knives and tenn. law.

B

bauldy

Inactive
what does tenn. law say about knives?
i have my handgun permit,but i also carry a knife(small gerber).no one will give me a real answer, they just say the blade can't be longer than the palm of your hand. i guess this means about a 4in. blade.

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slow but working on it.
 
That's an interesting question. I've lived in Tennessee almost my whole life and don't ever remember seeing anything in print about that. I'd always heard that fixed blades were illegal and folders had to be shorter than 3". Give me a couple days to get ahold of some of my LEO friends and I'll see what I can come up with.
 
It would probably be better to contact the state attorney general's office and request the information on official letterhead. Here's why: I have seen a man charged with statutory rape go to trial. First question the judge asked was how old the girl was. Second question was when the the alleged rape occurred. Third question was to the arresting officer: "What's the age of consent in Georgia?" The officer's answer was wrong by four years. Talking with various LEO's I know, I have found them to be misinformed about many areas of state and federal law.
 
In Texas, the Dept of Public Safety publishes a paper-backed 2-volume set every two years. One volume is "Texas Traffic Laws" the other "Texas Criminal Laws".
Most libraries maintain this set.

Many bookstores catering to legal/law/law enforcement classes have these books. Each volume costs eight dollars. Our Texas Penal Code 46.01 defines each possible weapon (e.g. club, explosive weapon, firearm, firearm silencer, handgun, illegal knife, knife, etc. etc.)

One local judge has stated "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" because of the cost-free availability of all laws in local libraries.

Interestingly, many LEOs are UNaware of such resources because they consult only "official" (i.e. "department") references.

Hope this helps.
 
I dug through TN's law code and this is what I was able to come up with.

The state of Tennessee in section 39-17-1301 Definitions, defines a knife as:
(6) "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;

In section 39-17-1307 it states that (a) (1) A person commits an offense who carries with the intent to go armed
a firearm, a knife with a blade length exceeding four inches (4"), or a club.

Unfortunatly it seems that Tenn only issues "handgun" permits, and that knives are not covered under that. I will be doing more research on this in the future and will post what I find.

Hope that helps



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Mouse Assassins inc.
 
Hey, Shade,
Might there by any exceptions for sporting events such as: fillet knives when fishing, hunting knives when hunting, etc.?

Bauldy,
Even when you know the law LEO opinions vary. In Texas, a knife with a blade "over 5 1/2" long (carried "on or about the person") is illegal. MOST officers consider "blade" the sharp part of the knife. One officer measured mine from the handle! He actually said, "If it ain't handle, it's blade." and included the unsharpened part of the blade.
-- Luckily, it was less than 5 1/2, and
-- A state trooper called him (potty word heard here)!
 
Yes there are exceptions, I was mainly looking for Concealed Carry of a knife.

For reference, I dunno why I didnt post earlier...

www.state.tn.us <---if you replace tn with the initials of any other state you will be taken to that states web sight. Many, if not all states, have thier code hidden somewhere on thier sight. TN has thiers held at Lexis Law Publishing, <A HREF="http://www.lexislawpublishing.com/resources/">www.lexislawpublishing.com/resources/</A> take this link and then hit Tennessee code. It will take you to a 3 framed page, with a search option.

Hope that helps :)

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Mouse Assassins inc.
 
BTW, this seems like a good time to cut our LEO friends some slack. It must be a real pain in the ass for citizens to expect you to put you life in danger and practice law at the same time! ;) I hope our LEO's are reasonably well versed in the major legal areas, but I'm not going to be shocked if we both have to do some legal research to tie it all up in a nice bow.
 
Rgr on the LEOs.
Lawyers argue for months over decisions LEOs must make in split seconds, then gripe about the LEOs. For the record, I was neither attacking nor insulting LEOs. Just pointing out there is more than ANY one person can remember ALL the time and the LEO opinions vary.
You should hear the response when I show them that leaving the scene of an accident is not necessarily a violation...
 
thanks everyone for the help. thanks ShadedDude for the link to the codes.

sorry if i offended any LEO's. i had no intention to do so. i respect LEO's for doing a job that needs to be done, but nobody wants to do.(my hat's of to them).

Bauldy
 
My experience is that the "intent to go Armed" is the most important part of the law. You can carry a 6" filet knife all day long while fishing and to or from fishing (better have a pole ;)) and not be bothered.

It is true that our TN CCw permist do not include Knives over 4".

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-Essayons
 
Waa. Is this or that LEGAL? As a decent, law-abiding citizen, may I PRETTY-PLEASE pay my hard-earned money, give a mugshot and my fingerprints and have a gun or knife? Pweeeze? Yeah, you'll all consider the preceeding as a flame, but I'm just sick to my butt over all of this type kow-towwing and mutual-shaking-in-the-boots that we here in the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave are doing increasingly as each new, more oppressive law comes out of some politicians' REAR. It strikes me as hypocritical to consider our right to self-defense so inviolate, and then at the same time worry if one is COMPLYING with a so-called law that is morally and constitutionally wrong. So, return a flame, I guess, but I stand my ground. With Y2K coming I have better things to do, starting with the sale of my PC. I'll miss the boards, no doubt, and I wish you all well - even the grovellers. By the way: LEOs are NOT God.
 
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