kingfish
Active Member
- Jan 15, 2008
- 785
Are these legal in Maryland? I assume they are but I'm not sure on the whole gravity extension thing and the length of the blade. Are these outlawed in any state?
I'm no lawyer but I think they're legal to own just not legal to carry or sell.
"Penknife" is not defined in the statute. Even if the General Assembly had the dictionary definition in mind when it first enacted the statute in 1886, this concept of a "penknife" had obviously changed when the exception was amended to "penknife without switchblade." Penknives today are commonly considered to encompass any knife with the blade folding into the handle, some very large.
Are these legal in Maryland? I assume they are but I'm not sure on the whole gravity extension thing and the length of the blade. Are these outlawed in any state?
I actually own one of these.
Regarding legality, like any weapon you most certainly can carry one openly. 4-101 of the criminal code is quite explicit: Only concealed carry is regulated in the state except for handguns (Or carry with intent to unlawfully injure, but somehow I doubt that's what you plan on doing).
For concealed carry, it comes down to weather or not it counts as a "penknife," which by law are exempt from regulation at the state level and thereby legal for 100% concealed carry. Penknife is covered by Mackall v State, 1978:
This definition has been upheld multiple times in state and federal court. Given that the definition of "switchblade" provided under 4-105 requires some sort of switch-triggered automatic spring action, and that Mackall came after (and thus overrides) the commonly alluded-to "gravity knife" case in the 1960s, it would seem to me that a gravity knife counts as a penknife for purposes of law. I'd bet your average officer probably would not even know what kind of knife it is should you happen to aggravate one enough that he decides to search you. Mind, there are local county or city municipal codes that may apply.
Sources:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2014RS/Statute_Web/gcr/4-101.pdf
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2014RS/Statute_Web/gcr/4-105.pdf
Thanks. Is there a particular length of knife or blade that is considered dangerous?
No the length has no meaning in statute or case law for any knife. There's a handful of city ordinances here and there but absolutely not at the state level.
Anderson v State 1990 places burden of proof on the state to prove a knife is not a penknife and is indeed a dangerous weapon. I've see a few fixed blade (definitely not a penknife) arrests thrown out simply because there was no offensive intentions and the knives were utilitarian in nature.