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The above is a four inch blade Cold Steel Ti Lite sharpened on one edge.

Under 46.01.6.A, TX Penal Code, an illegal knife is An illegal knife is, among other things: (C) a dagger, including but not limited to a dirk, stiletto, and poniard. (traditionally, none of the three are sharpened)

According to the M-W Online Dictionary, a dagger is: 1: a sharp pointed knife for stabbing.

Comments appreciated.

looks like a single edged cutting tool to me. I wouldn't hesitate to carry that knife. It the blade style makes it illegal, then most all of my (manually operated) fillet knives would send me to the pokey.

surv

Stop by your PD and ask it it is legal. Most probably if sold legally, it is legal, no?

casingpoint wrote:

The above is a four inch blade Cold Steel Ti Lite sharpened on one edge.

Under 46.01.6.A, TX Penal Code, an illegal knife is An illegal knife is, among other things: (C) a dagger, including but not limited to a dirk, stiletto, and poniard. (traditionally, none of the three are sharpened)

According to the M-W Online Dictionary, a dagger is: 1: a sharp pointed knife for stabbing.

Comments appreciated.

How is the blade deployed? gravity or inertia can cause you a problem in some jurisdictions. Also, when it comes to defining the legal aspects of an issue, you should only ever use the Texas Penal Code. In this case, a dagger isnt really defined, but everyone should know what a dagger is and in your example, that would be ANY knife. Knives are typically sharp, pointed and used for stabbing. See where Im going?

If its a typical folding knife, I would say its legal HOWEVER, your local jurisdiction may have ordinances that prohibit a feature of the knife in question, such as length.

If it helps, I was always taught that to come under the dagger section, the law required both sides of the knife to be sharpened, at least through the curved part of the blade. This was the design factor that would show it was designed for stabbing instead of cutting. But I don't have a reference for where this definition comes from, just how SAPD taught me in their academy.

srothstein wrote:If it helps, I was always taught that to come under the dagger section, the law required both sides of the knife to be sharpened, at least through the curved part of the blade. This was the design factor that would show it was designed for stabbing instead of cutting. But I don't have a reference for where this definition comes from, just how SAPD taught me in their academy.

That's what I heard growing up and to be safe I also avoid carrying knives with an aggressive false edge.

I've been told the same thing about having two edges... even on a knife with separated folding blades the mirrored each other. Is this nowhere in the penal code? Is it ridiculous that they regulate what knife I can carry but not how many guns I can have on me?

Fangs wrote:I've been told the same thing about having two edges... even on a knife with separated folding blades the mirrored each other. Is this nowhere in the penal code? Is it ridiculous that they regulate what knife I can carry but not how many guns I can have on me?

They don't regulate how many knives you can have on you.

They do regulate type of guns. Most people (no CHL, not LEO) can't carry a handgun in the same places they can't carry a dagger. Even with a CHL we can't legally carry a MG or SBS that's not in the NFA registry (and registered to us.)

All of that seems to violate the Second Amendment but that's the way it is.

P.S. The penal code says this about an illegal knife (illegal to carry in public, not illegal to own.)

"Illegal knife" means a:
(A) knife with a blade over five and one-half inches;
(B) hand instrument designed to cut or stab another by being thrown;
(C) dagger, including but not limited to a dirk, stiletto, and poniard;
(D) bowie knife;
(E) sword; or
(F) spear.

The Ti Lite requires manual assistance to open. Various dictionary sources have daggers as sharpened on both edges or not. I appreciate the notation that daggers are legal to own but not to carry, and add that I was thinking in terms of carry when I did the OP.

I found the best definitions of daggers in a couple of old Webster dictionaries dating back to a time when daggers were probably more common than today.

Webster 1828 http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/dagger" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
DAG'GER, n.:1. A short sword; a poniard.

Webster, 1913 http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEB ... ORD=dagger" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Dag"ger: 1. A short weapon used for stabbing. This is the general term: cf. Poniard, Stiletto, Bowie knife, Dirk, Misericorde, Anlace

The common thread seems to be daggers a weapons designed primarily for stabbing and in general did have both edges sharpened, but not always. A knife designed for cutting might not classify as a dagger, regardless of it's stabbing capability which, of course, all knives are capable of to some degree by their very shape.

Per the law, it is legal.

However, the design (aesthetically) so closely resembles some switchblade knives...that it is certain to cause mis-identification by many LEO.

Probably not worth the grief.

Probably not worth the grief

Probably not, until you need a knife and carry a folder. Then, this is one humdinger of an SD knife.

Beiruty wrote:Stop by your PD and ask it it is legal. Most probably if sold legally, it is legal, no?

I wouldn't recommend this. If you want five different answers on whether it is legal, ask three local LE.

Mike1951 wrote:

Beiruty wrote:Stop by your PD and ask it it is legal. Most probably if sold legally, it is legal, no?

I wouldn't recommend this. If you want five different answers on whether it is legal, ask three local LE.

Sad but true.

When you stop in at the cop shop to ask about the knife's legality,
make sure you bring only the picture of it.

If you bring the real knife they may say it's illegal and cuff you up directly. :-)

A dagger has a fixed blade. Folding knives are not designed to be stabbing weapons, because the blade could fold on your hand (at least until locking mechanisms were put on the blades, but that is a different discussion). As long as this knife has a folding blade, and the false edge is truly false, it is legal. Also remember that case law made assisted opening knives basically illegal until the new laws come into effect 9/1/09 (I do remember the assisted opening knife definition law passing, don't I?).