Illinois laws - what should I know?

No autos, no daggers, and in Chicago only, no pocket knives 3" or over (but this is not strictly enforced, eg they won't stop you for a pocket clip etc in my experience -

best

mqqn
 
Three-inch limit statewide. Two-and-a-half inch limit in Chicago.

Each individual town and municipality may have varying length restrictions.

The People's Republic of Illinois is not very gun-friendly, nor knife-friendly.
 
There is no law that limits you to a 3" blade in Illinois - commonly misconstrued from the "armed with a dangerous weapon" statute - 720 ILCS 5/33A-1 (2013) Legislative intent and definitions

If you commit a felony, and you have a knife that is 3" or greater, then you can also be charged with carrying a dangerous weapon under the statute.

Illinois is actually not too bad in terms of the knife law, [edit] the length of[/edit] what you can carry is not legislated; it is the intent and only in play if you also commit a crime while carrying said knife.

You are not in violation of any Illinois state law when carrying a knife with a 3" or greater blade except that when you commit a crime, you now can be charged with carrying a dangerous weapon if the knife you have is 3" or over.

You can get advice from a lawyer who is familiar with the weapons laws in Illinois if you think you will have interaction with law enforcement and it will become an issue.

best

mqqn
 
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In the state of Illinois, it’s legal to own and carry, either open or concealed, balisongs, disguised knives, throwing knives, Bowies and other large knives.

The state of Illinois has only banned the possession of throwing stars, switchblades, ballistic knives and knives that open with a press of a button. You can carry, open and concealed, any knife as long as it’s not banned and you don’t intend to harm someone or commit a crime with it.
 
Techknives.com said:
In the state of Illinois, it’s legal to own and carry, either open or concealed, balisongs, disguised knives, throwing knives, Bowies and other large knives.

The state of Illinois has only banned the possession of throwing stars, switchblades, ballistic knives and knives that open with a press of a button. You can carry, open and concealed, any knife as long as it’s not banned and you don’t intend to harm someone or commit a crime with it.
Click to expand...

Yes - exactly - I amended my previous post as one line seemed to indicate that there was no restriction - but the above is correct.

best

mqqn
 
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