Texas Knife Laws

Minute Maid Park

Returning to this subject, the Attorney General Opinion which many of us were awaiting the release of has been published. Attorney General Opinion KP-108 dealt with the subject of whether Penal Code Section 30.06 and 30.07 postings by the non-profits on property leased from a city is permissible. The relevant portion of the opinion is quoted here:

"However, under the facts you describe, the private, nonprofit entity appears to have an arms-length agreement to lease city property and is not otherwise affiliated with the city. See Request Letter at 1. "As a general rule, a lessor relinquishes possession or occupancy of the premises to the lessee." Levesque v. Wilkens, 57 S.W.3d 499, 504 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2001, no pet.). In such circumstances, section 411.209 does not apply to a city that leases property to a nonprofit entity that provides notice that a license holder carrying a handgun is prohibited from entry. As long as the state agency or political subdivision leasing the property to the nonprofit entity has no control over the decision to post such notice, the state agency or political subdivision lessor would not be the entity responsible for the posting and would therefore not be subject to a civil penalty under section 411.209. See TEX. Gov'T CODE § 41 l.209(a)."

https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/51paxton/op/2016/kp0108.pdf

This opinion will impact a number of situations. We are still reviewing it to determine the extent to which it may impact an earlier 30.06 letter regarding gun shows which are conducted on property rented from a city.

The question which I believe must be answered before further proceeding is whether Minute Maid Park is leased to the sports team even though it is owned by the Harris County Houston Sports Authority. If the stadium is leased, which is probable, the opinion leads me to believe that the sports team can establish a wide variety of rules or regulations affecting persons attending the game or other event conducted under the authority of the sports team's lease agreement and that these provisions would not be subject to the limitations which might apply if the Sports Authority were doing so directly. (Please note that there would be a question then as to whether the Sports Authority was a "political subdivision of the State". I think it would be, but that has not been established for this purpose.) Please note that the reference to a non-profit organization is because that is the factual basis set forth in the Request for Opinion. I doubt that the result would be different if the lease involved a for profit organization such as the sports team because the basis of the opinion is landlord tenant law and the fact that the landlord exercises no control over the tenant in regard to this specific issue, but that is not addressed in the opinion.

jimmyconway32 or anyone else. Please let me know if you can confirm whether the team using Minute Maid Park has leased the property from the Harris County Houston Sports Authority.

Rick
 
Wow that's crazy about San Antonio, glad I rarely go there.

Thanks for all the information regarding the folding "bowie", I may just skip the possible hassle and get a skinner blade instead.
 
Wow that's crazy about San Antonio, glad I rarely go there.

Thanks for all the information regarding the folding "bowie", I may just skip the possible hassle and get a skinner blade instead.

You didn't read the post correctly - the crazy San Antonio ordinance was made null and void with the passage of the pre-emption law in 2015.
 
I'm looking at a Microtech Ultratech with Bayonet blade shape. Would this be legal to carry or would it be considered a "dagger"?

Thanks!
 
Illegal for public carry in Texas.

Per MICROTECH's advertising ...

This Ultratech has a two-tone black finished bayonet style blade with a plain edge and sharpened upper cutting edge.

The sharpened upper cutting edge along with the plain edge makes it a double edged knife, i.e., a dagger/dirk/poinard, and therefore verbotten for public carry. Can own it all day long at home.
 
Folks, I apologize in advance for asking a very limited scope individual question. But, I was engaged in law enforcement for a quarter century and have delt with the interpretation of US Federal, state and local statutes and the laws of several foreign countries. Having said that I confess I have no clue what the Texas knife laws mean. I've lived in San Antonio for 20 years. My question is: Is a spear point knife like a Cold Steel Hold Out legal to carry or is it a "dagger, dirk"whatever. What about a Cold Steel Culloden? Similar blade profile but referred to as a dirk in some CS literature.

PS: I'm asking for your collective wisdom best quess, not a legally binding statement (in other words I'm not going to sue anybody)

Thanks, best, Joe
 
Joe I just looked at Cold Steel's site. Looks like the Hold Out comes in 3 sizes. The largest has a 6" blade, which exceeds the 5 1/2 " max blade length for legal carry in Texas. The other models with the shorter blade lengths should be fine. I looks like they are only sharpened on one side. I'm having trouble finding the specs on the Culloden, but so long as it has only one sharpened edge, with a blade length not to exceed 5 1/2 inches (and it ain't a Bowie knife), then you are OK in Texas (including in San Antonio now).
 
From what I can tell about the Cullodens, they fall into the double edged category, and are therefore illegal to carry in public, regardless of blade length. It "appears" that the pointy end of the blades are NOT sharpened, just very thin. (One of the negatives I've seen on Culloden reviews is that the tips would break off easily due to the thinness.)

The serrated spine is what throws these into the "double-edged" category. Yes, the "advertising" calls it "spine jimping" not serrations, but when they include a statement that the "traditional jimping on the spine is both functional and decorative", this means that it is sharp enough to cut something, therefore the knife is sharpened on both edges, even though the tip is not sharpened on both edges. You would NOT win that argument before a judge.

Want to get rid of the 5.5" limit in Texas???? Join Knife Rights and help support them when they go after the "illegal knife" laws next legislative session. They ALMOST got the limits eliminated last session, until Senator Witless, aka Senator Whitmire, from HOUSTON, killed the bill over a squabble about a totally unrelated bill.

A larger Texas membership base will help their credibility when they can say "We have "X" members in Texas who support this legislation".

The bigger we can get "X" to be, the better.
 
Want to get rid of the 5.5" limit in Texas???? Join Knife Rights and help support them when they go after the "illegal knife" laws next legislative session. They ALMOST got the limits eliminated last session, until Senator Witless, aka Senator Whitmire, from HOUSTON, killed the bill over a squabble about a totally unrelated bill.

A larger Texas membership base will help their credibility when they can say "We have "X" members in Texas who support this legislation".

The bigger we can get "X" to be, the better.

+1 for this! I support Knife Rights and I recommend everyone who can to do so. I had asked Doug Ritter (Chairman and Executive Director of Knife Rights) a few questions recently and he told me (this was in reference to TX knife laws):

Our goal is to get rid of the illegal knives language next legislative
session in 2017, rendering the issue moot.
 
+1 for this! I support Knife Rights and I recommend everyone who can to do so. I had asked Doug Ritter (Chairman and Executive Director of Knife Rights) a few questions recently and he told me (this was in reference to TX knife laws):

Thanks for your support of Knife Rights.

Open Carry Texas has worked with Knife Rights on the knife bills and intends to continue to do so next year along with other Second Amendment bills relating to firearms.

Stay involved in the fight to restore our rights in Austin.
 
Folks, is this the correct Knife Rights? Just want to be sure I join the right organization http://www.kniferights.org/


Thanks, Joe

Hi Joe,

Yes that is the correct one. Their website is a little funky, but is functional. I need to talk to Doug about getting the site updated to use "https" so that passwords are not sent in plain text. :)
 
Might be classified as a "punch dagger", which is illegal. That one is skirting the line enough that I'd steer clear.
 
"Punch dagger" is a non-term, with respect to the Texas Penal Code.

The only knives still prohibited to carry in public (in Texas) by a specific name or type are the dagger, dirk, poniard and Bowie knife. Which translates to the dagger, the small dagger, the French dagger and the Bowie knife. None are defined in the law code. Dagger, dirk and poniard have come to be defined as any double-edged blade, regardless of blade shape, via case law. The Bowie knife is still undefined, even under case law, but as one old judge was unable to describe the characteristics of a bowie knife, and is reported to have said so, along with the amplifying statement ".... but I know a Bowie knife when I see one."

"Typically" the term "punch dagger" is used for a knife that is designed with the handle being attached perpendicularly to the blade axis. This knife, while uniquely handled (I really want to say "weirdly handled"), would not fall under that classification. Other than possibly providing a knife retention function, I have no idea as to the official, "designed" purpose of the loop where a pommel should be. It appears to be both useless and an interference to comfortable usage.

The spear point blade will always draws more attention than other blade shapes since the spear point is the USUAL blade shape for daggers and their ilk. For MOST tasks, other than stabbing something, a spear point is the least useful and most inefficient blade shape. Almost any other blade shape is more suited to day-to-day tasks.

If a LEO sees a spear point, he/she MIGHT be more inclined to look a little more closely at the knife, but if the LEO in question is looking at the shape and edge characteristics of your knife, you have already screwed up enough that you have their undivided attention AND you are most likely gonna get to a little time getting to know the legal system from an inside perspective. :(

The knife itself is NOT illegal to carry in public in Texas, BUT depending on the circumstances leading up to your "conversation" with a LEO about it, public use of it MIGHT cause said LEO(s) to look at the user with an eye towards a" What's this guy up to?" attitude.
 
Other than possibly providing a knife retention function, I have no idea as to the official, "designed" purpose of the loop where a pommel should be. It appears to be both useless and an interference to comfortable usage.

The knife itself is NOT illegal to carry in public in Texas, BUT depending on the circumstances leading up to your "conversation" with a LEO about it, public use of it MIGHT cause said LEO(s) to look at the user with an eye towards a" What's this guy up to?" attitude.

Bottle opener? That would be my guess.

Also, yep. It would surely draw an eyeball or two at the very least. Plus, I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all, but that thing is just downright bizarrely ugly to me. It wouldn't even be a question for me since I'd never carry it... Well, maybe if I were a bartender. :)

So now punch daggers are legal? They weren't last time I checked. Neither were brass knuckles or anything similar.

If they're legal now, oh man, I'm gonna buy like 50 of em... All the wasted years!

Not really. They have absolutely zero utility so I would never own one. Just curious.
 
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