Find out how legal it is to own and carry a switching blade knife in your state. If you`ve been accused of violating California`s knife laws, your best defense is a qualified and competent attorney. California`s knife laws can be confusing and difficult to navigate on your own. As a California defense attorney with over 30 years of experience, I understand the details of California`s knife laws and can develop the best defense strategy for your case. Contact my company today! The three most common types of knives – circuit blades, folding knives, and fixed blade knives (also known as dirks and daggers) – have certain rules and are explained in more detail below. The open wearing law states that the handle or handle of a knife cannot be hidden (or hidden), even by clothing or the sheath of the knife. This law exists to ensure that everyone around the person carrying the knife can see it clearly to prevent surprise attacks. In California, it is illegal to carry certain knives, especially if they are misleading or undetectable. In general, illegal knives are the ones that are most commonly used to commit crimes and have no obvious use as a tool or look like knives. A fixed blade knife is a knife without a folding mechanism. A kitchen knife is a common example. Ice axes and other objects can also be included in this category. In terms of California law, the words “dirk” and “dagger” mean the same thing: a knife that can easily be used as a knife.
In California, dirks and daggers and other vaginal knives must be worn open and cannot be hidden. This section is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Switching blades and other spring knives over 2 inches in length are illegal to have on you or in your vehicle in California and are also not legal to sell, rent or give away. Switchblade`s legal definition includes “[any] knife that has the appearance of a pocket knife and includes a spring-loaded blade knife, pressure knife, gravity knife or other similar knife whose blade(s) are two inches or more long and which can be automatically released at the push of a button, pressure on the handle, wrist flip or other mechanical device or is determined by the weight of the blade or by solving any type of mechanism of any kind. The law explicitly excludes pocket knives that can be opened with one hand by pressing the blade open with the thumb, provided that the knife “has a lock or other mechanism that offers resistance that must be overcome when the blade is open or tilts the blade to its closed position.” see Cal Pen. Code, § 21510 for the exact legal version of this offence. See also CalCrim No. 2502 for california jury instructions on Schematics. According to Criminal Code 171b, it is illegal to have certain knives in your possession if you are in a state or local public building. These illegal knives are: Bikers always seem to inquire about California`s knife-carrying laws.
After researching the law, we certainly understand why there is confusion about what is legal to wear and what is not: there are more than a dozen laws on the subject, as well as many municipal codes and conflicting court decisions that further obscure the water. Hopefully, this article will shed light on the rules and inconsistencies of California`s knife laws. Laws regarding butterfly knives are not specifically listed in California laws. However, California courts have concluded that butterfly knives fall within the definition of switching blades. See People ex rel. Mautner v. Quattrone, 211 Cal. App.3d 1389 (1989).
This unfortunately makes it illegal to carry butterfly knives in the state of California. A shift blade (which can be known by many other names, including a “push-button knife” or an “ejector knife”) has a blade that is included in the handle and automatically opens through a spring by pressing a button or lighting the handle. Switching blades with blades larger than 2â cannot be transported to California.
