Pennsylvania Knife Laws

WadeF

WadeF

Joined
Apr 12, 2000
Messages
2,116
From my searching around, this is all I can find for PA:

Pennsylvania - Pa. C.S.A. 18.908. Prohibited offensive
weapons. (a) Offense defined.--A person commits a
misdemeanor of the first degree if, except as authorized
by law, he makes, repairs, sells, or otherwise deals in,
uses, or possesses any offensive weapon. (b) Exception.--
It is a defense under this section for the defendant to
prove by a preponderance of evidence that he possessed of
dealt with the weapon solely as a curio or in a dramatic
performance, or that he possessed it briefly in
consequence of having found it or taken it from an
aggressor, or under circumstances similarly negativing any
intent or likelihood that the would be used unlawfully.
(c) Definition.--As used in this section "offensive
weapon" means... any... dagger, knife, razor or cutting
instrument, the blade of which is exposed in an automatic
way by switch, push-button, spring mechanism, or
otherwise...
- also see 24 P.S. 13-1317.2. re: students bringing weapons
on to school property.]

Pennsylvania case law:
Where opening knife required lock to be released, and
once lock was released blade could be exposed by flip of
wrist, knife did not have blade which could be "exposed in
an automatic way"... by "otherwise" legislature referred
to knives that were opened by some sort of mechanism which
is not a "switch," "push-button," or "spring" mechanism
but still a mechanism... (1979)

-----------------------------


So is that it? You can stuff a machete down your pants if you want? Carry a ninja sword under your coat? Am I to assume there are no size restrictions to the knives I can carry and conceal?
 
It seems like so long as you can justify carrying it for a lawful purpose, you can carry what you want. I'm not sure I'd carry a katana in my trenchcoat, but a personal fixed blade for utility should be just fine.
 
Great news for me as I reside in west pa.And will now be carrying LEGALLY!
 
wait i dont get the last part does that mean having a butterfly knife is legal or illegal and what about switchblades. i hate all this stupid legal talk that i cant understand
 
The description in PA Law is so vague it's basically interpreted case by case, this leaves an LEO a lot of room to make the call.

I've never had a problem no matter what I carry, I never give an LEO cause to do anything other than be polite to me.

My take on the law here is that, if the knife in being used in any illegal manner or in the commission of a crime it's an offensive weapon.

If your a collector or actor you can carry/transport a switchblade locally to display, show or use as a prop.

A butterfly knife is still considered an auto in PA.

I'm no lawyer this is just my interpretation of the PA laws.
 
I know of NO PA law that allows the carry of ANY automatic knife. The kicker to the law is the "curio" piece which MAY be interpreted to allow owership of "certain" automatics; i.e. those that meet the definition of a curio. Curio is defined as...n : something unusual -- perhaps worthy of collecting. The burden of proof will be on the owner to show that the knife in question is in fact, a curio and you were transporting it in a lawful manner. CARRYING, for whatever reason other than transport is a no-no. Let us look at a few scenarios that I've pondered quite a bit.

Scenario #1

Steve is on his way to a friend's house who is also a collector and has an accident. 3 handmade, MOP, damascus, engraved automatics spill into the passenger seat and a seen by an officer on the scene who questions Steve and then arrests him for possession of an illegal weapon because they are autos. Steve is going to get off on this one, because there is NO WAY IN HELL that anyone is not going to believe these knives are "curios".

Scenario #2

Same deal except a bunch of limited edition Microtechs are found, Steve will most likely get off, but this case would make Steve a bit more anxious, since proving curio status with some badass looking knives is going to be a tough sell.

Scenario #3

Steve is standing on street corner popping a MOD Triton or an Ultratech open and closed for giggles, when Officer arrests him. Steve IS SCREWED!

Scenario #4

Steve is accosted in a parking lot and uses said Ultratech in self defense. If you can prove it truely was self defense, you'll likely not take heat for the felony assault, but you'll go down a 1st degree misdemeanor for the weapon charge.

I've run these scenarios by my lawyer just to see if I was O.K. with my interpretation and he thought that I was pretty much on the mark. But it all depends on the LEO, the judge and possibly a jury.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
A butterfly knife is still considered an auto in PA.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure that's correct. There has been a case in PA. where a bali was ruled not to be a gravity knife. Precedent? Who knows.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top