TexasCHLforum.com

does anyone have any current info concerning knives pending in the legislature??

I don't think there is much left for Texas. Switch blades are legal. What is left that you can not do with a knife in Texas?

We also have state preemption just like we do for firearms. That makes the knife laws universal throughout the state.

another case of 'no legislation is good legislation'...

pcgizzmo wrote:I don't think there is much left for Texas. Switch blades are legal. What is left that you can not do with a knife in Texas?

The 5.5 inch limit on the length of the blade is totally unnecessary, and the prohibition on carrying a Bowie knife in Texas is just face palm worthy embarrassing.

Excaliber wrote:

pcgizzmo wrote:I don't think there is much left for Texas. Switch blades are legal. What is left that you can not do with a knife in Texas?

The 5.5 inch limit on the length of the blade is totally unnecessary, and the prohibition on carrying a Bowie knife in Texas is just face palm worthy embarrassing.

I thought you could carry a longer knife if you had an LTC, and were carrying?

Think double edged are still disallowed as well.

[/quote]
I thought you could carry a longer knife if you had an LTC, and were carrying?[/quote]

If that's the law, I would like to see it. As far as I know, there is a limit on length with or without a LTC. Same with Daggers, dirks, Bowie knives.
Kind of stupid.

RossA wrote:

I thought you could carry a longer knife if you had an LTC, and were carrying?

If that's the law, I would like to see it. As far as I know, there is a limit on length with or without a LTC. Same with Daggers, dirks, Bowie knives.
Kind of stupid.

See http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php? ... tol+arrest

Long thread, but covers all the bases, I think.

Wow, lengthy discussion, but it looks like there are still some disagreements as to the meaning of the statute. Unless I missed it, I didn't see Charles weighing in on the subject. Would love to hear his take.

Excaliber wrote:

pcgizzmo wrote:I don't think there is much left for Texas. Switch blades are legal. What is left that you can not do with a knife in Texas?

The 5.5 inch limit on the length of the blade is totally unnecessary, and the prohibition on carrying a Bowie knife in Texas is just face palm worthy embarrassing.

The problem is that penal code doesn't say "Bowie knife", it says "bowie knife"; notice the lack of capitalization in the penal code. I would gather that could be used to justify calling a LOT of knives "bowie knives" that aren't actual "Bowie knives", since the actual Bowie knife has a rather distinctive set of characteristics, to include size. I received a "baby" K-Bar as a present some years ago. I won't carry it because I don't want to risk arrest if it was to be construed as a "bowie knife", despite being under the legal length limit. Perhaps the lack of capitalization was simply a typo all those years ago, and the writer specifically meant the big ol' Bowie knife of fame and legend, but with the way every little thing gets parsed by those in "the system", I won't take that chance. I certainly cannot afford the legal battle when I can easily carry other knives. However, I do agree that part of the penal code should be clarified.

Knife laws in Texas have been convoluted, for a long time. The ban on "Bowie" knives pre-dates the Civil War, because someone in the legislature threatened another member with one. However, they never defined it. "Switchblades" were banned after the movie 'West Side Story'came out, because the thought was that all "gang fights" involved those deadly implements. Despite the fact that until they were banned, hardly anyone had one, because they were so unreliable. You can carry a 12" butcher knife, without fear, but a 6" pocket knife, is too dangerous. If I say I am going to my friend's house to help him clear brush, I can carry a 2 foot machete. If I'm going camping, I can carry just about anything I want. There were prohibitions against "gravity" knives, or knives that could be opened with one hand, for the same reason as switchblades. I'm surprised the ADA never challenged the one handed opening restriction as being discriminatory. I guess no one told them that a 5.5" fixed blade is just as deadly as an assisted opening knife.

All of these laws were in force when I was a LEO. I never charged anyone for a the type of knife they may have had, or took the time to measure the blade. Most LEO that I know are the same way, unless the knife in question was used in the commission of a crime, we left it alone. I have heard of people being charged for their knives, but to me, it was never an issue.

There have been several removals of prohibitions in the past few years, but I agree, that most, if not all should be removed. If a person is carrying a sword in a scabbard, down the street, they are no more of a threat, than someone with a holstered pistol, or a slung shotgun. JMHO

And we still have all of the Federal restrictions, especially on automatic knives being shipped across state lines.

K.Mooneyham wrote:

Excaliber wrote:

pcgizzmo wrote:I don't think there is much left for Texas. Switch blades are legal. What is left that you can not do with a knife in Texas?

The 5.5 inch limit on the length of the blade is totally unnecessary, and the prohibition on carrying a Bowie knife in Texas is just face palm worthy embarrassing.

The problem is that penal code doesn't say "Bowie knife", it says "bowie knife"; notice the lack of capitalization in the penal code. I would gather that could be used to justify calling a LOT of knives "bowie knives" that aren't actual "Bowie knives", since the actual Bowie knife has a rather distinctive set of characteristics, to include size. I received a "baby" K-Bar as a present some years ago. I won't carry it because I don't want to risk arrest if it was to be construed as a "bowie knife", despite being under the legal length limit. Perhaps the lack of capitalization was simply a typo all those years ago, and the writer specifically meant the big ol' Bowie knife of fame and legend, but with the way every little thing gets parsed by those in "the system", I won't take that chance. I certainly cannot afford the legal battle when I can easily carry other knives. However, I do agree that part of the penal code should be clarified.

It's my thought that the bowie knife definition is vague on purpose. When I hunt I carry a buck 119. It's kind of a bowie knife. And, it's a smidgen over the legal length. However, doesn't the law make an exception for things like hunting/fishing? Plus, I'm sure if you're not doing anything stupid then you're probably in the clear, although I wouldn't want to be the test case.........

growlerVII wrote:

K.Mooneyham wrote:

Excaliber wrote:

pcgizzmo wrote:I don't think there is much left for Texas. Switch blades are legal. What is left that you can not do with a knife in Texas?

The 5.5 inch limit on the length of the blade is totally unnecessary, and the prohibition on carrying a Bowie knife in Texas is just face palm worthy embarrassing.

The problem is that penal code doesn't say "Bowie knife", it says "bowie knife"; notice the lack of capitalization in the penal code. I would gather that could be used to justify calling a LOT of knives "bowie knives" that aren't actual "Bowie knives", since the actual Bowie knife has a rather distinctive set of characteristics, to include size. I received a "baby" K-Bar as a present some years ago. I won't carry it because I don't want to risk arrest if it was to be construed as a "bowie knife", despite being under the legal length limit. Perhaps the lack of capitalization was simply a typo all those years ago, and the writer specifically meant the big ol' Bowie knife of fame and legend, but with the way every little thing gets parsed by those in "the system", I won't take that chance. I certainly cannot afford the legal battle when I can easily carry other knives. However, I do agree that part of the penal code should be clarified.

It's my thought that the bowie knife definition is vague on purpose. When I hunt I carry a buck 119. It's kind of a bowie knife. And, it's a smidgen over the legal length. However, doesn't the law make an exception for things like hunting/fishing? Plus, I'm sure if you're not doing anything stupid then you're probably in the clear, although I wouldn't want to be the test case.........

If you are hunting/camping/fishing, you can carry just about anything you want. Tomahawks, hatchets, long filet knives, machetes, 18" survival knives, etc.

Knife laws are passed for the same reason gun laws are passed, they think that the knife is the issue, not the person wielding it. 9/11 taught everybody, that even box cutters, used by criminals are deadly. That doesn't deter the liberals, who think that they can control something by passing a law prohibiting it.
Just ask the folks in England. They have very strict knife laws to go along with their gun laws, but that didn't deter the guy yesterday.