Minnesota Knife Laws: One Banned Knife, No Blade Limit, and the Places Where a Knife Is a Felony

The Short Version

Minnesota's knife law lives in one section, Minn. Stat. 609.66, captioned "Dangerous Weapons," and most of that section is about guns. For knives it does four things. It bans one kind outright: whoever "manufactures, transfers, or possesses metal knuckles or a switch blade knife opening automatically" commits a misdemeanor, or a gross misdemeanor in a school, park or public housing zone. It makes intent a crime: possessing "any other dangerous article or substance for the purpose of being used unlawfully as a weapon against another" is the same offense. It makes two places felony territory: possessing a "dangerous weapon" while knowingly on school property, on a school bus or at a licensed child care center, or in a courthouse complex or a Capitol Area state building, carries up to five years. And it says nothing about carrying a knife, open or concealed, which means that outside those places, and outside the cities with ordinances of their own, an adult in Minnesota may carry a fixed blade, a balisong, a dagger or a 6-inch folder, openly or in a pocket, with no permit and no length limit, as long as the purpose is lawful. "Dangerous weapon" is defined in 609.02 subd. 6 and does not name knives. A knife is one if it is "designed as a weapon and capable of producing death or great bodily harm," or if it is used or intended to be used in a way "calculated or likely to produce death or great bodily harm." Minnesota preempts local firearm regulation and not knife regulation, so Minneapolis, St. Paul and a handful of suburbs have their own rules, and those are where the blade-length numbers people quote come from.

The One Banned Knife: Switchblades, OTFs and the 2026 Court Challenge

609.66 subd. 1(a)(4) has read the same way since 1959: a "switch blade knife opening automatically" may not be made, transferred or possessed in Minnesota. The statute does not define the phrase, and the plain words cover any knife whose blade comes out on its own when a button or switch is pressed, which is every side-opening automatic and every OTF. Possession is enough. There is no carry element, no intent element and no exception for the home, so an automatic in a drawer in Duluth is the same offense as one in a pocket in Minneapolis. The penalty under subd. 1(b) is up to 90 days and $1,000, or up to 364 days and $3,000 if the act happens in a school zone, a park zone or a public housing zone as those are defined in the drug statute, which in a city covers a lot of ground. The museum and collector exception in subd. 2 exists, but in State v. Reese, 446 N.W.2d 173 (Minn. App. 1989), the Court of Appeals refused to apply it to brass knuckles hung on a wall, so do not count on it. The ban is under attack. Knife Rights filed a Second Amendment challenge in the District of Minnesota in September 2024, and on April 24, 2026 Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz heard cross-motions for summary judgment. Courthouse News reported that he called the state's distinction between weapons suited to offense and defense "largely nonsensical," and Knife Rights has said the court "had serious concerns with Minnesota's position." As of this page's date no ruling has been reported, and the statute is in force. If the court strikes it down, this page will change. Until then, an OTF is illegal to own in Minnesota.

Dangerous Weapon, Intent and Concealment

Three things decide every other knife question in the state. The first is the definition. 609.02 subd. 6 says a dangerous weapon is "any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, or any device designed as a weapon and capable of producing death or great bodily harm, any combustible or flammable liquid or other device or instrumentality that, in the manner it is used or intended to be used, is calculated or likely to produce death or great bodily harm, or any fire that is used to produce death or great bodily harm." A knife can be a dangerous weapon two ways: by design, if it is "designed as a weapon," which a dagger, a dirk, a stiletto or a push dagger plainly is and which Minnesota courts have found in knives with a weapon-like design and a locking blade, or by use, if it is used or meant to be used to hurt someone, which makes any knife, a paring knife included, a dangerous weapon in the moment. An ordinary folder or a hunting knife in a pocket, not being used, is not a dangerous weapon by design on the usual reading, though there is no bright-line case and the American Knife and Tool Institute advises keeping every knife out of the places where dangerous weapons are banned. The second thing is intent. 609.66 subd. 1(a)(5) makes it a crime to possess "any other dangerous article or substance for the purpose of being used unlawfully as a weapon against another," and that purpose is the whole offense: the same knife is lawful in the hands of a carpenter and a misdemeanor in the hands of someone who tells a bouncer what he plans to do with it. The third thing is what the statute leaves out. There is no Minnesota statute on concealed carry of a knife, no blade length and no permit, and AKTI puts it in three words: "Concealment is not an issue." The Minnesota Supreme Court added one more element in In re Welfare of C.R.M., 611 N.W.2d 802 (2000), a case about a folding knife in a student's coat: the state must prove the person knew the knife was there and knew they were on school property, which is why the statute now says "knowingly."

Assisted Openers, Butterfly Knives and Gravity Knives

Because the statute names only the switchblade, every other opening mechanism is legal by omission. A balisong opens by hand. A gravity knife opens by gravity or a flick of the wrist. Neither "opens automatically" by a button, and neither is banned, though a balisong flipped open in public is a short step from the reckless-handling clause. The assisted-opening knife is the hard case. Its blade starts closed, the user pushes a thumb stud or flipper through the first few degrees, and a spring finishes the opening. Advocates argue, with reason, that "opening automatically" means opening without the user's hand on the blade, which an assisted opener does not do. The American Knife and Tool Institute says the argument is good and adds that "one cannot be confident that an assisted opening knife will not be found by a court to be unlawful," because no Minnesota court has decided it. Urban EDC and most retailers treat assisted openers as legal in the state. A manual folder with a detent and a thumb stud, which is what every TEKTO folder is, avoids the question entirely: nothing in it opens the blade for you.

Schools, Courthouses and the Capitol: The Felony Places

Minnesota's heaviest knife charge is not about switchblades. 609.66 subd. 1d says that "whoever possesses, stores, or keeps a dangerous weapon while knowingly on school property is guilty of a felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both." School property means a public or private K-12 school building and its improved grounds, a licensed child care center while children are present, a school bus carrying students, and any building under a school's temporary exclusive control that is posted at the entrances. The exceptions in paragraph (f) are for peace officers, military training, permit holders handling firearms at their cars, firearm safety courses, color guards, a gun or knife show held on school property, possession "with written permission of the principal or other person having general control and supervision of the school," and unimproved land when no student is present. There is no pocketknife exception, and the question of whether a given knife is a "dangerous weapon" is decided by the definition above: a dagger or a push dagger is one by design, and a folder with a weapon-like design and a locking blade has been treated as one. A plain pocketknife is a closer question that no one should want to litigate at the felony level. Subd. 1g does the same for "any courthouse complex" and for state buildings in the Capitol Area in St. Paul other than the Armory, with exceptions for officers, permit holders who notify the sheriff, evidence at trial, and anyone with "the express consent of the county sheriff" or the commissioner of public safety. Every courthouse screens at the door in any case.

Where You Cannot Carry

• School property, school buses and child care centersAny dangerous weapon, "knowingly" on the property. Felony, up to five years and $10,000. The school's own conduct policy adds suspension and expulsion for any knife, dangerous weapon or not. Leave every knife in the car, and if the car is on the school lot, know that the statute's vehicle exceptions are written for firearms.
  609.66 subd. 1d
• Courthouse complexes and Capitol Area state buildingsAny dangerous weapon. Felony, up to five years. The exception is express consent from the county sheriff or the commissioner of public safety, which an ordinary visitor will not have. Security screening will find the knife before the statute does.
  609.66 subd. 1g
• School, park and public housing zonesNot a ban, a multiplier. A switchblade, an intent offense or reckless handling inside a school zone, a park zone or a public housing zone, as the drug statute defines them, becomes a gross misdemeanor, up to 364 days and $3,000, instead of a misdemeanor.
  609.66 subd. 1(b)
• Minneapolis and St. PaulMinneapolis treats any knife other than a folding knife with a blade of 4 inches or less as a "weapon" and restricts carrying one. St. Paul bans carrying a folding knife with a blade over 4 inches, or a dagger, dirk or bowie, concealed, and says a sheath counts as concealment. Both from secondary sources. Neither code was read for this page.
  City codes
• Airports and federal propertyNo knives past the checkpoint at MSP under federal rules, and none in a federal building or courthouse under 18 U.S.C. 930.
  TSA
• Posted private property and workplacesMinnesota gives a "no weapons" sign no criminal force for knives. A posted rule is enforced by asking you to leave, then trespass under 609.605, and an employer's policy by the employer.
  Trespass

Minneapolis, St. Paul and Local Rules

Minnesota's preemption statute, 471.633, reserves firearm regulation to the state and says nothing about knives, so cities and counties may regulate them, and the Twin Cities do. Secondary sources describe Minneapolis Code of Ordinances chapter 393 as defining "weapon" to exclude, "except when used as a weapon, a folding knife with a blade of four (4) inches or less in length," and as restricting the carrying of weapons in the city, which would make a fixed blade or a 4.5-inch folder a problem on Hennepin Avenue that it is not on a county road. St. Paul Legislative Code 225 is reported to ban carrying a "folding knife with a blade in excess of four (4) inches," along with daggers, dirks, bowies and similar knives, concealed, and to provide that "having a knife in a sheath shall be considered as having the knife concealed." Woodbury is reported at a 3-inch limit and Ramsey County at 3 inches in its parks. We did not read any of these codes for this page and cannot tell you their current text or penalties. The 2013 and 2026 sources that describe them may be out of date. The state rules on this page are the floor. If you carry anything beyond a folder of 4 inches or less in Minneapolis or St. Paul, or anything over 3 inches in Woodbury or a Ramsey County park, read the municipal code or ask the city attorney's office first.

Minors and Felons

Minnesota sets no minimum age for owning, buying or carrying a knife. The age rules in 609.66 are about firearms, airguns, ammunition and explosives: furnishing them to a child under 14 outside a municipality without a parent's consent in subd. 1(a)(6), and to a minor under 18 inside a municipality in subd. 1b. A 16-year-old with a fixed blade or a folder is breaking no state law on the street, and the same two rules apply to a minor as to an adult: no switchblade, and no dangerous weapon on school property, which for a student is where the felony statute and the school's expulsion policy meet, as the C.R.M. case shows. For a person with a felony conviction, Minnesota's prohibited-person statute, 624.713, covers firearms and ammunition. No state statute bars a felon from owning or carrying a knife, and the rules on this page apply to a felon as they apply to anyone else. A felon with a switchblade has the same misdemeanor problem as anyone, and a dangerous weapon in a felon's hands during a crime is a sentencing matter, not a possession offense.

Penalties

What the Internet Gets Wrong

Five things. First, that Minnesota has a blade-length limit: it does not. The 4-inch and 3-inch figures are Minneapolis, St. Paul, Woodbury and Ramsey County rules, and they do not apply in Rochester or on the North Shore. Second, that you cannot carry a knife concealed: no state statute says so, and the only state question is purpose. Third, that OTF knives are legal because the statute says "switch blade": an OTF opens automatically by a button, which is the whole definition, and every reading of the statute, including the state's own in federal court, treats it as covered. Fourth, that the switchblade ban has been struck down: it has been argued, in April 2026, and no ruling has been reported. Until a court says otherwise it is the law. Fifth, that a pocketknife is fine at school because it is not a weapon: the school statute uses "dangerous weapon," a term that turns on design and use, there is no pocketknife exception, and the charge is a felony. The safe version of Minnesota is simple: any manual knife, carried for a lawful purpose, outside schools and courthouses, with the city code checked in the Twin Cities.

TEKTO Knives for Minnesota

The four TEKTO folders are the Minnesota knives. The F1 Alpha at 3.10 inches, the F2 Bravo at 3.30, the F4 Echo at 3.40 and the F3 Charlie at 3.80 are manual folders with a detent and a thumb stud, nothing in them opens the blade for you, and all four sit under the 4-inch folding-knife line that Minneapolis and St. Paul draw, so they are legal to own and carry, openly or in a pocket, anywhere in the state outside schools and courthouses. The X1 Atlas, a 3.30-inch fixed blade, is legal under state law the same way. In Minneapolis a fixed blade is reported to count as a "weapon" under the city code, so carry it outside the city limits or read chapter 393 first. The OTFs, the A5 Spry, A5 Spry Mini, A2 Badger, A7 Zastava and A4, and the A3 Delta side-opener are switchblades under 609.66 and cannot be owned, bought or carried in Minnesota while the ban stands, so do not order one to a Minnesota address. If the federal court strikes the ban down, this page will change the same week.