Texas Alert
Details & Cautions Regarding Switchblades
Knife Rights has recently received numerous emails and calls seeking clarification of the new Texas law (HB1862)
repealing the ban on automatic (switchblade) knives that Knife Rights
passed this year. This new law goes into effect on September 1.
The Texas Legislature will
be back is session in 2015 and Knife Rights will be there working to
remove the remaining restrictions and to get Knife Law Preemption
passed. In the meantime there are still limitations that Texas owners of
automatic knives must be aware of and they are:
First, the definition of
an Illegal Knife in Sec. 46.01(6)(C) still includes "dagger, including
but not limited to dirk, stilletto and poniard." That has not changed.
None of these type knives, dagger, etc., are defined in Texas law, but
based on case law generally you should assume that a "dagger" covers any
double-edged blade. This would include automatic knives with
double-edged blades.
Some have suggested that
you might make a case for the position that when the legislature
repealed the ban on switchblades, that repeal covers any automatic
knife, regardless of blade style. That is referred to technically as a
"presumptive repeal" defense. However, unless you want to be a test
case, spend thousands and thousands of dollars and possibly still end up
in jail if you lose, that could be a very risky position to take. We do
not recommend testing the law by carrying a double-edged knife.
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