Oregon concealment laws

[RosesTheDevil]

Hey, to anyone in Oregon, do you know the limit on the length of a blade you can conceal? I recently bought a new 7" fixed and I was planning on taking it places but I was unsure of the laws. Anyone know?

 

[glistam]

The concept of there being a limit to the length of the blade is a common misconception, even among cops. Oregon does not phrase its knife laws in this way. The statute reads as follows:

166.240 Carrying of concealed weapons. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, any person who carries concealed upon the person any knife having a blade that projects or swings into position by force of a spring or by centrifugal force, any dirk, dagger, ice pick, slungshot, metal knuckles, or any similar instrument by the use of which injury could be inflicted upon the person or property of any other person, commits a Class B misdemeanor.

Source: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors166.html

This law means that your knife is legal to carry openly, unless prohibited by city or county law. As for concealed (also assuming no applicable city or county law), it comes down to if your fixed blade knife is a "dirk" or "dagger." These terms are not defined anywhere in the law, and there is no reliable case law on the matter, which generally means you are rolling the dice with most fixed blades.

Keep in mind, all knife carry has some risk, there can be no denying that. After all, there are cops that don't even have a correct understanding of the law. It comes down to how much risk is reasonable. If you conceal a fixed blade and do not commit crimes or act in a suspicious manner, the odds of a police officer even seeing the knife and having to make a judgement call are very low (less than 1%). If you have criminal record, are pugnacious or aggressive, or "always seem to be in trouble," then those odds go way up. Assuming an officer feels the knife is illegal (i.e. concealed dirk or dagger), it will then go to the judge to determine if it's illegal.