Michigan Knife Laws?

[TheKDub]

Hi, so recently I ordered a Kershaw Blur Blackwash S30V knife from Massdrop, and have been curious about what the michigan knife laws say regarding knives such as the blur blackwash s30v.

(Knife: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/kershaw-blur-blackwash-s30v-blade?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Transactional%3A%20Drop%20Request%20Launched&mode=guest_open )

 

From my understanding, as long as I do not have the intent to harm someone with it, the knife is legal.

 

The only part I'm still a little unsure on is the opening mechanism, it uses kershaw's speedsafe mechanism, which requires you to open the blade manually, then it pops the blade open the rest of the way for you. (Example in this video: 

)

 

 

MCL § 750.226a

§ 750.226a. Pocket knife opened by mechanical device; unlawful sale or possession; persons exempted. Sec. 226a.

Any person who shall sell or offer to sell, or any person who shall have in his possession any knife having the appearance of a pocket knife, the blade or blades of which can be opened by the flick of a button, pressure on a handle or other mechanical contrivance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not to exceed 1 year or by a fine of not to exceed $300.00, or both. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any one-armed person carrying a knife on his person in connection with his living requirements.

 

"or other mechanical contrivance" Not sure if speedsafe would be counted under that or not

 

 

Anyone know the knife is legal or not?

[Arty]

well Detroit is close. and if knobody sees it nobody will know.

and i think only spring loaded openers are illegal 

i would ask the local police if its ok may very by city, ethier 

[blackadder]

I highly doubt anyone will say anything, to be on the safe side go down to the police station and ask,im sure they will help you not break the law.

[themaniac]

this should help http://www.knifeup.com/michigan-knife-laws/

[Kyuubixchidori]

your fine. no one will give you legal trouble over a small knife unless your on a school campus or such

[RevoltTrain]

The knife is legal. Not sure if there is a size limit of how large of a knife you can openly carry. I live in Indiana and there is no rule about size, right on the Michigan border. Michigan may be the same way. Not sure.

[dizmo]

When in doubt, simply call your local police detachment.

Better to know straight from the source than have us simply look at the internet for answers.

An officer likely won't accept an "oh, well the guys on my forum said it was ok" excuse.

[Samsterstorm]

Go to your local police station with the knife in a bag or something (not in pocket trust me! They all freak out when you draw it! And let them examine it and ask them if its ok to have it on your self they wont mind at all!

[RevoltTrain]

your fine. no one will give you legal trouble over a small knife unless your on a school campus or such

College campus he can carry. You can carry a handgun on a college campus if you have your open carry license.

[TheKDub]

this should help http://www.knifeup.com/michigan-knife-laws/

 

so tl;dr it should be legal.

 

The knife is legal. Not sure if there is a size limit of how large of a knife you can openly carry. I live in Indiana and there is no rule about size, right on the Michigan border. Michigan may be the same way. Not sure.

 

The page linked in the above quote says there is no limit as long as there is no intent to harm someone others with it, so length shouldn't be an issue.

[Darkman]

Should be fine... Just don't carry a butterfly/bailsong knife around, those you can have, just not in public. I have quite a few friends that used to have some, learning tricks on them was interesting and if you knew which side to hold it from.

[Wombo]

Well if it means anything, we have pretty strict laws about concealed and pop up blade weapons here in Canada. Spring assisted blades are fine here, so long as it requires manual user input to get the blade moving.

[themaniac]

so tl;dr it should be legal.

 

 

The page linked in the above quote says there is no limit as long as there is no intent to harm someone others with it, so length shouldn't be an issue.

if it says its legal than its legal I didn't read it I just searched for the knife laws and gave you the link

[TheKDub]

Alright, so I guess it's legal lol, I might send an email or maybe take it to a police station and see what they say about it just in case some time.

[blackadder]

College campus he can carry. You can carry a handgun on a college campus if you have your open carry license.

not in TN, 1st ive heard of students being able to carry.

[Zerolessmusic]

I have to agree with blackadder. The thing is, it's still manual open... its just manual assisted, you have to make the blade open with force. I would also agree that if you aren't using it to hurt anybody (sadly in a defensive manner as well, I could go into laws and court and everything, but it's an awful subject.) nobody should care. I hate knife laws, they are so open ended which is nice if you ever have to go to court (for say a case where you used a knife to defend yourself) but is also awful for trying to carry a knife that you like... Where I live I can't technically carry a Balisong, because it is considered a gravity knife, but if I was to tighten the pivots, it would then be legal to carry, only if the pivots were always super tight so the knife could only be opened without gravity.

 

EDIT: Also, Washington law states that any "Dangerous Weapon" is illegal to conceal carry. So based on that, any judge could say any knife... or a fork, is illegal to conceal carry... then the issue becomes is a pocket clip shown on the outside of my pocket concealed or open... but that isn't defined, at least in Washington law.

 

EDIT 2:

 

Thanks for the knife bug guys... Think I need a couple more? 

[Kyuubixchidori]

College campus he can carry. You can carry a handgun on a college campus if you have your open carry license.

not here. if you get caught with a gun on campus here and don't comply instantly you can expect a bullet. license or not. open carry or not. stopping another shooter or not, just don't if you value your life. 

-the police. 

[RevoltTrain]

not in TN, 1st ive heard of students being able to carry.

I've heard of Indiana accepting it statewide, and certain colleges in Michigan accepting it

[W-L]

Hmm the US is pretty lenient on knife laws, that knife isn't allowed to be carried in Canada since there is a spring that assists in opening the knife.

[Zerolessmusic]

Should be fine... Just don't carry a butterfly/bailsong knife around, those you can have, just not in public. I have quite a few friends that used to have some, learning tricks on them was interesting and if you knew which side to hold it from.

Based on the laws, you can open carry a single side blade balisong, just not concealed. Technically, because the laws are so open ended, you might get away concealed carrying one as well, because you could argue in court that you use it for hunting.

 

 

 

What is a Hunting Knife?

The case of People v Payne in 1989 found that a hunting knife is a knife used to cut open and skin game. It is usually a wide, single bladed knife with a point tip. The law makes no distinction on folding or fixed blade. It also has no distinction on blade length.

[Charger]

Sounds like a spring assist knife which tend to be fine since you have to start opening the blade your self rather the pushing a button which would make it a switch blade

[itachipirate]

AFAIK the only illegal ones are knives considered "automatic" meaning, you do not assert force to put the blade into motion, you just press a button. Spring-assist, tension-assist, speed safe, whatever. You're still applying the initial force to put the blade in motion