a career in law enforcement. I went from wearing a bullet resistant vest and carrying a high capacity .40 Glock as well as a couple knives, to not being allowed (per federal and state law) to even carry a pocket knife.
Your best bet would be to get something in writing from the school allowing you to have a cooking knife.

 

[marshall3]

I think if you rent a dorm room I think you should have renters rights and be allowed to own as many legal guns as you like. One gentleman mentioned cooks, you can get an exemption from the chief security officer. To the other gentleman I cannot find any federal laws about possession of a knife on a schools property. There may be laws against possession of a weapon but prove my knife is a weapon. It clearly wasn't designed as one. And as far as I can determine the unlawful use of weapons statute outlaws possession and storage of any dangerous knife on school property. A dangerous knife is defined by Illinois law as one with a 3 inch or greater blade. I still cannot find a state law criminalizing possession of any knife on school property. The section of uuw statute cited forbids possession of a gun while hooded or something.

 

[chriscrawfordphoto]

Retired teacher here. Schools, both K-12 and college/university, generally forbid the carrying of weapons on campus by anyone except law enforcement. That label applies to all guns, but it is a little murkier when it comes to knives since many knives are designed for non-violent tasks like cutting up food. When I was in college, majoring in fine art, a lot of us art students had knives used as tools for making art and no one would have had us arrested for it. When I was a high school English teacher, a lot of us kept kitchen knives in our desks for cutting up fruit and other foods. Certainly, these knives could have been used to hurt people; but those in charge were smart enough to know that these were not 'weapons.' You would not want to carry a dagger or a SOG Bowie at school since those are clearly designed to be used as weapons.

I live and worked in Indiana, though. A conservative state with more common-sense views of guns and knives than Illinois.