Knife law clarification please

[SpartanSaint]

looking at getting a knife to carry, and i live on the minnesota/wisconsin border, and spend time in both states

googled knife laws and this is what i found:
http://knife-expert.com/wi.txt [wi]
http://knife-expert.com/mn.txt [mn]

i was hoping i could get some other people's eyes here, i don't want to get this wrong and get myself in trouble, so if you could read my following understanding of the laws and point out anything that you feel is wrong or misunderstood, i'd appreciate it

no where in either of those two places did i see a specification for length. in minnesota, it seemed relatively loose, they don't care what i have as long as its not a switchblade, and i don't have it in a school or state building or use it as a weapon against people. Wisconsin however, it seems they have a great long piece on gravity knives? the part that bothered me was the "or by gravity or by a thrust or movement is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor". i plan on buying a bm 940, with the famous axis lock. i see an awful lot of youtube videos where they are both gravity and wrist flicked open, so would the 940 be illegal in wisconsin?? also, wisconsin goes into great detail about concealed weapons, so would a knife in my pocket be concealed? how about if its clipped to the top of my pocket as it usually would be, you can obviously see the clip, but the knife itself isn't completely visible. would that be illegal??

i looked at a couple other state's laws to see if that would help me make sense of it, and i noticed that some make exceptions about length, something neither mn or wi did. so any input would be greatly appreciated

 

[artmichalek]

The 940 shouldn't run afoul of the switchblade law, since it requires both centrifugal force and force on the thumb stud to flick open. I would still not recommend opening it in that manner in public.

Something is missing in the WI statute. There's usually a paragraph defining "dangerous weapon" before the one about concealment. The most common interpretation of "concealed" is based on whether any or no identifiable parts of the knife are visible. Visible pocket clips fall under open carry.

 

[SpartanSaint]

i just wanted to make sure the 940 wasn't classified as a gravity knife lol... seems like it could be

and i was noticing that too, they both seem to be kind of incomplete.... at least minnesota has a definition, even if they don't specify length. but oh well

and the pocket clip is considered open carry? i wasn't sure on that one

 

[MORIMOTOM]

re carry options, if an identifiable portion of the item is visible, it is almost certainly going to be considered open carry.

it would be impossible to carry any item and have the entire item in view. a sheath, holster, pocket, or hand will obscure some part of it.

traditionally, a gravity knife was one that opened by pointing the blade downward and letting gravity take over or by flicking it out with wrist movement. technology has dictated that the definition be expanded, in some cases very broadly.

the bm could definitely be considered a gravity knife. the issue i see with the axis lock folders is this: by disengaging the lock, the blade will swing freely about the pivot. the spyderco ball lock is very similar and will do the same thing.