Texas Knife Law - Current Session (R84 - 2015) Proposed Knife Laws

zzyzzogeton said:
Rex, Thanks for your service, along with your blade friendly attitude. I hope you were able to pass the same attitude to those you worked with over the years.
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I tried! Fortunately, with a few notable exceptions, most of my colleagues seem "cool" with knives.

Thanks for the support and kind words. :)
 
Critter said:
Sort of, but not perhaps exactly. The day count technically begins once it is received by the Governor, or starting Adjournment Sine Die, not when it is passed. Because the bill was believed to be transmitted along with all the rest of the end-off-session bills, it is possible that the 20 days started after Sine die, June 1, so he may well have until the 20th. Unfortunately, it seems that it depends on who you ask as to when the date is, and nobody except the Governor's office seems to know for sure and they are not saying. :-) We do expect him to sign it, but nothing is ever certain...
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Thanks. I was counting from the 27th as I remembered seeing a post somewhere on the legislature's website that it had been sent to the Governor's office on the 27th.
 
I share in the hope that 905 gets signed, it gives more of a sense of "legitimacy" to many and may help to prevent the issue from being raised by the other side in the future. From a legal viewpoint, however, it doesn't matter if Greg signs it or not, it will become law either way in time.
 
Okay, more info was posted today.... and I re-learned more about the process... duh...

OK, so yes, it was passed on the 26th, but I forgot that it had to be signed by the originating chamber first, then the other chamber and THEN sent to the Governor's office. (My only excuse is that I haven't take any Texas Government classes since 1969. :D And I've slept since then :D:D )

So, HB 905:
passed the Senate on the 26th,
was sent to the House on the 27th,
signed by the Speaker of the House on the 28th and sent to the Senate,
where it was signed by the Lt. Governor for the Senate on the 29th
and
then also sent to the Governor on the 29th.

So using the 30th as Day-1, that means Day-20 is the 18th of June.

That means we have a maximum of 3.5 more days for final disposition determination. I wish he (Gov. Abbott) had the cajones to go ahead and actually sign it, but I'll take "passive" approach as well.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
Okay, more info was posted today.... and I re-learned more about the process... duh...

OK, so yes, it was passed on the 26th, but I forgot that it had to be signed by the originating chamber first, then the other chamber and THEN sent to the Governor's office. (My only excuse is that I haven't take any Texas Government classes since 1969. :D And I've slept since then :D:D )

So, HB 905:
passed the Senate on the 26th,
was sent to the House on the 27th,
signed by the Speaker of the House on the 28th and sent to the Senate,
where it was signed by the Lt. Governor for the Senate on the 29th
and
then also sent to the Governor on the 29th.

So using the 30th as Day-1, that means Day-20 is the 18th of June.

That means we have a maximum of 3.5 more days for final disposition determination. I wish he (Gov. Abbott) had the cajones to go ahead and actually sign it, but I'll take "passive" approach as well.
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"Cajones" are a place where the bill might be set aside and forgotten. We do not want the Governer to use cajones when handling this bill. We would like the governor to use his cojones, not cajones. ;)
 
So, the "pre-exemption" bill would over ride city and county laws? Even though autos are legal in Texas to carry now, they are illegal in San Antonio. This bill would make them legal in San Antonio? Do you know of any other cities or counties that have current illegal knife laws? Looks like it will override local laws and Abbot is certain to sign it, so it will go into effect September 1, 2015!!!

http://www.everythinglubbock.com/st...nife-rights-bill/25814/Ehpcm4ENVUeunw8lvmAXQQ
 
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No city or county has a law that is an "illegal knife law". They currently can ban the possession, in public, of legal knives (San Antonio - locking folders, Corpus Christi - all fixed blades) or enact length restrictive ordinances (Corpus Christi - 3", Dallas County - 4").

Illegal knives can only be declared "illegal" at the state level. Removing the declaration of any type of knife as "illegal" from state law was the purpose of HB 3884. That law died at the Senate level due to last minute shenanigans. Hopefully, next session will result in that major knife law change.

Current state law allows lower level government entities, i.e., cities and counties, through ordinances, to establish restrictions on the carrying of knives. If the governor does not veto the bill between now and the 18th (and he probably won't), HB 905 will become effective 01 September. Cities and counties will no longer be able to enact blanket knife restrictions, e.g., San Antonio's ban on carrying any locking folding knife. Any existing restrictions currently in effect will be vacated. The knife restrictions that will be possible to be implemented by cities and counties will be "place" restrictions, such as "court houses", "city offices", etc. As an example, the city of Dallas has a ban on bringing ANY TYPE of cutting implement into their city libraries. This bill WILL NOT over-ride this type of ordinance.

We'll have to wait and see how the new law affects things like Tyler's ban on possessing knives on public transportation, or Houston's ban on knives in/on "any city owned/controlled property".

Any school district knife restrictions will still be in place. Government entities will be able to pass "temporary" restrictions in the event of "natural disasters".
 
zzyzzogeton said:
No city or county has a law that is an "illegal knife law". They currently can ban the possession, in public, of legal knives (San Antonio - locking folders, Corpus Christi - all fixed blades) or enact length restrictive ordinances (Corpus Christi - 3", Dallas County - 4").

Illegal knives can only be declared "illegal" at the state level. Removing the declaration of any type of knife as "illegal" from state law was the purpose of HB 3884. That law died at the Senate level due to last minute shenanigans. Hopefully, next session will result in that major knife law change.

Current state law allows lower level government entities, i.e., cities and counties, through ordinances, to establish restrictions on the carrying of knives. If the governor does not veto the bill between now and the 18th (and he probably won't), HB 905 will become effective 01 September. Cities and counties will no longer be able to enact blanket knife restrictions, e.g., San Antonio's ban on carrying any locking folding knife. Any existing restrictions currently in effect will be vacated. The knife restrictions that will be possible to be implemented by cities and counties will be "place" restrictions, such as "court houses", "city offices", etc. As an example, the city of Dallas has a ban on bringing ANY TYPE of cutting implement into their city libraries. This bill WILL NOT over-ride this type of ordinance.

We'll have to wait and see how the new law affects things like Tyler's ban on possessing knives on public transportation, or Houston's ban on knives in/on "any city owned/controlled property".

Any school district knife restrictions will still be in place. Government entities will be able to pass "temporary" restrictions in the event of "natural disasters".
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I was not aware of Dallas County having a 4" limit, I've also never heard of it being enforced either. Although most of Dallas and many of the closer suburban cities in DFW lie in Dallas county, the areas that are simply unincorporated county (and policed by DSO) are very small (mostly SE of downtown and along I-35E). As to the libraries, it makes sense to prevent vandalism, but I don't think many Dallas residents are even aware that there is a library system sadly.
 
John_0917 said:
I was not aware of Dallas County having a 4" limit, I've also never heard of it being enforced either. Although most of Dallas and many of the closer suburban cities in DFW lie in Dallas county, the areas that are simply unincorporated county (and policed by DSO) are very small (mostly SE of downtown and along I-35E). As to the libraries, it makes sense to prevent vandalism, but I don't think many Dallas residents are even aware that there is a library system sadly.
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The Dallas County knife restrictions are for specific facilities/locations. The references I have seen have been general statements. I have never found a list of the locations, but then I seldom go to Dallas, much less any Dallas County facilities, so I haven't had a personal need to track the info down.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
The Dallas County knife restrictions are for specific facilities/locations. The references I have seen have been general statements. I have never found a list of the locations, but then I seldom go to Dallas, much less any Dallas County facilities, so I haven't had a personal need to track the info down.
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Oh ok I see what you're saying. The only county facilities I got to are the courthouses, and I don't do that frequently (trial litigation isn't my speciality) and there is obviously a complete prohibition there. At both the Dallas and Collin county courthouses, you go through airport type security screening immediately upon entering the building, metal detectors, shoes off the whole song and dance.
 
That's also why I avoid courthouses unless absolutely necessary.
As I can be the south end of a north bound mule.

When I do have to go to the court house, I take my knives (a pair of Kabar shorties, Becker tweeners or Western L66s/L46-5s/L48Xs) out of their sheaths and leave them in the truck, but I leave the sheaths on my belt.

If the LEO at the security station says anything about them, I calmly tell them, "Yes, sir, those are knife sheaths. I left the knives in the truck because the sign says "no knives", not "no knife sheaths"".
 
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