Virginia Knife Laws

Status
Not open for further replies.

badkarmamib

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2016
Messages
2,465
Location
VA
Can someone please help me? I am considering expanding my knife collection, but am unsure what is legal and what is illegal for simple possession/open carry. Specifically, are switchblades legal, and under what circumstances? Throwing knives? Ballistic knives? I know at one time they were all illegal, then it was supposedly changed to legal, then possibly vetoed. No matter how I search, half of the results say it is legal, and the other half say illegal, with mixed dates of posting. Is there a good place to find up-to-date postings of the laws? Thanks.
 
Possession may be legal, but the Virginia code makes it clear you can't practically carry any of the below outside your home or your own (not your employer's) place of business without risk of prosecution. What muddies the water further is the "or any weapon of like kind" making what and how you may carry subject to interpretation. You can't sell them either, even though they are sold. Making things even messier is that there's no preemption in VA so you can live in a community that has bans on other knives or even on possession. Ballistic knives are a no-no everywhere due to federal law.

18.2-308. Personal protection; carrying concealed weapons;when lawful to carry.

A. If any person carries about his person, hidden from common observation, (i) any pistol, revolver, or other weapon designed or intended topropel a missile of any kind by action of an explosion of any combustiblematerial; (ii) any dirk, bowie knife, switchblade knife, ballistic knife,machete, razor, slingshot, spring stick, metal knucks, or blackjack; (iii) any flailing instrument consisting of two or more rigid parts connected in such amanner as to allow them to swing freely, which may be known as a nun chahka,nun chuck, nunchaku, shuriken, or fighting chain; (iv) any disc, of whatever configuration, having at least two points or pointed blades which is designed to be thrown or propelled and which may be known as a throwing star or oriental dart; or (v) any weapon of like kind as those enumerated in this subsection, he shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. A second violation of this section ora conviction under this section subsequent to any conviction under anysubstantially similar ordinance of any county, city, or town shall bepunishable as a Class 6 felony, and a third or subsequent such violation shallbe punishable as a Class 5 felony. For the purpose of this section, a weaponshall be deemed to be hidden from common observation when it is observable butis of such deceptive appearance as to disguise the weapon's true nature.

B. This section shall not apply to any person while in his own place of abode or the curtilage thereof.

Except as provided in subsection J1, this section shall not apply to:

1. Any person while in his own place of business;


2. Any law-enforcement officer, wherever such law-enforcement officer may travel in the Commonwealth;

3. Any regularly enrolled member of a target shooting organization who is at, or going to or from, an established shooting range,provided that the weapons are unloaded and securely wrapped while being transported;

4. Any regularly enrolled member of a weapons collecting organization who is at, or going to or from, a bona fide weapons exhibition,provided that the weapons are unloaded and securely wrapped while being transported;

5. Any person carrying such weapons between his place of abodeand a place of purchase or repair, provided the weapons are unloaded andsecurely wrapped while being transported;

6. Any person actually engaged in lawful hunting, asauthorized by the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries, under inclement weatherconditions necessitating temporary protection of his firearm from thoseconditions, provided that possession of a handgun while engaged in lawfulhunting shall not be construed as hunting with a handgun if the person huntingis carrying a valid concealed handgun permit; and



Currently switchblades and gravity knives are illegal, but there's work to make them legal to deal in that you need to support. https://kniferights.org/legislative...chblade-commerce-bill-introduced-in-virginia/
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top