would this knife be legal in maryland?

[biomechanical]

hi, i wasn't sure if this would be legal in maryland to carry. it's 2 5/8 in blade and it screws into the handle. when you take it out you can screw it into the top of the handle. that wouldn't turn it into a fixed blade would it? i think it would classify as a pen knife since it screws into the handle.

 

[glistam]

I'm sort of the resident expert on Maryland laws, and this one definitely is a gray area.

The high court ruling Mackall v State defined a penknife as:

Penknives today are commonly considered to encompass any knife with the blade folding into the handle, some very large.

This knife does not fold, it dissembles. It would be a hard sell to convince a judge it is a penknife. However, it is not necessarily an illegal weapon either. Weapon includes a "dirk knife" or "bowie knife" both of which are not defined. Under the statute, this is subject to interpretation by the arresting officer and later the judge. It is entirely possible for the knife to not be an illegally concealed weapon if the circumstances of the discovery by law enforcement do not indicate it is carried with intent to use for an illegal purpose. In a case in 2010 (Hutton v State), a man was cited for two fixed blades carried concealed. The judge threw the charges out (not just acquitted, actually declined to even try the case), because the man in this case was merely stopped for running a stop sign and offered up his knives when asked if he was carrying weapons. The man was a well-liked school teacher with no criminal record and was really just minding his own business. There was no criminal intent and the comments made by the judge seemed to indicate the officer was being unduly harsh on him.

Like most gray-area weapons in Maryland, you can carry this as a calculated risk. The level of risk depends on what type of person you are, the company of people you keep, your past criminal history, and what you do with this knife in view of others. For what it's worth, I have handled these knives personally and they seem like just cheap novelties. The blade is terrible and often not even mounted straight. Plus it's genuinely a pain to open and close.

 

[biomechanical]

ah, ok. i'm still alittle confused on what a folding knife in maryland actually is. is it any flip knife that doesn't use a spring? could you show me exactly what a legal one would be. thanks.

 

[glistam]

More accurately, a "penknife" (which are always legal because they are exempt from the weapon law) would be any hinged knife that the blade folds into it's handle, that is not a true switchblade. A "switchblade" as defined under state law (CR 4-105) has some kind of a switch or activator device that is incorporated into the knife's handle. So called "Assisted opening" knives have springs, but no switch. You still have to touch the blade part to open it. That's why they are legal in most states including Maryland. Strangely enough, butterfly knives are also legal in Maryland because they too count as penknives.

One of the big myths in Maryland is that there is a limit to how long the blade can be. Not true, as stated in Mackall v State above. It can be a Spanish navaja with a 10 inch blade and it still counts as a penknife. When you get down to it, most folders are legal in Maryland. The law is actually quite relaxed; courts have even taken cops badges away for arresting people with a penknife. It's just when you get into concealed fixed blades (open carry of anything is legal) that it get's dodgy.