New York Knife Laws: Four Banned Knives, the Dangerous Knife Charge, and the City's 4-Inch Rule

The Short Version

New York has two knife laws, and they pull in opposite directions. The state law is narrow: it names four knives you cannot possess at all, the switchblade among them, and otherwise leaves ordinary knives alone unless you carry one with "intent to use the same unlawfully against another." There is no state blade limit, no open-versus-concealed rule and no license. New York City's law is the opposite: a 4-inch blade limit in any public place and a ban on carrying any knife in open view, both enforced. Where you stand in the state decides which set of rules you are under, and the five boroughs are the strict set.

For a TEKTO customer the practical version is short. Our folders and the X1 Atlas fixed blade are legal to own and carry across the state. In the city, keep the blade under 4 inches and the knife entirely inside the pocket. Our OTF automatics are not legal to possess in New York unless you hold a hunting, trapping or fishing license and are actually using the knife for that, which is the one civilian exception the statute makes.

The Four Banned Knives

Penal Law 265.01(1) makes it criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree to possess "any firearm, electronic dart gun, electronic stun gun, switchblade knife, pilum ballistic knife, metal knuckle knife, cane sword, billy, blackjack, bludgeon, plastic knuckles, metal knuckles, chuka stick, sand bag, sandclub, wrist-brace type slingshot or slungshot, shuriken, or throwing star." No intent is required. Having the item is the crime, and it is a class A misdemeanor.

The definitions are in 265.00. A "switchblade knife" is "any knife which has a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in the handle of the knife," which describes every OTF and side-opening automatic we make. A "pilum ballistic knife" fires its blade from the handle. A "metal knuckle knife" is a knife that doubles as knuckles. A "cane sword" is a cane with a blade concealed inside. 265.00(5-c) groups them, with the stiletto, under the term "automatic knife."

Until 2019 the list also included the gravity knife, "any knife which has a blade which is released from the handle or sheath thereof by the force of gravity or the application of centrifugal force which, when released, is locked in place by means of a button, spring, lever or other device." New York City police applied that definition to ordinary locking folders by flicking them open with a wrist, and the charge produced tens of thousands of arrests over a decade. On May 30, 2019, after vetoing two earlier bills, Governor Cuomo signed the repeal, and the gravity knife came off the banned list that day. The definition is still in 265.00 because 265.10 still bars manufacturing and selling them as weapons, but possessing one is no longer a crime on its own.

The Hunting and Fishing Exception

265.20(a)(6) exempts "possession of a switchblade for use while hunting, trapping or fishing by a person carrying a valid license issued to him pursuant to section 11-0713 of the environmental conservation law." Read it narrowly, because courts do: the license must be valid and on you, and the possession must be for use while hunting, trapping or fishing. A licensed angler with an OTF in a tackle box on the water is inside the exception. The same angler with the same knife in a jacket pocket at a gas station on the way home has a harder argument, and in the city has none at all.

The exception is also the only lawful way for a New York resident to acquire one. 265.10 makes it a crime to manufacture, transport or dispose of a switchblade, pilum ballistic knife, metal knuckle knife or cane sword, with "dispose of" covering a sale, a gift or a loan, to anyone outside the exempt classes. A retailer in another state shipping an OTF to a New York address is on the wrong side of that line, and so is the buyer when the box arrives. Our folders and fixed blades are legal everywhere in the state.

The Dangerous Knife Charge

The state's second knife statute is the one that reaches everything else. 265.01(2) covers anyone who "possesses any dagger, dangerous knife, dirk, machete, razor, stiletto, imitation pistol, undetectable knife or any other dangerous or deadly instrument or weapon with intent to use the same unlawfully against another." The intent element is what separates a legal pocketknife from a fourth-degree charge, and two things make it less reassuring than it sounds.

The first is 265.15(4), which provides that possession of "any dagger, dirk, stiletto, dangerous knife or any other weapon, instrument, appliance or substance designed, made or adapted for use primarily as a weapon" is "presumptive evidence of intent to use the same unlawfully against another." For a dagger or a stiletto, carrying it is the evidence. The burden shifts to you. The second is the phrase "dangerous knife," which the statute does not define. New York's courts have filled it in: a knife is a dangerous knife if it is designed and intended primarily as a weapon, a dagger or a bayonet for instance, or if the circumstances of its possession show it is being carried as one, which can turn an ordinary utility knife into a dangerous knife when the rest of the facts are bad. An ordinary folder in a pocket on an ordinary day is not a dangerous knife. The same folder drawn during an argument is.

The lesson for double-edged blades is specific. A dagger is legal to own in New York, but carrying a dagger, dirk or stiletto outside the home invites the presumption, and the only defense is explaining why you had it. We would not carry a double-edged knife in New York for that reason, and we say so to every New York customer who asks about one.

Assisted Openers and the Berrezueta Problem

The switchblade definition turns on a blade that "opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in the handle." An assisted-opening knife is started by the thumb and finished by a spring, and in 2018 the Court of Appeals, in People v. Berrezueta, declined to disturb a conviction over a knife whose spring finished the opening once the thumb began it. Knife organizations read that decision as putting assisted openers at risk in New York, and we agree. None of our folders is spring-assisted. The F1 Alpha and F2 Bravo open on bearings and detent, the F3 Charlie and F4 Echo are button locks that open by hand. That is the right kind of knife for this state.

New York City: The 4-Inch Rule and Open View

New York State does not preempt local knife laws, and the city has one. Administrative Code 10-133(b) makes it "unlawful for any person to carry on his or her person or have in such person's possession, in any public place, street, or park any knife which has a blade length of four inches or more." Subdivision (c) adds that it is unlawful "to wear outside of his or her clothing or carry in open view any knife with an exposed or unexposed blade unless such person is actually using such knife for a lawful purpose." The second rule is the one people trip over: a knife clipped to a pocket with the clip showing has been treated as carried in open view, and so has a sheathed fixed blade on a belt.

Subdivision (d) lists the exceptions, and they are tied to activity, not to the person: a knife "being used for or transported immediately to or from a place where it is used for hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, picnicking or any employment, trade or occupation customarily requiring the use of such knife," a knife being carried directly to or from purchase, sharpening or repair "packaged in such a manner as not to allow easy access," and knives carried by police, military, EMTs, authorized special-event participants, theatrical and veterans groups, and Scouts in uniform. A violation is an offense, "a fine of not more than three hundred dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding fifteen days or by both," and it comes with a stop, a search and a summons.

Two more city rules. 10-134 bars the sale of switchblades, gravity knives and similar knives within the city, and 10-134.1 bans the sale of box cutters to anyone under twenty-one and their possession in public by anyone under twenty-two. And on the subway and buses, 21 NYCRR 1050.8 prohibits weapons on transit property, naming "switchblades, gravity knives and box cutters" by example. A pocketknife in a pocket is not usually an issue, a knife in hand is.

Where You Cannot Carry

• Any public place, street or park in New York CityNo blade of 4 inches or more, and no knife carried in open view, with the activity exceptions in 10-133(d). The offense carries up to $300 or 15 days.
  NYC 10-133
• Subways, buses and MTA propertyWeapons prohibited, with switchblades, gravity knives and box cutters named as examples.
  1050.8
• SchoolsNo knife-specific statute for students over sixteen. 265.05 reaches anyone under sixteen with a dangerous knife, and every district's code of conduct under the Education Law bars knives of any kind. Expect suspension and a police referral, not a warning.
  265.05
• CourthousesCourt security screens at the door statewide and does not admit knives. Leave it in the car, and in the city leave it at home.
  Court security
• Airports and federal propertyNo knives past the checkpoint at JFK, LaGuardia, Newark or any upstate airport under federal rules, and none in a federal building or courthouse under 18 U.S.C. 930.
  TSA
• Private property and workplacesAn owner may bar knives and an employer may set a policy. The remedy is being asked to leave or being disciplined, and after that, trespass.
  Trespass

Minors

Penal Law 265.05 provides that a person under sixteen who possesses "any dangerous knife" is guilty of juvenile delinquency, with no intent element, and the undefined "dangerous knife" term does the same work it does for adults. A Scout with a pocketknife at a campout is not what the section is aimed at. A fourteen-year-old with a fixed blade on a street corner is. There is no state minimum age for buying an ordinary knife, and no state rule on a minor carrying one outside 265.05, though New York City's box-cutter age rules apply in the five boroughs.

Penalties

Fourth-degree possession becomes third-degree, a class D felony, with a prior conviction of any crime (265.02(1)), which is how a second switchblade charge turns into prison exposure. Sentences for class A misdemeanors are set by Penal Law 70.15, which New York amended in 2019 to cap them at 364 days.

What the Internet Gets Wrong

Four things. First, that New York bans "knives over 4 inches." It does not. The city does, and only in public places, streets and parks. Buffalo, Albany and the Adirondacks are under state law, which has no limit. Second, that gravity knives are still illegal. They came off the list in May 2019. What remains is the dangerous-knife charge, which needs bad facts. Third, that a switchblade is fine if you have a hunting license. The exemption is for possession "for use while hunting, trapping or fishing," not for carrying the knife in daily life because a license is in your wallet. Fourth, that concealing a knife is safer in New York City. It is the opposite of most states: the city punishes the knife you can see, so the legal way to carry is fully in the pocket, clip and all, with a blade under 4 inches.

TEKTO Knives for New York

Our folders are the right knives for New York. The F1 Alpha at 3.10 inches, the F2 Bravo at 3.30 and the F4 Echo at 3.40 are all under the city's 4-inch line, and all open by hand with no spring, which keeps them clear of the switchblade definition. The F3 Charlie at 3.80 inches clears the city limit by a fifth of an inch. Carry it fully in the pocket. The X1 Atlas, a 3.30-inch MagnaCut fixed blade, is legal statewide and legal in the city if it rides inside a bag or a pocket rather than on a belt in view. Our OTF automatics, the A5 Spry, Spry Mini, A2 Badger, A4 and A7 Zastava, and the side-opening A3 Delta, are switchblades under 265.00(4) and cannot be possessed in New York outside the hunting and fishing exception. The hunting and fishing exception is the only path to one, and it is narrow.