Pennsylvania

[mwhich50]

I was planning on sending some knives to my cousin in PA. I did a little research, and as usual the laws are not clear cut. I was going to send him a Kershaw Leek, but "assisted opening" seems to be a problem like regular autos. Daggers (double edged) are also completely restricted. There was no mention of blade length. Like in Florida, knives can't be single purpose, offensive tools. They also have to be practical for some utility tasks.
I was also wanting to send him a Cold Steel Safe Keeper (single edged).
Any input/experiences from Pennsylvanians would be appreciated.

 

[mwhich50]

Duplicate post

 

[Phixt]

PA isn't NYC or Canada. I live here. You are allowed to open carry a pistol here without any license or permit, but there are restrictions like government buildings, schools, Philidelphia, etc.

Obviously, no one here goes strolling down the city outskirts or highway with a Colt strapped to the outside of their hip; if I were you I would be far more concerned with my cousin's ability to 'read a room' than I would the individual interpretations of knife laws.

I sold assisted open knives in public in PA, and explained to shoppers the difference between assisted and auto. Never faced legal issues but that was years ago.

As far as blade size goes, I have to go back to the reading the room thing; am I standing at a bus stop in the suburbs playing with my assisted knife or am I strolling the backcountry in any PA county with a fixed blade twice the length? One situation is likely to land you in trouble or at very least have your knife taken away, whereas the other you get a nod from the ranger.

Laws are fuzzy, and I'm not a lawyer.

 

[Mossyhorn]

This should help.
https://knifeup.com/pennsylvania-knife-laws/

 

[mwhich50]

PA isn't NYC or Canada. I live here. You are allowed to open carry a pistol here without any license or permit, but there are restrictions like government buildings, schools, Philidelphia, etc.

Obviously, no one here goes strolling down the city outskirts or highway with a Colt strapped to the outside of their hip; if I were you I would be far more concerned with my cousin's ability to 'read a room' than I would the individual interpretations of knife laws.

I sold assisted open knives in public in PA, and explained to shoppers the difference between assisted and auto. Never faced legal issues but that was years ago.

As far as blade size goes, I have to go back to the reading the room thing; am I standing at a bus stop in the suburbs playing with my assisted knife or am I strolling the backcountry in any PA county with a fixed blade twice the length? One situation is likely to land you in trouble or at very least have your knife taken away, whereas the other you get a nod from the ranger.

Laws are fuzzy, and I'm not a lawyer.

One of the things I read is that it is possible to go into a store in PA, and buy a assisted opening knife that you will get in trouble if you carry it outside the store: Kershaw Leek.

 

[mwhich50]

This should help.
https://knifeup.com/pennsylvania-knife-laws/

Thanks.

 

[Phixt]

One of the things I read is that it is possible to go into a store in PA, and buy a assisted opening knife that you will get in trouble if you carry it outside the store: Kershaw Leek.

Anything's possible. LEOs arent mall ninja knife specialists like in the movies, afterall. "Shop S-Mart" and carry smart.

 

[hhmoore]

Just tell him to stay out of Philly...

 

[Knife_Collector_101]

I was planning on sending some knives to my cousin in PA. I did a little research, and as usual the laws are not clear cut. I was going to send him a Kershaw Leek, but "assisted opening" seems to be a problem like regular autos. Daggers (double edged) are also completely restricted. There was no mention of blade length. Like in Florida, knives can't be single purpose, offensive tools. They also have to be practical for some utility tasks.
I was also wanting to send him a Cold Steel Safe Keeper (single edged).
Any input/experiences from Pennsylvanians would be appreciated.

PA is very weird when it comes to knife and weapon laws. As far as Kershaw assisted openers, they are legal and sold everywhere as far as I know. Though it seems there have been cases of people getting busted for carrying them because a lot of cops still don't know the difference between automatic and assisted open knives.

Some say daggers are illegal, but I think that's an incorrect assumption some have due to the poor wording/punctuation of the law. Only bladed instruments it specifically states are prohibited are ones that open automatically, so automatic double edged knives would be the only type of prohibited "dagger." That said, I wouldn't recommend carrying a double edged knife.

I'm not a lawyer and this isn't to be taken as legal advice. It's just my observations.

PA's laws are definitely overdue for some changing. Let's hope Doug Ritter and Knife Rights have a lobbying effort underway to get those changes made.