US Knife Laws

KnifeUp provides, for free, knife law guides for all 50 states. Below is a map of the US, click on the state you are interested in to read about it’s knife laws. I try to keep these guides as up-to-date and accurate as possible but, for the law changes a lot, please leave a comment if you see something wrong.

Choose Your State


How the US Justice System Works

The United States was founded under the principals of federalism. Under federalism, governing powers are divided between the federal government as well as the state governments. For states existed before the founding of the US, the writers of the Constitution respected the state’s authority by limiting federal powers to only those expressly stated within the Constitution. All other governing powers are, therefore, state powers.

For knife law, the only federal law is the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958 as well as the 2009 amendment to the act (see 15 U.S.C. §1244). The federal knife law only applies to individuals who are traveling internationally as well as between states. If you reside in a federal district (see Washington D.C. knife laws), the federal law is the only law that governs knives for you. If you live in one of the 50 states, the federal law would only apply to you if you are traveling from one state to another or if you are entering federal property, such as a military base.

All states have knife laws (click on the map above to find the knife law for a particular state) but some state’s knife laws are more up-to-date than others and local municipals often pass their own knife laws as well. For example, if you live in Denver, Colorado, you must abide under the knife laws of Colorado as well as the knife laws of Denver. However, if you travel to Boulder, Colorado (30 minutes away) you must conform to Boulder’s knife laws as well. And, during your journey, you must conform to the knife laws of all the municipals in between Boulder and Denver.

This makes knife laws a tricky subject unless your state has a preemption clause. Preemption means that the state government nullifies all knife laws made by municipals. Therefore, when you travel from town to town, you would not have to worry about municipal knife laws.

General Guide to Knife Laws

Knife laws can be divided into these two categories: ownership laws and carry laws.

Ownership Laws

Ownership laws forbid individuals from owning certain types of knives that society has deemed “deadly weapons” or “dangerous.” Most of the time, these knives were once associated with unlawful people such as gangs, the mob, and outlaws. It is for this reason that the Bowie knife has been outlawed in so many states.

Carry Laws

Carry laws forbid an individual from carrying, concealed or open, certain knives. For example, some states forbid an individual from conceal carry of knives over a certain length but open carry of that same knife is legal. Other states forbid the carry, concealed and open, of certain knives. Most knives that are barred from carry are ones deemed by society to have no utility uses and, therefore, their only use is as weapons.

Other Laws

Some states have laws that forbid one from aggravated display of a knife as well as committing a crime with a knife. These laws are usually only enforceable after the fact and, for that reason, allows the state to increase the penalty of a crime. For example, robber is a bad crime but robbery with a knife is viewed as an even worse crime and should be punished more than simple robbery.

What is Generally Allowed

If you want to carry a knife that is usually legal everywhere, I highly recommend you buy a knife that is clearly intended for utility use. For example, most pocket knives and all leathermans as well as multi-tools fit this description. As long as the blade is less than 3 or 2.5 inches, you should be fine. Times where this advice might not be true is at: courts, planes, schools, and special buildings that forbid the carry of blades.

17 comments on “US Knife Laws
  1. chad says:

    Map not working on my android phone. Android 2.35 HTC inspire.

  2. Rich S says:

    Even with graphics and javascript on, I can’t get the map to load. Can you perhaps but a postal abbrev for the states with a hot link to the laws of that state. Thanks Rich

  3. Nellie Hall says:

    The map was not available. What are the laws for MO and KS? Thanks

  4. david says:

    your US map didn’t come up when I clicked to this site

  5. Owen says:

    Are not knives covered under the 2nd amendment also?
    Fewer politicians, more statesmen.

  6. Jay Sheldon says:

    As of July 15, 2013 the ownership and carrying of switchblades in Kansas is now legal. You may want to research this and other states for new laws just put in.

  7. Ken Herman says:

    Map does not work in safari, could you add a list of states or a drop down menu, Thanks

  8. Dan says:

    This is a great resource. I found one area where I was potentially illegal and didn’t even know it. Thank you very much!

  9. Brent Pendleton says:

    so are you saying that it is legal to own and carry a switch blade in Utah?

  10. Bret Wolfe says:


    I recently came across your site and noticed that the state of Kansas’ section has not been updated to reflect the new laws that took effect in summer of 2013.

    “HB2033 repeals all existing local knife laws in Kansas and enacts statewide preemption of any attempt to pass new local knife laws more restrictive than state law. HB2033 also repeals the ban on the possession of switchblades, dirks, daggers and stilettos.”

  11. Jonathan says:

    YES! I’ve been struggling to get clarity on knife laws for a while. This is a very useful resource!

  12. Paul says:


  13. Dennis Bukovcan says:

    Wisconsin now has Concealed Carry weapons permits. This alows you to carry a knife concealed. Still illegal to carry a switch blade though.

  14. Lee Bell says:

    Information on the types of knives that can be owned and how they may be carried is quite useful, thanks.

    What I came here to find out, however, does not seem to be covered. My question is not whether, or what I can carrry, but where I can carry it. Specifically, I live in Florida and will be traveling in Wyoming and South Dakota in the near future. I need to know what the restrrictions are for carry in various places including bars, government buildings, police departments, etc.

  15. David says:

    I share Lee Bell’s difficulties. All of my questions about knife laws begin with ‘where’ and what I really want to know is which states are off limits with particular blades.

    Please consider adding a way for visitors to select the characteristics of a knife and how they intend to carry it. Then, depending on that input, provide an overview of which states allow such a blade. Ideally, I would suggest color-coding the map.

    For example, someone might select fixed, 4″ blade, open carry. Then he or she would see in which states a knife like that would be perfectly legal, in which states it is completely and utterly illegal, in which states it varies by municipality, and in which states a permit is required.

    This is the most accessible resource for knife law I’ve found, so I hope this feature request doesn’t come across as unappreciative or lazy. I just think that indexing basic knife criteria would be useful to a lot of people.


  16. Bryan says:

    If you could add information about federal motor carrier restrictions, I would be very grateful. I can not find any information about it anywhere. Being an interstate tractor trailer driver, I would really like to know these legalities.

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