Dan_Br
Active Member
what are the laws in Md on knife carry?
Can you point me to an understadable link
Thanks
Can you point me to an understadable link
Thanks
I've been looking at this issue a little closer just recently. Does this mean I cannot have my 2" pocket knife on me if I go in my kid's elementary school?
A person may not carry or possess a firearm, knife, or deadly weapon of any kind on public school property.
*This is the old designation of 4-102, but it's the same statutory language.Accordingly, we hold that in order to convict a person of carrying or possessing any rifle, gun, or knife on school property under Art. 27, § 36A*, the State must show that the instrument possessed can, under the circumstances of the case, reasonably be considered a deadly weapon. This objective approach is in keeping with the legislative intent to prohibit the possessing and carrying of deadly weapons on public school property and will avoid the regular violation of that statute by students, teachers, and staff who are engaged in the routine performance of their duties at the public schools.
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There actually is very little left to interpretation on the matter of folding knives. The highest courts of the state have repeatedly ruled that all non-switchblade folders are "penknives" and thus exempt from the carry law, even when the defendant used the penknife to commit murder or aggravated assault. A cop even lost his badge after he wrongfully detained a man for a folder.
Maryland Case Law:
- "'Gravity knife' constituted a dangerous or deadly weapon."
(1964)
- "Pocketknife with the blade already open did not require
any time to open the knife, as one would with a penknife,
contained all the offensive qualities of a switchblade or
gravity knife because it was instantly available for
violent use, and was not a penknife within the statutory
exception." (1990)
- "On the face of the statute, there is no indication
contradicting the view that a penknife is a penknife
whether small or large, whether the blade is closed or
open, whether the blade is locked open or unlocked, and
whether it is carried concealed or openly." (1991)
- "A folding knife without switchblade but with a locking
device... falls within the exception for 'penknives
without switchblade" in this section." (1986)
- " A buck [sic] knife (a knife having a blade which folds
into the handle and which locks into place when open)
carried with the blade open was 'penknife without
switchblade' within statutory exception, and this status
was not altered by knife's blade-locking device or fact
that it was carried with its blade open." (1991)
- "Where defendant's conviction was on the basis that the
utility knife was a dangerous and deadly weapon per se,
but the Court did not consider defendant's intent, the
Court of Appeals reversed the conviction and remanded for
a new trial." (1992)
- "Location of the defendant, including whether he or she is
in a public place or on private property, is simply one
factor for the trier of fact to consider..." (1995)
- "For objects not legislatively classified as dangerous and
deadly per se, the State must prove that the object is
within the class described as any other dangerous or
deadly weapon of any kind." (1992)
- "Where the only evidence presented was that the object
appellant was carrying was a knife over three inches long,
this evidence was insufficient to meet the statutory
requirements of this section." (1992)
There is a ton of interpretation on what constitutes a deadly or dangerous weapon as well as what constitutes a 'gravity' knife.
The traditional sense of the gravity knife, such as the German Paratrooper's Knife, isn't always used. While something like the Benchmade AXIS is not a gravity knife by traditional definition, ease of 'flicking' it open makes it a not-so-clear-cut area (hence when selling knifes you should tighten the pivot so they cannot be flicked open with one hand).
I am not an attorney and go by what I am given on Blade Forums and other places...has this been replaced by other rulings?
That looks like a copy paste from http://knife-expert.com, much of which is outdated. The first case reference to a gravity knife is from 1964; the laws changed since then, with Mackall v. State effectively overruling it, declaring "Penknives today are commonly considered to encompass any knife with the blade folding into the handle, some very large." The second case from 1990 is simply mentioning them in passing, but also should be noted that case too has also been overturned by Bacon, 1991, which stated even if carried with its blade already open, a folder still falls within the statutory meaning of a penknife and thus is still legal. The remaining cases do not seem to leave any sort of "interpretation" about what folders are legal what are not, indeed most of them are positive towards specifying all folders as legal. I should probably point out, most of the posts from BladeForums about Maryland were actually written by me .
Would you consider writing something that could be a 'sticky' on MD knife laws? Many different sources say different things.
So has it reached a point in which there is no longer any worry about a standard folding blade, regardless of lock mechanism used, being considered a gravity knife?
Folder concealed. Fixed open carry only.
Tada!
Check your local ordinances too.
If it folds into its handle and its not a true switchblade, it's legal. Period. Design or number of edges is irrelevant. If it doesn't fold, it's a grey area, so open carry is the only guarantee of legality. Keep in mind that everything except a handgun is legal for open carry. Period. It is only your actions that would make it illegal, not the object itself.thanks, by open carry I guess that means in a sheath that is visible on your side.
Now how about a fixed karambit? They are sometimes sharpened on both sides, does that make it illegal?
I am getting a folding fox karambit, but was wondering about fixed
Dan