Knife Rights’ Texas Knife Law Reform Bill Advances

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HB 1935, as amended, now eliminates daggers, dirks, stilettos, poniards, swords, spears and most notably, Bowie knives, completely from the statute, allowing them to be carried in the state.

Knife RightsTexas-(Ammoland.com)- Knife Rights’ bipartisan Texas Knife Law Reform Bill, HB 1935, to repeal all “illegal knives” in Texas statute, passed a critical milestone in the Texas House of Representatives in an unrecorded “Second Reading” vote yesterday. With the tragic stabbing at the University of Texas, right in the state capital of Austin, still fresh in everyone’s minds, the timing could not have been worse.

Knife Rights Director of Legislative Affairs, Todd Rathner, has been in Austin for a week working to salvage the bill and ensure that any bill that emerged would still be an advance for Texas knife owners.

In the end, the bill was amended from its original form that eliminated entirely all the “illegal knives” in state statute. HB 1935, as amended, now eliminates daggers, dirks, stilettos, poniards, swords, spears and most notably, Bowie knives, completely from the statute, effectively allowing them to be carried anywhere in the state.

However, in order to get the bill moved, the amendment stipulates that knives with blades over 5 1/2 inches are now defined as “location restricted” knives. These knives may be carried all over the state except in a narrow list of places such as schools, colleges, correctional facilities, houses of worship, and bars that derive more than 51% of their income from alcohol sales. This is an unfortunate amendment, but the alternative would have been to watch the bill die and throw years of work in Texas down the drain. Plus, then we’d have to wait another two years for the next session of the Texas legislature, and who knows what might happen between now and then?

This bill’s passage would still be a huge win for knife owners in Texas and given the tragic circumstances, Todd’s done an incredible job not just saving the legislation, but ending up with 95% of what we wanted. If we get this bill passed, we will be back in two years and again try to finish the job in Texas. The floor vote in the House should take place in the next few days and Todd can finally go home. We like to express our appreciation to our House sponsors, Primary Author, Rep. Frullo, Joint Authors, Reps. Dutton, Kuempel, Moody and Springer and Coauthors, Reps. Canales and Lambert for standing firm in challenging circumstances.

This is a perfect example of why your support is so important. Otherwise, Todd could not have spent the last week in Austin and this bill would have died. It’s that simple. Your support is critical!

Help Knife Rights continue to forge A Sharper Future by making a donation in the Ultimate Steel and you could WIN YOUR CHOICE from OVER $200,000 in Knives, Guns and More!

About Knife Rights:

Knife Rights (www.KnifeRights.org) is America’s Grassroots Knife Owners Organization, working towards a Sharper Future for all knife owners. Knife Rights is dedicated to providing knife owners an effective voice in public policy. Become a Knife Rights member and make a contribution to support the fight for your knife rights. Visit www.kniferights.org

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John Clark

Yes,I have a over all 11″ knife with a antler handle. The blade is 4.5″s, it looks imposing, but only to the untrained eye.I made this know thirty years ago, and from what I’m reading I’m allowed to open carry this knife other than restricted areas..
My question is that thumbing through website after website,I can’t figure out if my knife is legal. To me a bowie knife is nothing more than a butcher knife..
Respectfully Yours,
John

Ralph

Read the amendment. It is a poison pill and would make knives more restrictive than firearms. The amendments: https://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/85R/amendments/html/HB01935H21.HTM (6) “Illegal knife” means a: (A) knife with a blade over five and one-half inches; (B) hand instrument designed to cut or stab another by being thrown; (C) dagger, including but not limited to a dirk, stiletto, and poniard; (D) bowie knife; (E) sword; or (F) spear. (7) “Knife” means any bladed hand instrument that is capable of inflicting serious bodily injury or death by cutting or stabbing a person with the instrument. The clause that a minor can not be… Read more »