Wyoming Knife Laws: No Knife Statute, the Deadly Weapon Definition, and Carry at 21

The Short Version

Wyoming does not regulate knives. AKTI puts it exactly: "the word knife does not appear" in the weapons statutes. What the statutes regulate is the "deadly weapon," defined in W.S. 6-1-104(a)(iv) as "a firearm, explosive or incendiary material, motorized vehicle, an animal or other device, instrument, material or substance, which in the manner it is used or is intended to be used is reasonably capable of producing death or serious bodily injury." A knife is in that definition when it is used or meant as a weapon and out of it when it is a tool, and the statute's examples, a car and an animal, make the point that the test is use, not design. Three statutes attach to the term: 6-8-104, carrying a concealed deadly weapon without an exemption. 6-8-103, possessing one with unlawful intent, and 6-5-209, taking one into a jail, hospital or courtroom. 6-8-401 preempts local rules.

For a TEKTO customer that means every knife we make is lawful to own and carry in Wyoming, openly or concealed, including the OTF automatics and the double-edged A7 Zastava. The only question the state asks is what you intend to do with it, and from 21 on, for an eligible adult, even a knife carried as a weapon may be concealed without a permit.

No Knife Statute: The Deadly Weapon Definition

Most states have a list: switchblade, dirk, dagger, a length. Wyoming has a definition, and the definition is functional. "Deadly weapon" turns on "the manner it is used or is intended to be used," which means an officer who finds a 4-inch folder in a pocket during a traffic stop has found a knife, not a deadly weapon, unless something about the stop shows it was carried to be used as one. A dagger is not a deadly weapon per se either. Nothing in the definition speaks of design. The flip side is that any object can become a deadly weapon in the right circumstances, which is why the assault statutes in Wyoming reach a pocketknife, a flashlight or a boot. AKTI reads the structure the way we do: "knives are generally not deadly weapons," and the carry rules in the rest of the chapter rarely reach them.

Concealed Weapons: 6-8-104 and Who Is Exempt

Section 6-8-104(a) makes it a misdemeanor, "a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or both," to "wear or carry a concealed deadly weapon," with a second offense a felony of up to two years and $2,000. The exemptions are peace officers, Wyoming permit holders, holders of a valid statewide permit from a state that honors Wyoming's, and, in paragraph (a)(iv), a person who "does not possess a permit issued under this section, but is a resident of the United States and otherwise meets the requirements" for one: 21 or older, no disqualifying convictions or drug or alcohol interventions, and the rest of the permit criteria. That paragraph is Wyoming's permitless carry provision. It originally covered Wyoming residents only and now reaches any eligible United States resident. Subsection (t) lists the places where even an exempt person may not carry a concealed firearm, and it says firearm. For a knife the whole section matters only if the knife is a deadly weapon on the facts, and then only for someone under 21 or otherwise ineligible for a permit. For everyone else it is a non-issue.

Unlawful Intent: 6-8-103

Section 6-8-103 is the statute that gives the definition teeth: "A person who knowingly possesses, manufactures, transports, repairs or sells a deadly weapon with unlawful intent to threaten the life or physical well-being of another or to commit assault or inflict injury on another person is guilty of a felony," punishable by up to five years, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. The intent is the crime, and the knife is the deadly weapon because of the intent. A pocketknife carried for work is outside it. The same knife carried to a confrontation is a felony before it is drawn. Every Wyoming knife case worth reading is a 6-8-103 case or an assault case, and none of them turns on what kind of knife it was.

Schools, Courtrooms and Jails

Section 21-3-132, the school weapons statute, governs firearms on school property and does not reach knives. AKTI says so directly. Every Wyoming district bars knives by policy and treats one at school as a disciplinary matter, up to expulsion, so the statute's silence does not help a student. Section 6-5-209 makes it an offense to take or possess a deadly weapon in a jail, penal institution, state hospital or courtroom, and court security at every county courthouse screens for knives of any kind and refuses them. The answer at the courthouse is the one it is everywhere: leave it in the car.

Preemption: 6-8-401

Section 6-8-401 declares that "the Wyoming legislature finds that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right" and provides that no city, town, county or other political subdivision may regulate "the sale, transfer, purchase, delivery, taxation, manufacture, ownership, transportation, storage, use, carrying or possession of firearms, weapons, accessories, components or ammunition" except as state law allows. "Weapons" is broader than firearms, and knives are weapons for this purpose. Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie and Jackson are under the state rules on this page and nothing else. A local sign on a government building is the one thing the statute leaves to the owner.

Where You Cannot Carry

• Jails, prisons, state hospitals and courtroomsNo deadly weapon. An offense under 6-5-209. Court security screens every courthouse entrance for knives.
  6-5-209
• SchoolsThe statute covers firearms. District policies bar knives and expel for them. Leave it in the car.
  21-3-132
• Airports and federal propertyNo knives past the checkpoint at Jackson Hole, Casper or Cheyenne under federal rules, and none in a federal building or courthouse under 18 U.S.C. 930. Yellowstone and Grand Teton follow federal park rules, which allow knives but not in federal buildings.
  TSA
• The Wind River ReservationThe Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes govern their own land. Check before you carry.
  Tribal codes
• 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

Wyoming has no statute that punishes a knife for being a knife. Every offense above requires either an exemption gap and a weapon in fact, or intent, or a listed building.

What the Internet Gets Wrong

Three things. First, that Wyoming bans concealed knives. It regulates concealed deadly weapons, a knife is one only by use or intended use, and an eligible adult of 21 may conceal even that without a permit. Second, that a bowie knife or dagger is restricted. Wyoming names no knife. Third, that Wyoming has a school knife law. It has a school firearms law and district policies. The rule that catches people is 6-8-103, and it catches the knife only after the intent is already a crime.

TEKTO Knives for Wyoming

Every TEKTO knife is a Wyoming knife. The A5 Spry in any blade style and the A7 Zastava with its double-edged spear point are lawful in a pocket, lawful on a belt and lawful in the truck. The A3 Delta is a 3.60-inch side-opening automatic with a button lock and safety. The X1 Atlas fixed blade in MagnaCut is the knife for the Winds, the Bighorns and elk season. None of them goes into a courthouse or a school, and all of them are tools until the moment you decide otherwise.