North Carolina Knife Laws: Concealed Carry, Pocket Knives and OTFs

The Short Version

North Carolina has no permit for knives, no blade length limit and no ban on any knife but the ballistic knife. Its rule is about concealment. G.S. 14-269(a) makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor to carry concealed "any bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slung shot, loaded cane, metallic knuckles, razor, shuriken, stun gun, or other deadly weapon of like kind," and subsection (d) takes one thing out of the statute altogether: "an ordinary pocket knife carried in a closed position," meaning a small folder whose edge and point sit inside the handle and that is not opened by "a throwing, explosive, or spring action." So a manual folder in your pocket is legal anywhere the state allows knives at all. A fixed blade, an automatic or an assisted opener is legal to own and to carry in plain view, but not hidden, unless you are on your own premises or on the way to or from an activity that uses it. Every knife, pocket knives included, is banned on school and college property and in courthouses.

The Concealed Carry Rule

Section 14-269(a) is a list plus a catch-all. The list is bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slung shot, loaded cane, metallic knuckles, razor, shuriken and stun gun. The catch-all is "other deadly weapon of like kind," which is how a large fixed blade, a push dagger or a karambit ends up covered even though none is named. The offense is carrying one "concealed about his or her person," willfully and intentionally. Concealed means hidden from ordinary observation. A knife inside a pocket, under a shirt or in a waistband is concealed, and North Carolina courts have treated a weapon within reach inside a vehicle as "about the person" as well. The statute does not apply "when the person is on the person's own premises," so a dagger in your jacket at home is not an offense.

Subsection (b1) adds a defense the other sites skip. It is a defense that the weapon was not a firearm, that you were "engaged in, or on the way to or from, an activity in which the defendant legitimately used the weapon," that you possessed it for that use, and that you did not use or try to use it for an illegal purpose. The burden is on you. It is written for the hunter driving to the woods with a fixed blade in a pack, the fisherman, the camper and the tradesman, and it is why the practical advice for a fixed blade in North Carolina is a sheath on the belt in plain view, with the concealed trip reserved for the days you are actually headed somewhere to use it. The penalty for carrying a listed knife concealed is a Class 2 misdemeanor, up to 60 days depending on your record.

What Counts as an Ordinary Pocket Knife

The exception in 14-269(d) is the most useful sentence in North Carolina knife law, so it is worth reading in full: "an ordinary pocket knife" is "a small knife, designed for carrying in a pocket or purse, that has its cutting edge and point entirely enclosed by its handle, and that may not be opened by a throwing, explosive, or spring action." Three parts. Small and designed for a pocket, which no court has put a number on. A 3-inch folder is plainly inside it and a 6-inch folder plainly is not. Edge and point enclosed by the handle when closed, which every ordinary folder satisfies and no fixed blade does. And no throwing, explosive or spring action, which is the clause that matters for modern knives. A manual flipper or thumb-stud folder on bearings or washers opens by your hand and is an ordinary pocket knife. An assisted opener uses a spring to finish the motion and is not. An automatic, side-opening or OTF, opens by a spring and is not. A gravity knife opens by throwing and is not. A butterfly knife has no spring, but whether a flick of the wrist is a "throwing action" has never been decided, so carry it openly.

Two more things about the exception. It only covers the knife "carried in a closed position," so a folder clipped to a pocket open is outside it, and an open folder is a strange thing to carry anyway. And it covers only 14-269: an ordinary pocket knife is still "a sharp-pointed or edged instrument" on school property and still a deadly weapon in a courthouse.

Open Carry and Blade Length

North Carolina sets no blade length anywhere in Chapter 14, and no statute forbids carrying a knife openly. A fixed blade on the belt in plain view, a machete on a trail, an automatic in a belt sheath with the handle showing are all lawful on the street, at any length, for any adult. The open carry rules you may have read about are for firearms. The one question open carry raises is what "openly" means for a pocket knife: the statute does not define it, and a clip showing above the pocket with the knife inside has not been settled by a North Carolina appellate court as either open or concealed. For an ordinary pocket knife it does not matter. For an automatic or an assisted opener it does, so if you want to carry one on your body, carry it where the whole knife can be seen.

Automatics and OTFs

North Carolina has never banned automatic knives. They are legal to buy, sell, own and carry, and the only statute that names a "switchblade knife" is the school property section. What the state does is exclude them from the ordinary pocket knife exception, because they open by spring action, which puts an automatic carried concealed under the "other deadly weapon of like kind" catch-all of 14-269(a). The practical rule for an OTF in North Carolina: at home, in the shop or on your own land, carry it however you like. In public, carry it visibly or leave it in the vehicle out of reach. On the way to work, a hunt or a job that uses it, the (b1) defense covers a concealed carry, with the burden on you to show it. An assisted opener is in exactly the same position, which surprises people who think of it as a manual knife.

What You Cannot Own

One thing: the ballistic knife. Section 14-269.6 has made it unlawful since October 1, 1986 "to possess, offer for sale, hold for sale, sell, give, loan, deliver, transport, manufacture or go armed with any spring-loaded projectile knife, a ballistic knife, or any weapon of similar character," and it says so "including law-enforcement officers," with the only exception for an agency holding one as evidence or for training. A Class 1 misdemeanor. Metallic knuckles are not banned from ownership, only from concealed carry and from sale to minors, and so is every other knife on the list.

Where You Cannot Carry

• Educational property, kindergarten through universityNo "bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slungshot, leaded cane, switchblade knife, blackjack, metallic knuckles, razors and razor blades (except solely for personal shaving) ... or any sharp-pointed or edged instrument" on any school building, bus, campus, grounds, field or other property of a public or private school, community college, college or university, openly or concealed. The only exceptions are instructional supplies, nail files and clips, and tools "used solely for preparation of food, instruction, and maintenance." That is a ban on pocket knives, and it is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Helping a minor bring one is the same.
  14-269.2(d)
• Courthouses, the State Capitol, the Executive MansionNo deadly weapon, openly or concealed, in any building housing a court, or in the Capitol, the Governor's residences or their grounds. The Capitol grounds have a specific exception for an ordinary pocket knife carried closed. Courthouses do not. Class 1 misdemeanor.
  14-269.4
• Parades, funeral processions, picket lines and demonstrationsNo dangerous weapon, which the section defines to include everything in 14-269 and 14-269.2, for anyone participating in or watching one on public property or at a private health care facility, unless the sheriff or police chief has issued a permit. Class 1 misdemeanor. A pocket knife at a rally is the case this is written for.
  14-277.2
• AirportsNo knives past the checkpoint under federal rules.
  TSA
• Private propertyEmployers, venues and property owners set their own policy. Breaking it gets you removed, and refusing to leave becomes trespass.
  Posted rules

North Carolina's preemption statute covers firearms, not knives, so a city or county may write its own knife rule. Most rely on state law. If you carry in a city you do not know, read its code first.

Minors

North Carolina sets no minimum age for carrying a knife. The rules fall on the adults around a minor. Section 14-315(a) makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to sell, give or transfer to a minor "any pistol cartridge, brass knucks, bowie knife, dirk, shurikin, leaded cane, or slungshot," with forfeiture of the sale proceeds. A pocket knife, a hunting knife or an automatic is not on that list, so a parent may give a teenager a folder or a fixed blade. And 14-269.2(e) makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to cause, encourage or aid a minor to carry any edged instrument on educational property. For the minor, the concealed carry statute applies as it does to an adult: an ordinary pocket knife in the pocket is fine, anything else is carried openly.

Penalties

North Carolina misdemeanor sentences run on a grid: a Class 2 misdemeanor tops out at 60 days and a Class 1 at 120, and a first offender with no record is usually looking at community punishment rather than jail. The conviction is the cost.

What the Internet Gets Wrong

Four things. First, that switchblades are illegal in North Carolina: they are legal to own and to carry openly. Only concealed carry is an offense, and the (b1) defense covers the trip to an activity that uses the knife. Second, that there is a blade length limit, usually quoted as 3 or 4 inches: there is no number in the statute. "ordinary pocket knife" is defined by design, not by length. Third, that an assisted-opening knife is a manual knife for the exception: it opens by spring action, so it is not, and concealed it sits with the automatics. Fourth, that a pocket knife is fine at school because it is not a weapon: the school statute bans "any sharp-pointed or edged instrument," which is every knife ever made, on every campus from kindergarten to university.

TEKTO Knives for North Carolina

For the pocket, the manual flippers: the F1 Alpha (3.1 in), F2 Bravo (3.3 in), F4 Echo (3.4 in) and F3 Charlie (3.8 in) open by the flipper tab with no spring driving the blade, fold with the edge and point inside the handle, and are ordinary pocket knives under 14-269(d), legal to carry closed in a pocket anywhere the state allows a knife at all. For open carry, or for the (b1) trip to work or the woods, the OTFs: the A5 Spry, A5 Spry Mini, A2 Badger and A7 Zastava, and the A3 Delta side-opener, are legal to own and to carry where they can be seen, and so is the X1 Atlas fixed blade in its sheath. Double-edged blades are legal in North Carolina. A double edge concealed is a dagger under 14-269(a), so the same open-carry rule applies. Nothing goes to school, the courthouse or the rally.