Open carry in Colorado

TouhouFan

TouhouFan

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I recently have been liking my 4 inch long fixed blade a lot. I was looking at the laws for Colorado, and was a bit confused.

For the law it says you may carry any knife 3.5 inches or under legally concealed. But does that imply that you can carry a knife longer than that openly?

AKA: if I went hiking, or camping, or was on my way to a river to fish, would it be legal for me to openly carry my 4 inched fixed blade knife? Or just in general as long as it is openly carried, is it okay to carry a knife exceeding 3.5 inches?

Or is it a universal rule of: do not carry any knife, open or concealed that exceeds 3.5 inches?
 
Open carry is legal even if the blade is longer, especially for sport knives.

Colorado is like many other jurisdictions in having a law prohibiting certain knives from being carried concealed, but having no law on open carry of knives. Like most criminal statutes, the law isn't going to tell you what you can do, only what you can't do. If it doesn't tell you that open carry is illegal, then it's legal.

Of interest is § 18-12-101 defines "knife" has having a blade longer than 3.5 inches, but states "does not include a hunting or fishing knife carried for sports use"
 
glistam said:
Open carry is legal even if the blade is longer, especially for sport knives.

Colorado is like many other jurisdictions in having a law prohibiting certain knives from being carried concealed, but having no law on open carry of knives. Like most criminal statutes, the law isn't going to tell you what you can do, only what you can't do. If it doesn't tell you that open carry is illegal, then it's legal.

Of interest is § 18-12-101 defines "knife" has having a blade longer than 3.5 inches, but states "does not include a hunting or fishing knife carried for sports use"
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Thank you so much for your wisdom on the matter. I really appreciate it. That does make sense, so it would be completely legal to open carry.

I do have one more question, what would be defined as open carry? Visible pocket clip, or sheath and knife out in the open?
 
That's where it can get tricky. In my county ( Delta] the Sheriff says that if he can see the clip then it is not concealed. In the next county south, I have had several people tell me that they got hassled by the cops because "most " of the knife was concealed.
Point being, it's one of those gray areas where it kind of depends on where you are and which cops you are dealing with.
 
akguy59 said:
That's where it can get tricky. In my county ( Delta] the Sheriff says that if he can see the clip then it is not concealed. In the next county south, I have had several people tell me that they got hassled by the cops because "most " of the knife was concealed.
Point being, it's one of those gray areas where it kind of depends on where you are and which cops you are dealing with.
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Ah, I see. So the more visibility on the knife the better. I don't plan on carrying often but I will most likely be doing so on hikes and such, so that is good to know.
 
Funny how some states wet their pants on blade size. Notice 3.5 is the limit in many locales.
 
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