Oregon knife laws, visible vs concealed. Types allowed...

sloth357

sloth357

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Hey guys, I didn't see a post about Oregon knife laws so I decided we should get one started.

I don't know the laws very well about carrying knives, though I have been told our state is very lenient.

I found this interesting:

Oregon Public Order Offense 166.240 Carrying of concealed weapons. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, any person who carries concealed upon the person any knife having a blade that projects or swings into position by force of a spring or by centrifugal force, any dirk, dagger, ice pick, slungshot, metal knuckles, or any similar instrument by the use of which injury could be inflicted upon the person or property of any other person, commits a Class B misdemeanor.

It sounds like concealed push daggers would be illegal, regardless of length, as it is basically a dagger designed to injury a person... And no knucks in the pockets either.. Again I thought that was OK in Oregon...

It also sounds like autos are illegal in OR, which I totally thought was allowed, so now I am confused... Is carryings an auto in OR legal or not???

Almost seems as though our gun laws are more lenient....

Also, can we carry out in the open a large fixed blade dangling on our belt? Not that I do, but camping sometimes I don't take my knife off every time I go somewhere "in town".. So at the gas station, would a large knife be an issue if an officer was hanging out?

There doesn't seem to be any blade length restrictions in the code...

And this:
In regards to carrying a "weapon" in a public building:

166.360 (5) "Weapon" means: (b) Any dirk, dagger, ice pick, slingshot, metal knuckles or any similar instrument or a knife other than an ordinary pocket knife, the use of which could inflict injury upon a person or property...

166.370 (1) Any person who intentionally possesses a loaded or unloaded firearm or any other instrument used as a dangerous weapon, while in or on a public building, shall upon conviction be guilty of a Class C felony.

Soo, what IS ordinary? A SAK? So it sounds like carrying a flipper folder in my pocket at the grocery store could be a "weapon" that would be illegal.


Of course, someone has to SEE the knife.. Seems these laws are just "in case" you are screwing around AND then they catch you with a knife. Or you threaten someone and they see the knife, then you can get in MORE trouble...



So, very few laws and most are vague.

My take home: Push daggers are illegal to conceal. Public building carrying is tricky, don't be stupid. Blade length doesn't matter, type of knife sort of does. AND a convicted felon of any state MAY NOT carry concealed "weapons".

So our laws lump knives into concealed carry of weapons.

Hope some people can shed more light on this subject via real life experiences too... I personally have had one knife ALMOST taken away by police, but they decided it was "OK". (BM AFCK). I still carry mostly concealed in my pocket with clip on the outside.. Is that considered concealed or not? The law doesn't tell us..

Nor does it say we can't conceal 10 pocket knives :D muahahaa
 
I live in OR. From my understanding, any concealed weapon is considered illegal unless you have a permit. Open carry is allowed. A folder clipped to the pocket is considered open carry because the clip is visible. This issue has apparently gone to court and it has been ruled to be open carry, so there is a precedent. This info came to me from a knife store owner who got it from a police officer, so I'm not sure of its accuracy.

The definition of what a weapon is, is pretty obscure which makes me think police could confiscate any knife that is concealed. The California laws are much more descriptive about what is allowed and what is not. What makes matters worse is the Oregon constitution, which states,

" Section 27. Right to bear arms; military subordinate to civil power. The people shall have the right to bear arms for the defence [sic] of themselves, and the State, but the Military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power[.]"

This probably doesn't help much, but I feel confident that a folder clipped to my pocket will not cause trouble with police.
 
Based on my reading of the statutes that you've provided, none of them say anything about carrying a non-auto folder in a conceald manner, the open carry of fixed-blades, or the simple ownership of auto-knives.

In reference to knives, 166.240 appears to only adress the CONCEALD carry of fixed-blades, switchblades, and gravity knives. The act of doing so is clearly illegal, although a minor misdemeanor.
 
sloth357 said:
Oregon Public Order Offense 166.240 Carrying of concealed weapons. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, any person who carries concealed upon the person any knife having a blade that projects or swings into position by force of a spring or by centrifugal force, any dirk, dagger, ice pick, slungshot, metal knuckles, or any similar instrument by the use of which injury could be inflicted upon the person or property of any other person, commits a Class B misdemeanor.
Click to expand...

Concealed is the key word in this law. Autos are not illegal to own or carry, just not concealed.

The second part was taken a little out of context. Here is a description of what a public buolding is

Public building means a hospital, a capitol building, a public or private school, as defined in ORS 339.315 (Report required if person has possession of unlawful firearm or destructive device), a college or university, a city hall or the residence of any state official elected by the state at large, and the grounds adjacent to each such building. The term also includes that portion of any other building occupied by an agency of the state or a municipal corporation, as defined in ORS 297.405 (Definitions for ORS 297.020, 297.230, 297.405 to 297.740 and 297.990), other than a court facility.

An Oregon Concealed carry permit allows you to carry a hand gun on school property, hospitals, movie theatres and any where that may be posted "No Firearms". The most they can do is charge you with trespassing, if you are told to leave and do not. WITH THE EXCEPTION of any Federal or state building such as a Post office, court house, and so on.

Here is a link to all of the laws.

http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/chapter/166

This is all of course just how I understand and have been told about the laws. I suggest you read all the laws and make your own decision.
 
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Sorry about reviving an old thread however I called and spoke with both Washington county sheriff's office and PDX police and got two totally contradictory answers. Sheriff's office agreed that it IS legal to carry a switch blade so long as it is not concealed while PDX police said switch blade is always illegal. He wasn't as sure after 're-reading 166.240 however he remained vague as to wether it was an arrest offense or not.

Why is it so hard to get clarity on this topic in a state where so many knife. Makers are based?
 
in 1984, the supreme court of Oregon made a ruling that mostly legalized the carrying of almost any kind of knife you could imagine. The ruling in particular was about a switchblade, but the implications were on the topic of all knives, and that left the legislature and the cities only the power to regulate the manner of carry, which is concealed or not being a crime. If you wish, read the Delgado decision.
 
Be careful with "clipped to the pocket = open carry" interpretation of the law. I had a friend lose a nice Benchmade auto to a cop who argued that his shirt covered the pocket clip, I was right there and stated the law almost word for word. Cop looks at me and says "see, this guy knows what he's talking about". They decided to take his knife and cite him for carrying an illegal knife concealed because "his shirt was covering the clip" (it wasn't). He had to go to court and do some community service to get the conviction expunged.

The cops, after hassling us and taking his knife, were commenting about how nice of a knife it was lol. I have no doubt it's clipped to a duty belt somewhere right now. Point being, tread lightly. It doesn't take much for an officer to say the clip wasn't visible and run you through the ringer. And it will be your word against his in court, guess who' gonna win that one every time.
 
Do not assume that a clip means that a knife is open carried.

Weapon is concealed if not readily identifiable as weapon or if per*son at*tempts to obscure fact per*son is carrying weapon. State v. Turner, 221 Or App 621, 191 P3d 697 (2008)

A reasonable argument could be made that if the butt end of the knife is sticking out of the pocket then, it is identifiable as a knife. However, another argument could be made that if it is a very deep pocket clip, it is not necessarily identifiable as a knife. We all know that there are knives that carry so deep that it would be tough to identify as a knife. A pocket clip doesn't mean anything. My pens and flashlights have pocket clips.

To the poster that said that there was precedent in regards to a pocket clip being open carry, is that something you have read yourself? Or more "I heard it on the internet" stuff?
 
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