What Size Pocket Knife Is Legal To Carry In California

Pocketknife Laws In California Overview

California knife laws is relatively sensible and focused on restricting knives they experience don't take a purpose except for violence. In general, California pocketknife law can be divided into three sections:

Knives that may be carried openly or concealed
Knives that may only be carried openly
Knives that are always illegal

Tabular array of Contents

Knife Open Carrying Laws in California
Concealed Knife Laws California
California Pocketknife Laws Blade Length Rules
California Fixed Blade Knife Laws
California Folding Pocketknife Laws
Which Types of Knives are Legal in California?
Pocket Knife Laws California
California Butterfly Knife Laws
Are Bowie Knives Legal in California?
Future and Upcoming 2018 New Pocketknife Laws in California

Knife Open up Carrying Laws in California

All legal fixed bract knives must be worn in apparently view, except knives classified as dirks or daggers, which must exist carried openly, on a sheath around your waist. In that location is no open carry limits on size for legal knives, so yous can openly acquit a sword or machete.

Concealed Knife Laws California

Certain knives may exist carried curtained as long as the blade is folded in the closed position. These types of knives include:

Pocket knives
Non-locking folding knives
Other folding knives that practice not meet the definition of a switch blade

If the blade is concealed and locked into the open position, these otherwise legal knives get an illegal dirk or dagger under California law , in which instance the knife cannot be concealed and must exist worn from a sheath around your waist.

California Knife Laws Bract Length Rules

There are specific restrictions for knives in California that all depend on the length of the blade.

2 inches or longer blades, specifically ones which 'unfold' or 'open'

Ane component of "Switch blades" in California is a blade two inches or longer. Switch blades accept their own specific restrictions in California, but if the blade is shorter than two inches, and so it is technically non a switchblade.

two and a half inch or longer blades of whatsoever type are prohibited from any school grounds
2 and a half inch or longer stock-still blade knives are prohibited from any college or university grounds

More specific areas inside California have their own laws on Length. For example, In Los Angeles, California whatever pocketknife with a blade longer than 3 inches is illegal to openly carry.

Certain types of knives are illegal at whatsoever length. Make sure to read the whole article or check for your specific blazon of pocketknife in the summary tabular array.

California Stock-still Blade Pocketknife Laws

Certain types of fixed blade knives are completely illegal to take in California, and others are allowed with restrictions. Pocket knives under ii inches are mostly legal without any restrictions. Other types of fixed blade knives like Dirks and Daggers are heavily restricted with regards to where and how they can be carried, merely both types are still legal to own.

California Folding Knife Laws

In California, folding knives are OK to carry as long equally the opening is not assisted - such as a switchblade, gravity knife, butterfly knife, or other assisted or automatic knives.

If a folding knife would be considered a "switchblade" then the knife has more restrictions:

California Law Defines a switchblade knife to mean:

"a knife having the advent of a pocketknife and includes a bound-blade knife, snap-blade knife, gravity knife, or any other similar type knife, the blade or blades of which are ii or more inches in length and which can be released automatically by a flick of a button , pressure level on the handle, flip of the wrist or other mechanical device , or is released past the weight of the blade or by whatsoever blazon of mechanism any. "Switchblade knife" does not include a pocketknife that opens with ane hand utilizing pollex pressure applied solely to the blade of the knife or a thumb stud attached to the blade , provided that the pocketknife has a detent or other mechanism that provides resistance that must be overcome in opening the bract, or that biases the blade back toward its closed position ."

All of these components must exist truthful about a knife to be considered a switchblade knife.

Therefore, if the knife must be manually opened, and faces resistance during opening, then it is not actually a switchblade knife, even though it may be a folding knife, information technology is still legal.

If the pocketknife is nether 2 inches, then it is not a switchblade knife, legally, even if information technology has all the other components of a switch blade (mechanical switch).

Which Types of Knives are Legal in California?

Type of Knife	*Legal (with restrictions)**	Illegal
Pocket Knife / Folding Pocketknife	Ten
Butterfly Knives	X*
Switch Blade	10*
Bowie Knives	10
Machete	Ten
Swords	X
Dirks / Daggers / Stilettos	X*
Ballistic Knives		10
Misleading Knives		X
Hidden Knives		X

Pocket Knife Laws California

Pocket knives are mostly the near permissive knives to own and carry in California. Make sure that your pocketknife is legally considered a pocket knife before you take information technology out in public.

California Butterfly Knife Laws

In California, Butterfly knifes are considered switchblades, and regulated under 21510 :

Every person who does any of the following with a switchblade pocketknife having a blade two or more inches in length is guilty of a misdemeanor: (a) Possesses the pocketknife in the passenger's or commuter's area of any motor vehicle in any public place or place open to the public. (b) Carries the pocketknife upon the person. (c) Sells, offers for sale, exposes for sale, loans, transfers, or gives the knife to any other person.

This means information technology is perfectly legal to own a butterfly knife over ii inches in length, as long equally you lot leave it at home. It's besides legal to acquit a butterfly knife, as long equally it's under 2 inches.

Are Bowie Knives Legal in California?

Currently Bowie Knives are legal in California, as they have not been restricted past any existing regulation. In that location does not appear to be any new regulations concerning Bowie knives coming up in the nigh future.