Rhode Island Knife Laws: The 3-Inch Concealed Rule, the Named Knives, and How to Measure

The Short Version

Rhode Island's knife law is General Laws 11-47-42, "Weapons other than firearms prohibited," and knives appear in it three times. Subsection (a)(2) makes it unlawful to carry or possess "any dagger, dirk, stiletto, sword-in-cane, bowie knife, or other similar weapon designed to cut and stab another" with "intent to use unlawfully against another." Subsection (a)(3) makes it unlawful to "wear or carry concealed upon his or her person" any of those, "any razor, or any knife having a blade more than three (3) inches long," with no intent element at all, and tells you how to measure: "from the end of the handle where the blade is attached to the end of the blade." Subsection (b) makes it unlawful to sell any of them, "any razor, or any knife having a blade more than three (3) inches long," to a person under 18 "without the written authorization of the minor's parent or legal guardian."

That is the whole of it. No knife is banned, the switchblade is not mentioned, open carry of anything is lawful absent intent, and a folder with a blade of 3 inches or less, measured the long way, may be carried concealed. For a TEKTO customer that means the A5 Spry Mini and A2 Badger at 1.85 inches are pocket knives in Rhode Island, the full-size folders and OTFs ride openly, clipped where the handle shows, and the double-edged knives stay home.

The Statute: 11-47-42 and Its Three Rules

Subsection (a)(1) is the blunt-weapon list: blackjacks, slingshots, billies, sandclubs, metal knuckles, slap gloves, bludgeons, stun guns and "Kung-Fu" weapons, which may not be carried, possessed or used against another at all. Subsection (a)(2) is the knife-with-intent rule, quoted above, and its list is undefined. AKTI notes that no Rhode Island court has said what a dagger or a bowie knife is. Subsection (a)(3) is the concealment rule, and it is the one that matters day to day: a listed knife at any length, a razor, or a blade over 3 inches, concealed, is the offense without more. A violation is punishable "by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both," with the weapon confiscated. A violation inside the Adult Correctional Institutions is one to five years. 11-47-43 exempts collectors "as curios or for educational, professional, scientific, or other lawful purposes" and officers carrying billies, and nothing else. There is no hunting, fishing or trade exception, and no exemption for the military.

Measuring the Blade: The Long Way

Most statutes that set a length do not say how to measure it. Rhode Island's does: the blade is measured "from the end of the handle where the blade is attached to the end of the blade." That is the whole exposed steel, unsharpened ricasso and choil included, from where the handle stops to the tip. A folder marketed as a 3-inch blade usually measures 3.1 or 3.2 inches that way, which puts it over the line. A knife you intend to conceal in Rhode Island should measure well under 3 inches by this rule, and the F-series folders, at 3.10 inches and up by cutting edge, do not. The Spry Mini and Badger, at 1.85 inches, do with room to spare.

What Concealed Means

The statute does not define "concealed," and AKTI reports that no Rhode Island appellate decision has construed the word in a knife case. It is a question of fact for the jury. The usual rule in neighboring states, hidden from ordinary observation, is the safe assumption. A knife clipped to a pocket with the handle in view is open carry under that standard. The same knife with a jacket over it is not. For a knife over 3 inches, or a dagger of any length, the difference is the offense, so the Rhode Island habit is to carry the big knife where it shows and the small one where it does not.

Switchblades

Rhode Island never enacted a switchblade statute, and 11-47-42 says nothing about how a knife opens. An OTF automatic is governed by the same two questions as a folder: how long is the blade, measured the long way, and is it a dagger, dirk or stiletto? A single-edged OTF with a blade of 3 inches or less may be carried concealed. A longer one may be carried openly. A double-edged one is a dagger in ordinary speech and belongs on a belt in view or at home. Sale to a minor follows the same lines: an OTF over 3 inches, or a double-edged one, needs the parent's written authorization. Massachusetts and Connecticut next door treat automatics very differently. Rhode Island is the easy state of the three.

Schools: 11-47-60.2

Rhode Island's school statute is written as a reporting duty. 11-47-60.2 provides that when a student "is found to be carrying a weapon, as defined in section 11-47-42, a firearm or replica of a firearm, or commits an aggravated assault on school grounds," the principal "shall immediately notify the student's parents and the local police" and turn the weapon over to them, that any person with reasonable cause to know of a violation must tell the principal, and that the Family Court reports dispositions back to the superintendent. "Weapon, as defined in section 11-47-42" reaches every knife over 3 inches and every named knife, regardless of concealment. Separately, 11-47-60 makes possessing a firearm on school grounds a felony, and every district's policy bars knives of any length. The section does not apply to colleges.

Minors and Local Rules

Rhode Island regulates the sale, not the carry. Subsection (b) of 11-47-42 forbids selling to anyone under 18 any of the (a)(1) weapons, "any dagger, dirk, stiletto, sword-in-cane, bowie knife, or other similar weapon," "any razor, or any knife having a blade more than three (3) inches long," without the parent's written authorization, and punishes the seller with one to five years and $1,000 to $3,000. There is no minimum age to carry a knife and no youth carry rule beyond the adult ones. On local law, Rhode Island preempts municipal firearm ordinances and says nothing about knives, so a city or town may regulate them. AKTI lists no preemption and names no ordinances. Check the code where you live, and treat the state rules on this page as the floor.

Where You Cannot Carry

• Anywhere, concealed, with a listed knife or a blade over 3 inchesThe concealment offense. Up to a year and $1,000, knife confiscated.
  11-47-42(a)(3)
• School grounds, for studentsAny weapon under 11-47-42 triggers police notification and Family Court. District policies bar every knife for everyone.
  11-47-60.2
• CourthousesThe Judiciary bars weapons from court facilities, with screening at the entrance. Leave it in the car.
  Court security
• Airports and federal propertyNo knives past the checkpoint at T.F. Green under federal rules, and none in a federal building or courthouse under 18 U.S.C. 930.
  TSA
• Massachusetts and ConnecticutBoth border states restrict automatics and double-edged knives with felony penalties. A knife lawful in Westerly or Woonsocket may not be lawful a mile away.
  AKTI
• 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

Penalties

The misdemeanor is the same whether the concealed knife is a dagger or a 3.25-inch folder. Rhode Island does not grade by type.

What the Internet Gets Wrong

Three things. First, that Rhode Island bans switchblades. It never has. An automatic is judged by length and edge like any knife. Second, that the 3-inch rule applies to open carry. It applies to concealment only, and open carry of any length is lawful without unlawful intent. Third, that the 3 inches is the cutting edge. The statute measures from the handle to the tip, and a knife sold as 3 inches is usually over. The rule that catches people is that last one: a 3-inch folder in a pocket that measures 3.2 inches the Rhode Island way, in a traffic stop.

TEKTO Knives for Rhode Island

For a pocket in Rhode Island, the A5 Spry Mini and the A2 Badger at 1.85 inches are the knives: single-edged automatics well under 3 inches by the statute's measurement, lawful concealed. The F2 Bravo at 3.30 inches and the full-size A5 Spry at 3.50 are over the line and ride openly, clipped with the handle showing. The X1 Atlas fixed blade at 3.30 inches goes on a belt in view. The double-edge Spry and the A7 Zastava are daggers by any ordinary reading and should not be concealed at any length. Nothing goes to school, and nothing crosses into Massachusetts or Connecticut without reading those pages.