VA Knife laws regarding OTF

[Spin86]

I have been trying to figure out if a Benchmade infedel is legal to own in VA. I have gotten so many conflicting articles on OTF knives from google. Thanks in advance.

 

[glistam]

All switchblades, whether OTF or not, are illegal to possess in Virginia.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter7/section18.2-311/
The law is phrased oddly, in that it prohibits sale of switchblades, but then says mere possession is grounds for the court to automatically assume sale was intended.

(and note some OTF knives are not switchblades, like the Boker Slyde-R)

 

[Spin86]

All switchblades, whether OTF or not, are illegal to possess in Virginia.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter7/section18.2-311/
The law is phrased oddly, in that it prohibits sale of switchblades, but then says mere possession is grounds for the court to automatically assume sale was intended.

(and note some OTF knives are not switchblades, like the Boker Slyde-R)

Thanks for the reply and answer, VA knife laws are stupid.

 

[Knife_Collector_101]

I think there may be some leeway though if you had some autos or OTFs in a knife collection and had some way of proving in court that they were ones that were purchased out of state for collection purposes or passed down to you and you had no intent of selling. How laws are written is one thing, how they're enforced is entirely different. Seems like VA's law puts most of its emphasis on the selling of autos, ninja stars, blackjacks, etc. I'm not a lawyer, so I could very well be talking out of my ass here. Just my two cents.

 

[Knife_Collector_101]

This article seems to lend credence to my thoughts on the matter.

http://www.thetruthaboutknives.com/know-your-knife-laws-10-virginia/

Restricted Weapons

Section 18.2-311 prohibits the sale or transfer of the typical (and laughable) list of restricted knives and hand weapons: blackjacks, brass knuckles, shuriken, switchblades and ballistic knives. Straight-up ‘possession’ is not itself illegal, but the statute specifies that even simple possession of such weapons is prima facie evidence of an intent to sell or transfer them.

A clever Virginia collector of automatic knives and ballistic knives might overcome this prima facie evidence of ‘intent to sell’ by keeping his collection in a nice display case, by maintaining a log of when and how each item was obtained, and by engraving their name upon it in the manner of a book collecter who embosses ex libris Christopher Dumm inside the title pages of their books. Not that I do that myself, but these measures would tend to show that you’re a ‘collector’ instead of an edged arms merchant.