legal question mn

[SpartanSaint]

minnesota state law states that auto knives and gravity knives are illegal. well i live in mn and happen to have fallen in love with a benchmade balisong and was wondering about the legality there... would a bali be considered a gravity knife

 

[JohnTheTexican]

What Minnesota law law says gravity knives are illegal? Minn. Stat. 609.66(1)(a)(4) prohibits possession of "a switch blade knife opening automatically," but makes no mention of gravity knives.

And the only other entry under "kinves" in the index on the Minnesota Office of Revisor of Statutes website involves knife throwing performances (it's illegal to throw knives in the direction of another person).

(Note that one other provision of Minnesota law that seems to give amateur Internet lawyers problems is sec. 609.66(1)(a)(6), which says a person commits a crime if he "possesses any other dangerous article or substance for the purpose of being used unlawfully as a weapon against another." This is oftern misinterpreted online as creating a vague prohibition against things that seem more weapon-like than tool-like, but it's really just a prohibition against possessing any potentially dangerous article with the intent to use it unlawfully against another person.)

 

[SpartanSaint]

i don't remember where i read it but i know that what i did read specifically mentioned gravity knives... thats interesting. thank you

 

[almasy87]

You'll also want to check your local ordinances which can often be more restrictive than statewide laws. For example, though the language of the Minnesota law only seems to ban switchblades, the St. Paul weapons ordinance uses language that appears to ban AO knives as well (they mentioned "spring blade" knives in addition to switchblades). Additionally (again using St. Paul as an example), if the blade is too thin, it might be interpreted as a stiletto (a blade shape designed to stab), which is also banned. You also have blade length to worry about.

One thing I can tell you is that regardless of what the law says, you'd be in trouble if you were ever caught with it. Balisongs have a really bad public image and you'd have an incredibly hard time convincing any LEO that you weren't carrying it as a weapon, even if it was technically legal to carry. They just don't look like tools.

If all you want to do is keep it at home, then go nuts. Minnesota makes plenty of exceptions for the sake of collectors. However, if you were thinking about carrying it, you'd likely be in for a world of legal trouble if you were ever caught with it.