Legal knife size

A

Airmid

Joined
May 11, 2000
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Does anyone know what the legal blade size is in the state of Ohio? This would be for a folding, locking blade? Thanks.
 

4 inches.

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KSwinamer

Atheism....A non-prophet organization
 
I looked up the Ohio Revised Code on the internet and could not find any reference to knife blade length. The only knife that I found listed as illegal was a balistic knife. However, that does not mean that there are not listing for legal/illegal knives, I just didn't find any.

Originally posted by Airmid:
Does anyone know what the legal blade size is in the state of Ohio? This would be for a folding, locking blade? Thanks.
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Since we are discussing knife size, I have some questions for LEOs out there.

Most state laws address what is the maximum legal to carry knife blade length. But most of them don't specify how the blade length is to be determined or measured. Might sound like a moot point but such an issue could mean the difference between being prosecuted or not.
So all of you LEOs former LEOs or others who might know:

As an LEO were you ever instructed on how to measure a knife blade to determine whether or not the knife was legal?

If not, and circumstances required you determine the length of a knife blade, how did you do so?

As an LEO were you ever instructed in identifying the various type of illegal knives?

For example, do you know what a dagger, dirk, or poniard is?

Have any of you as an LEO arrested anyone specifically for carrying an illegal knife?

I'm not trying to split hairs or sharpshoot anyone, I really have an interest in this for the reasons stated.

Thanks.
 
Welcome to the forums Airmid!
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oHIo knife laws are easy ones, it's the oHIo cities that are tough:

Automatics (switchblade) and Gravity (butterfly) Knives are Illegal period!

That's about all she wrote! NO BLADE LENGTH RESTRICTIONS for the State of OHIO unless you are in a Federal or State Gov. Facility. To be safe, don't even carry a knife in one of these facilities!

The tricky part is each city has their own laws and some don't have any.

Cities determine what you can carry as far as blade length goes and some cities don't even allow locking folders. Go figure!

So, if you are traveling through oHIo, what ever the city you are in at the time, that's what you have to go by, legally that is!

This excludes governmental facilities, there are even different laws there as well!

(THIS IS WHAT A POLICE FRIEND OF MINE TOLD ME and also what I could find in the OHIO staturts.)

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" Knife Collectors Are Sharp People - Most of the time that is! "
 
Also make note: It is also illegal to carry a knife of any kind in any public school in Ohio as well. This the law does frown on big time if caught with a knife on school property! Just as bad as speeding in a school zone, there usually is no way out of it once you are nabbed!

Mark

 
I'm a LEO, in the military. We enforce federal and mil law. We measure the blade from where the blade actually starts, not from where the tang, or the slab used for the pivot point protrudes from the handle. Most of the time as long as it's a folder you will be left alone. It's mostly the Dirk's or (Daggers) we are concearned with. It's also how the situation presents itself. Did we find it at a murder scene, in your hands, or were you whittling with it when you were approached. Rule of thumb. don't go flashing your defensive partner around, and when asked by a LEO if you have a weapon on you tell him where it is. If you are a liar I become a confiscator.
 

Oops, sorry I confused oHIo with Kansas, that's what I get for being a Canadian
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KSwinamer

Atheism....A non-prophet organization
 
By "from where the blade actually starts" I assume you mean from where it starts OUTSIDE of the handle? Perhaps a better way to put it is that you measure the exposed blade - that part of the blade that is outside of the handle??? Or do you measure the entire blade length, including all of the blade that is inside the handle? Sorry to be so picky but as a LEO you understand the consequences that the length that is inside the handle can make a LOT of difference.

The military was one place where I actually saw them measure a knife blade and they did it with a metal rule which is more accurate.

But they never really messed with us much, especially for pocketknives. I saw some pretty wicked looking combat knives in the field. Most commanders allowed them though.

BTW, did you receive any training on identification of illegal knives and how to measure blade length? Most people have no idea what a dirk is for example.

What branch? Reitred Army here.

Thanks.

Originally posted by L_Kann:
I'm a LEO, in the military. We enforce federal and mil law. We measure the blade from where the blade actually starts, not from where the tang, or the slab used for the pivot point protrudes from the handle. Most of the time as long as it's a folder you will be left alone. It's mostly the Dirk's or (Daggers) we are concearned with. It's also how the situation presents itself. Did we find it at a murder scene, in your hands, or were you whittling with it when you were approached. Rule of thumb. don't go flashing your defensive partner around, and when asked by a LEO if you have a weapon on you tell him where it is. If you are a liar I become a confiscator.
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Sorry, let me clarify. The blade is measured from where the actual sharpened portion starts. Not the part that isn't sharpened and protruding from the handle.
If I wanted to be a hard #%$ about it, I could measure the whole thing and get away with it using a probable cause statement. The laws vs. the " Grey areas " are tricky. Just be careful. And the number 1 thing is be polite to LEO's. Don't give excuses, we hate that.
 
Ultimately, it doesn't really matter how a police officer measures the blade length. The officer can arrest you, but he can't convict you. It's more important to worry about how a prosecutor measures the blade length.

There was a case here in Colorado where a defendant was caught with a concealed folder. Knives with blades over 3.5" can be considered concealed weapons in this state. The defendant argued that his knife was legal because the blade was exactly 3.5" long. The prosecution, however, argued that the blade length should be measured from the pivot joint to the tip, which made the blade of this folder well over 3.5" long.

Of course, this method of measurment is absurd; what you're really measuring is the tang and a portion of the handle. Unfortunately though, the judge agreed with the prosecutor and the defendant was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon.

I read a summary of this case last year in the Colorado Law Digest. I think I'll try to track down a copy of the complete case. It was probably a situation where the defendant's lawyers were incompetent and the prosecution was throwing the book at him.
 
Thanks for the reply. You're the first LEO that I have ever heard that would measure just the sharpened part of the blade - Great way for the most part but most LEOs I know would measure at least all of the blade that is outside of the handle and many would measure the whole blade - which includes the tang which is inside the handle.

BTW - I agree with being polite to the police BUT, they need to be polite to the people that pay their salaries.

And an excuse to one person may be a very valid purpose to another.

Thanks again


 
Ultimately perhaps, but even an arrest record can cause a lot of greif for the accused - even if they are never tried or convicted. Nearly every job application I have seen asks about arrests - I don't think it is legal in most cases to ask about arrests but it still happens.

While it may ultimately be up to the prosecutors and judges to determine how a knife blade is measured, it's that LEO in the field that starts the process. An arrest is an arrest - can't be erased. I have yet to have any LEO tell me that they were trained or instructed on how to identify illegal knives or on how to measure blade length. That concerns me. I asked one LEO if he knew what a dirk is, and he had no idea - and it is illegal to carry a dirk in that jurisdiction.

I for one measure the entire blade - especially on a folding knife - for exactly the reason you stated. The tang - the part of the knife normally inside the handle is actually part of the blade. That was I am less like to get in a bind. I did read one state's law that actually specified how knife blades were to be measure. But most don't specify. Leaves too much up to interpretation. Most people here and elsewhere say that only the blade that is exposed outside of the handle is measured. There is a previous post here from an LEO that says he only measures the sharpened part of the blade.

Besides blade length, what really concerns me is the practice of very broad interpretation of the definition of a switchblade or gravity knife. If you read some laws, ANY folding knife could be considered a switchblade or gravity knife - and I for one think the laws were written that way deliberately.

I agree with your opinion on that CO case. I am going to try to find it myself. But technically they were correct - as a knifemaker what constitutes a knife blade.

Do you have a specific reference on that case?

Thanks!

Originally posted by cerulean:
Ultimately, it doesn't really matter how a police officer measures the blade length. The officer can arrest you, but he can't convict you. It's more important to worry about how a prosecutor measures the blade length.

There was a case here in Colorado where a defendant was caught with a concealed folder. Knives with blades over 3.5" can be considered concealed weapons in this state. The defendant argued that his knife was legal because the blade was exactly 3.5" long. The prosecution, however, argued that the blade length should be measured from the pivot joint to the tip, which made the blade of this folder well over 3.5" long.

Of course, this method of measurment is absurd; what you're really measuring is the tang and a portion of the handle. Unfortunately though, the judge agreed with the prosecutor and the defendant was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon.

I read a summary of this case last year in the Colorado Law Digest. I think I'll try to track down a copy of the complete case. It was probably a situation where the defendant's lawyers were incompetent and the prosecution was throwing the book at him.
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I'll go to the library next week and try to dig up the specific reference to this case. It shouldn't be too hard to find and I can post pertinent info about it here.

I don't have any personal experience with this, but it seems like I've heard a lot of stories about airport security measuring blade length in a similar manner to the above case. I remember hearing about some situations where a security guard will open the knife halfway and then measure the blade plus the entire tang (not just to the pivot joint). I imagine that very few knives would meet length requirements if their blades were measured this way.
 
I for one would appreciate it. This is an issue that can be critically important when it comes to being arrested charged and convicted. Most people just kind of ignore it or trust in the common sense of the police or others to assume that a knife is not a weapon. But all it takes one person to either go to extremes or go by botht the letter and spirit of the law and you could wind up looking at the world through bars.

I have brought up the subject of blade length a number of times in a number of places and most people are not interested, UNLESS, they have personally been the subject of a problem due to it.

I've asked in several forums here if any LEO had been training in identifying illegal knives or how to measure a knife blade and so far not one has indicated that they had been.

Thanks.


Originally posted by cerulean:
I'll go to the library next week and try to dig up the specific reference to this case. It shouldn't be too hard to find and I can post pertinent info about it here.

I don't have any personal experience with this, but it seems like I've heard a lot of stories about airport security measuring blade length in a similar manner to the above case. I remember hearing about some situations where a security guard will open the knife halfway and then measure the blade plus the entire tang (not just to the pivot joint). I imagine that very few knives would meet length requirements if their blades were measured this way.
Click to expand...

 
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