Maryland Knife Laws: The Penknife Exception, Dangerous Weapons and the Baltimore Rule

The Short Version

Maryland's knife law is one section of the Criminal Law Article, 4-101, and it turns on a single definition. A "weapon" includes "a dirk knife, bowie knife, switchblade knife, star knife, sandclub, metal knuckles, razor, and nunchaku," and it does not include "a penknife without a switchblade." The Court of Appeals has read "penknife" to mean any knife whose blade folds into the handle, at any length, lock or no lock, so a manual folding knife is simply outside the statute: it can be carried in a pocket, in a bag or on a clip anywhere in the state except public school property. Everything on the list, and any other knife a jury decides you carried as a weapon, follows a second rule: legal to own, legal to carry openly unless you intend to hurt someone, and a misdemeanor to carry concealed. There is no blade-length limit anywhere in state law and no permit for knives. Two things make Maryland harder than it looks. A weapon within reach in your car is "concealed about the person," so a dirk under the seat is the same offense as one under a jacket. And Maryland has no knife preemption, so Baltimore City's own ban on switchblades, which reaches possession, is in force inside the city line.

The Penknife Exception

The statute excludes "a penknife without a switchblade" from the definition of weapon, and the whole of the law for folding knives hangs on what a penknife is. The Court of Appeals answered in Mackall v. State in 1978: the exception is not limited by blade length, and a folding knife is a penknife whatever its size. The Court of Special Appeals added in Bacon v. State in 1991 that a locking blade does not change the answer. The court called the lock a protective feature and defined a penknife as "any knife with the blade folding into the handle." In Anderson v. State in 1992 the Court of Appeals described the exception as applying "under all circumstances." The practical result is that a 4-inch lockback, a 3.8-inch liner lock on bearings, or a 5-inch folder is as legal in a Maryland pocket as a 2-inch slip joint, openly or concealed, with no permit and no intent inquiry. The words "without a switchblade" are the limit: a folding knife whose blade opens automatically from a button, spring or device in the handle is a switchblade knife, which is on the weapon list. An assisted opener, which starts by hand and finishes on a spring, has not been ruled on by a Maryland appellate court. It is not a switchblade under the statute's own definition in 4-105, which requires "hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle," but the question is open and a manual folder avoids it.

What Counts as a Dangerous Weapon

The list in 4-101(a)(5)(i) is written with "includes," so it is not closed. The named knives are a dirk knife, which is a stabbing knife. A bowie knife, the large clip-point fixed blade. A switchblade knife. A star knife, defined in the statute as a throwing device with blades "arrayed as radially disposed arms about a central disk". A razor. For anything not named, the Court of Appeals set the test in Anderson v. State, 328 Md. 426 (1992), where a utility knife with a 3-inch blade was the object: a thing that is not a weapon by design is a dangerous weapon only if the trier of fact finds it is one and finds the carrier had "at least the general intent to carry the instrument for its use as a weapon." That is the rule for an ordinary fixed-blade hunting or camp knife. Carried as a tool, in a sheath, it is not on the list and is not a weapon. Carried hidden in a waistband in a place and manner that suggests it is for use on people, it can be, and a jury decides which. Butterfly knives and gravity knives are not named in the state statute. A balisong's blade folds into its handles, which is the penknife definition, but no Maryland court has said so, and Baltimore names gravity knives in its own code.

Concealed, Open and the Car

4-101(c)(1) says a person "may not wear or carry a dangerous weapon of any kind concealed on or about the person." Two cases fill in the words. Smith v. State, 308 A.2d 442 (1973), defines concealed: a weapon is concealed if it is not discernible by ordinary observation, and it need not be invisible. Whether it was concealed is a question for the jury. Shipley v. State, 220 A.2d 585 (1966), defines "about the person": a weapon within reach of the driver or a passenger of a vehicle and available for immediate use is concealed about the person. So a bowie knife in a door pocket, an OTF in the center console or a dirk under the seat is the same misdemeanor as one under a shirt, and the glove box is not a safe harbor. A penknife is outside all of this, because it is not a weapon. Open carry is the other half of the statute. 4-101(c)(2) prohibits wearing or carrying a dangerous weapon openly only "with the intent or purpose of injuring an individual in an unlawful manner," so a fixed blade in a belt sheath or an automatic in a visible holster is legal across Maryland without a permit. The exceptions in 4-101(b) are law enforcement, railroad special agents, holders of a Maryland handgun wear-and-carry permit, and "a person who carries the weapon as a reasonable precaution against apprehended danger," which the statute leaves to the court's judgment of reasonableness after the fact. It is a defense to argue at trial, not a license to carry.

Switchblades and OTFs: Own, Carry Openly, Do Not Sell

A switchblade knife, which includes an OTF, is on the weapon list, so the rules above apply: legal to own, legal to carry openly without unlawful intent, a misdemeanor concealed on or about the person, and legal concealed for a wear-and-carry permit holder. Maryland adds a rule aimed at the trade rather than the owner. 4-105 says a person "may not sell, barter, display, or offer to sell or barter" a knife "having a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife, commonly called a switchblade knife," or a "shooting knife" that propels a blade from a sheath by ejector spring. The offense is the seller's, a misdemeanor with up to 12 months and a fine of $50 to $500, and the word "display" is why you will not see an automatic in a Maryland store case. Nothing in the section prohibits buying, owning, receiving as a gift or carrying one, and a knife bought elsewhere and brought home is legal to possess everywhere in the state except Baltimore City. There, City Code Article 19, section 59-22 says "no person may sell, carry, or possess any knife with an automatic spring or other device for opening or closing the blade, commonly known as a switchblade knife," with up to 12 months and $1,000 for each offense. Inside the city line, an OTF in a drawer at home is an offense.

Baltimore City and Local Rules

Maryland has no statute preempting local knife regulation, so counties and cities may add rules, and the state statute itself varies by county for minors. Baltimore City has two sections that matter. 59-22 is the switchblade ban in the section above. 59-23 defines a "dangerous knife" to include a bowie, dirk, gravity, star or switchblade knife, a straight razor, and "any knife with a blade that is longer than 3 inches," and then regulates the trade in them: no selling, giving or transferring one to a person the seller knows or should know is under 21, no keeping one in an exterior window or glass display case of a store that sells knives (sporting goods stores excepted), and in any business open to people under 21, knives for sale must stay behind the counter out of their reach. It does not prohibit an adult from carrying a knife with a blade over 3 inches. That figure is a sales and display rule, and the internet has turned it into a carry limit that does not exist. Other Maryland counties and municipalities can have their own ordinances. The American Knife and Tool Institute notes that some restrict blade length or features without naming them, and we checked Baltimore City's code only. If you spend time in Montgomery or Prince George's County, Annapolis or Ocean City, read the local code before carrying anything on the weapon list.

Where You Cannot Carry

• Public school property4-102(b) says a person "may not carry or possess a firearm, knife, or deadly weapon of any kind on public school property." There is no penknife exception and no blade-length floor: a 2-inch folder on a key ring is covered. The statute reaches public school property only. Private schools set their own rules by contract and conduct code. The exceptions are law enforcement on duty, off-duty or retired officers visiting as a parent or guardian who show credentials and keep the weapon concealed, guards hired by a county board of education, organized educational shooting programs, and historical demonstrations by written invitation of the principal. A violation is a misdemeanor with up to 3 years and $1,000.
  4-102
• Courthouses and state buildingsMaryland courthouses screen at the door and take any knife, penknife included, under the court's own security rules. State office buildings with screening do the same. These are facility rules rather than the criminal code.
  Facility rules
• Baltimore CityNo switchblade or OTF anywhere in the city, carried or kept at home.
  59-22
• AirportsNo knives past the checkpoint at BWI under federal rules. The public terminal follows state law.
  TSA
• Private propertyEmployers, landlords, stadiums, venues and stores may post their own knife rules. Breaking one gets you removed, and refusing to leave is trespass.
  Posted rules

Minors and Felons

Maryland sets no minimum age to own or carry a knife statewide and no age for buying one, apart from Baltimore City's rule against transferring a dangerous knife, which there includes any blade over 3 inches, to anyone under 21. The one state rule for minors is 4-101(c)(3): in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Caroline, Cecil, Harford, Kent, Montgomery, Prince George's, St. Mary's, Talbot, Washington and Worcester counties, a minor "may not carry a dangerous weapon, whether concealed or not," between one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise, except on a bona fide hunting trip or while engaged in or traveling to or from a trap shoot, sport shooting event or organized civic or military activity. Baltimore City is not on that list, though its own switchblade ban applies to everyone. The rule covers dangerous weapons only, so a 16-year-old with a folding knife is breaking no state law at any hour, anywhere outside a public school. For a person with a felony conviction, Maryland's prohibited-person statutes in the Public Safety Article cover firearms. No state statute bars a felon from owning or carrying a knife, and the knife rules in 4-101 apply to a felon exactly as they apply to anyone else.

Penalties

What the Internet Gets Wrong

Four things, and the first was on this page for years. Fixed blades are not illegal to carry in Maryland. The old version of this article said carrying "any type of fixed blade knife" was prohibited. The statute prohibits carrying a dangerous weapon concealed, and open carry of a dirk, a bowie or any other fixed blade is legal without a permit unless you intend to hurt someone. Second, the 3-inch limit: no state statute contains one. The number is Baltimore's definition of a dangerous knife for sales to people under 21 and for store displays, and even there it is not a carry rule. Third, that switchblades and OTFs are illegal in Maryland: they are legal to own and to carry openly everywhere but Baltimore City. What the state bans is selling or displaying them, and carrying them concealed. Fourth, that you need a permit to carry a fixed blade: Maryland has no knife permit. The handgun wear-and-carry permit happens to exempt its holder from the whole section, which is a different thing. The one rule people get wrong in the other direction is the car: a weapon within reach of the driver is concealed about the person under Shipley, so the console and the door pocket are not storage, they are carry.

TEKTO Knives for Maryland

Maryland sorts the line by how the blade opens. The F1 Alpha, F2 Bravo, F3 Charlie and F4 Echo are manual folders, penknives under the statute, and are legal to carry openly or in a pocket anywhere in the state outside public school property, at any hour, at any age, by anyone. The F3 at 3.80 inches is as legal as the F1 at 3.10, because the penknife exception has no length. The X1 Atlas is a 3.30-inch single-edged drop point: not a dirk, not a bowie, and in its Kydex sheath on the belt it is open carry everywhere the folders go. Keep it on the belt or in a pack rather than hidden on your body or within reach in the car, where a jury would be asked why. The OTFs, the A5 Spry, A5 Spry Mini, A2 Badger, A7 Zastava and A4, and the A3 Delta side-opener are switchblade knives under Maryland law: legal to own and to carry openly outside Baltimore City, a misdemeanor concealed or within reach in a vehicle, and not something a Maryland store may display or sell. A wear-and-carry permit holder may carry them concealed.