Balisongs of a certain length, legal in Washington?

[Caleb M.]

I was discussing with a fellow knife nut the laws in our state. He said that butterfly knives of a certain length are legal in Washington (my home state). It made sense with all the laws about concealed knives and such. I only ask because I could get a bali, otf, or stilleto shipped to my house without big brother coming after me. We have a police officer that comes to our school on a regular basis and I planned in asking him, but with my luck he wasn't here today. So is my buddy right, or wrong?

 

[glistam]

According to Washington state law (Revised Code of Washington 9.41.250), it is illegal to possess (including own in the privacy of a home) any "spring blade knife," which is defined thus:

(2) "Spring blade knife" means any knife, including a prototype, model, or other sample, with a blade that is automatically released by a spring mechanism or other mechanical device, or any knife having a blade which opens, or falls, or is ejected into position by the force of gravity, or by an outward, downward, or centrifugal thrust or movement. A knife that contains a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that requires physical exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife is not a spring blade knife.

The bolded section applies to balisongs and gravity knives, and this meaning has been upheld in court. I should clarify something about "big brother" though. Knife possession regulations as a general rule have very, very low enforcement because they are widely considered antiquated and not terribly important by most cops. Even though this law prohibits ownership, the only time this type of law is enforced (and there is case law to back this up) is if a person carries it in public or in a car under circumstances where the police otherwise became suspicious of their behavior enough to search them, or the less likely scenario of a search warrant executed in one's home, which would indicate one has already committed a pretty serious crime that makes the knife seem petty by comparison. Police cannot detect online purchases of knives nor can they legally search people's mail without a federal warrant, and frankly most cops will agree it is not worth the effort when there are things like drugs, bombs and guns to find.

 

[dadams]

Thank you for finding that. I couldn't find anything on blade length tho. I've been wondering about that

 

[Caleb M.]

According to Washington state law (Revised Code of Washington 9.41.250), it is illegal to possess (including own in the privacy of a home) any "spring blade knife," which is defined thus:


The bolded section applies to balisongs and gravity knives, and this meaning has been upheld in court. I should clarify something about "big brother" though. Knife possession regulations as a general rule have very, very low enforcement because they are widely considered antiquated and not terribly important by most cops. Even though this law prohibits ownership, the only time this type of law is enforced (and there is case law to back this up) is if a person carries it in public or in a car under circumstances where the police otherwise became suspicious of their behavior enough to search them, or the less likely scenario of a search warrant executed in one's home, which would indicate one has already committed a pretty serious crime that makes the knife seem petty by comparison. Police cannot detect online purchases of knives nor can they legally search people's mail without a federal warrant, and frankly most cops will agree it is not worth the effort when there are things like drugs, bombs and guns to find.

Okay, thanks for the info. I figured that most officers wouldn't. If/when I get one, is staying home anyway.

 

[Unicorn161]

Just to add to the above, there is no blade length limit under the RCW (Revised Code of Washington), our state law. However each city is free to make it's own limits. Everett has a 3 inch limit, Seattle is 3.5 inches and all fixed knives are banned (unless openly carried for work... so yeah everytime you use the steak knife at a restaurant you're breaking the law... silly yes), Tacoma is 3.5 inches. So even if it weren't considered a spring blade it might be illegal under city law. Of course as stated you'd have to already be in trouble to get busted for it. If you were standing on the corner flipping it in Seattle you'd probably get busted, but otherwise not likely. They never shut down any of the stores selling them either, the place at all the malls just went out of business because of charging at or above MSRP, not for selling balisongs.