Moving to Texas what are the knife laws?

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Aug 15, 2018
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Hello, I will be moving to TX soon and was curious about the knife laws there?

Does anyone have any basic info or links to more specific knife laws for Texas?

Thanks,
FOLDER FAN
 
There is no open or concealed carry of knives in Texas. There is just "legal to carry" or "not legal to carry".

As of 01 September 2017, everything became legal to carry - dirks, daggers. poniards, Bowie knives, sword, etc.

The only limitation on knife carry in Texas as of now is the designation of "Restricted Carry" knives.

A "restricted carry" knife is any knife with a blade length of more than 5-1/2". A "restricted carry" knife is only restricted in where it is allowed to be carried.

In a nutshell, a "restricted carry" knife may NOT be carried in the same locations in which the law specifically prohibits the carry of a concealed handgun.

Schools have other laws governing the possession of knives on school facilities. The following link is to the guidelines/explanations of current law regarding schools by the Texas Association of School Boards --

https://www.tasb.org/Services/Legal...e/Business/documents/possession_of_knives.pdf

The following is a link to the actual Texas Penal Code section as related to knife carry law in Texas --

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.46.htm

The relevant sections are 46.02 and 46.03.

The list is not really very extensive.
 
The short and oversimplified answer is that outside of schools, courts, stadiums and places that sell 51% or more or their revenue in booze you can carry anything. Aside from those place the answer is “it depends”, none in some places (courts/jails), only single edge under 5.5” in others (bars).

I should also note that it is fairly rare to see someone in Texas ONLY arrested for UCW (unlawful carrying of a weapon) that isn’t a gun, most defendants charged with UCW did something else so it’s typically an “and also” kind of charge.
 
One thing to add (belatedly but still relevant) is that things like those "self defense" keychains and any kind of striking device are considered to be prohibited weapons and will get you arrested for UCW. I know of at least two instances in the DFW area where women have been arrested for those metal cat key chain things and charged with UCW, both were ultimately convicted as well.
 
Also, those "knuckle handled" purses. 2014 case in El Paso set that precedent.

Unfortunately THAT precedent also applies to any tools that have a knuckle/finger guard structure.

In addition to now applying to long knives/short swords like the M1918 trench knife and Cold Steel Chaos models, TECHNICALLY, the same twisted application of the knuckles ban could be applied to your Army Officer M1902, Navy Officer 1852 or USMC NCO M1859 if a law officer decides he wants to charge you.

Hopefully, that will be fixed this legislative session.
 
For whatever reason, many people think Texas is some weapon owning paradise and that’s really not true.

-no ccw until like 1998
-auto knives illegal to own until 2013
-blade length and type restrictions still in effect today (in some places)
-no open carry until 2015
-some of the most expensive ccw licensing fees in the US

Oddly enough, Democrats have often been behind loosening knife laws since many were being used in “selective enforcement” in mainly poor urban areas.

The are many pro 2A republicans of course, but types like Jonathan Strickland (who wants constitutional carry) are far from the mainstream.
 
I love the Freedom we have here and knife laws were pretty loosely enforced unless you were under arrest and they wanted to Sandbag the Charges!
 
Just saw a Knife Rights post on Facebook from Todd Rathner saying they were in TX yesterday looking to finish what they started in 2013. So I guess they're looking to make some additional knife law changes. Somebody brought up the issue of the knuckle duster ban also applying to knives that have knuckle guards on them. Maybe that's a possible change they're pursuing?

I also got a cool email update from AKTI today. Looks like they're looking to make legislative changes in Virginia, Minnesota, New Mexico, and a few other states this year. Would be nice to see Minnesota and New Mexico's switchblade bans finally repealed.

Plus, Knife Rights' switchblade commerce bill introduced in Virginia just passed the state senate today. It will allow stores to sell switchblade knives and parts but only to people who reside outside of the state (like in a neighboring state like West Virginia or Maryland). So not complete legalization, but it's a good step.

KR also had the following measures introduced in Montana a week ago:

Knife Rights’ Montana Switchblade Ban Repeal & Knife Law Preemption Bill Introduced: At the request of Knife Rights, Montana State Representative Casey Knudsen has introduced HB 155 which would repeal the state’s switchblade ban and enact Knife Law Preemption.

This effort follows up on 2017’s repeal of the prohibition against concealed carry without a CCW of “a knife with blade 4 or more inches in length” as well as removing Dirks, Daggers, Sword Canes, razors, “billy” and “knuckles” from the items prohibited from concealed carry.

2019 is looking to be a good year in the knife liberty movement!
 
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