What You Need to Know About California Knife Laws
The Second Amendment gives you the right to bear arms, but does it also cover knives? The answer is that it’s complicated. California prohibits the ownership of specific knives and criminalizes the concealed carry of other types. You can also commit crimes using a knife you have the legal right to carry. Learn more about what you can and cannot do with a knife by reading on.
Categories of Knives
The first type of knife is common folding styles. Also known as pocket knives, swiss army knives, or utility knives, this category also includes bolt cutters. In California, it is legal to possess and carry this style of knife. You can either openly carry them or have them concealed on your person.
Next, California has a classification for “dirks and daggers.” While these types of knives are typically used as stabbing weapons, they also have a variety of other uses. You can legally own dirks or daggers in California, and you can carry them openly in public if they are in a sheath. It is illegal to openly carry an unsheathed dirk or dagger or to concealed carry a dirk or dagger, sheathed or otherwise. The knife, in its sheath, must be visible on your body.
Finally, there is a category of knives that it is always illegal to possess, sell, manufacture, or own. These include switchblades, belt buckle knives, lipstick case knives, and ballistic knives. Ballistic knives are those with a blade or instrument that can be ejected or projected using a trigger. Any single style of these knives is totally prohibited in California.
Knife Crimes in California
Cutting or stabbing someone using a knife is typically a crime. In California, you will likely face charges of assault with a deadly weapon for any unauthorized use of a knife on another person. Whether or not you were legally in possession of the weapon or properly carrying the blade will not matter.
Even if you do not make contact with another person, you can still commit the crime of brandishing a weapon. Brandishing occurs if you display a knife as a threat. The accompanying danger does not need to be direct. Any rude or angry waving of a knife is criminalized as brandishing in California.
Additionally, there are places where you cannot take knives that are typically legal, even if you do not intend to use them. California has laws prohibiting otherwise legal dirks, daggers, and fixed pocket knives on school campuses or grounds. Even possession of some box cutters or simple razor blades in a school is a crime. Finally, you generally cannot bring knives with blades over four inches long into any state or local public building.
Penalties for Violations of California’s Knife Laws
Knife crimes are severely punished in California. For example, having a prohibited knife in a school can carry a felony sentence of up to three years in state prison. Even having a box cutter in a classroom is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in county jail.
You can also face felony charges for illegally carrying a dirk or dagger or for possession of a banned knife. The extent of your sentence will depend on the facts of your case and your criminal history. Misdemeanor knife charges, including brandishing, generally have maximum penalties that include one year in county jail. A violent criminal history usually will result in harsher sentences for knife crime.
Defeating knife crime charges in Fullerton, California, requires the assistance of a skilled criminal attorney. The knowledgeable team at Chambers Law Firm has years of experience defending people who have been charged under California’s sometimes-harsh knife laws. Call 714-760-4088 or email dchambers@clfca.com today to schedule a free introductory session.
