Sharp and Pointy
In Delaware, the knife laws kinda suck:
Here in Delaware we can’t own anything but an ordinary folder. If it’s assisted opening it’s illegal to own, much less carry. We’re also limited to a 3 inch blade length when carrying folders.
10 Responses to “Sharp and Pointy”
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August 17th, 2010 at 9:55 am
You only need two inches to reach vital organs:)
August 17th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Not exactly. Anything over 3 inches is considered a lethal weapon so you need a CDW permit. That’s pretty standard.
Like most knife laws, you can’t have a gravity knife or a spring-loaded switchblade. Not sure why he’s interpreting it to include all assisted-opening knives though.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Good point Jeff – Anything over 3 inches is a deadly weapon so you’d need a CCDW. I’m looking at this from the perspective of someone who doesn’t have a Delaware CCDW. Once you’ve got a CCDW you can carry pretty much anything.
Not sure why he’s interpreting it to include all assisted-opening knives though.
The statute is vague and as far as I can find there’s no relevant case law to provide clarification. The AG’s office, as is their custom, will not give any kind of “official” legal advice and the folks I know at the AG’s have given me conflicting info.
We already know that their interpretations can be a bit “off” RE open carry.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Heh – I just have to have a “reasonable, articulable” purpose to carry a knife in public. Switchblades, gravity knives, and ballistic knifes (along with dirks and daggers – though they don’t appear to be illegal to possess) are out, but AFAICT butterfly knifes and assisted-opening are OK.
I wouldn’t try out “self-defense” on a cop, but there’s plenty of other “reasonable, articulable” reasons to carry a folder or multitool with a decent-length blade. Hell, I’ve carried a fixed-blade knife so as to have a knife to carve my leftover steak when I brownbag it.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Illinois is pretty good. Unless it’s spring-activated (automatic), it’s legal. So gravity knives and inertia knives are legal.
Can’t carry them on federal property or across the stateline, though.
There’s a catch-all phrase about intent to use unlawfully against another person. It gets you arrested when the police don’t like you.
August 17th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
The knife laws suck rocks in Texas, too. You’d think the state that made the Bowie knife famous would be better about it. Don’t get Law Dog started on this topic. You’ll never hear the end of it.
August 17th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
I don’t have a DE CCW either. The point is you have to open carry or use a CDW permit because it’s a deadly weapon at that point. You can still have a folder bigger than 3 inches.
Oh and the stated law is for sale, purchase, or possession of switch blades. I can still buy a ken onion chive off the shelf in most department stores in Delaware. If they were going to charge me with possession of a switchblade, then they ought to charge every Walmart and Dicks in the state will sale. Not that they would have to be consistent.
August 17th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Here in Oregon you can just buy and own (but not carry, at least not concealed) a switchblade.
It’d be amusing to compare stabbing rates between states and find out, unsurprisingly, that having them legal doesn’t cause knives to fly into innocent flesh.
August 17th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
In Virginia, it’s illegal to possess a switchblade with the intent to “sell, barter, give or furnish” it to anyone. The catch?
You can have it if you don’t intend to sell it, but having it is legal proof that you intend to sell it.
I hate “prima facie” evidence thing. It’s a cop-out so the .gov doesn’t have to prove the required intent.
August 17th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Are knife-control laws as racist in origin as gun-control laws? I had been given to understand the anti-switchblade ones were.