Guide · 4 min read
Can You Ship an Automatic Knife to My State? Our Rules, State by State
Where Austin Blade Co. will and won't ship OTF and side-opening automatic knives, the blade-length caps in California, Connecticut and North Dakota, and why the checkout says no.
Updated September 5, 2026 · Austin Blade Co., 7600 N Lamar Blvd, Austin
We sell a lot of automatic knives: Pro-Tech, Microtech, Kershaw Launch, Spyderco Autonomy, Benchmade Auto. We also refuse to ship them to a meaningful chunk of the country, and the checkout will stop you before you pay. This guide explains the rules we actually apply, so nobody is surprised at the last step.
This is a description of our shipping policy, not legal advice. State and city knife law changes every legislative session and we re-check our list roughly every six months. Ownership and carry rules where you live are your responsibility.
The short version
- Texas: automatics are legal to buy, own and carry. We sell them in the shop and ship them across the state.
- Most states: legal. We ship UPS or FedEx with adult signature.
- A handful of states, DC and a few cities: we do not ship automatics at all.
- California, Connecticut, North Dakota: legal only under a blade-length cap, so it depends on the specific knife.
- US territories and military APO/FPO addresses: no automatics.
Everything else in the store, including fixed blades, folders and swords, ships to all 50 states.
Where we do not ship automatics
The federal Switchblade Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1241–1245) restricts interstate commerce in automatic knives. Its carrier exception covers UPS and FedEx, not the seller, so the knife industry runs on conservative state lists and purchaser attestations. Ours is deliberately conservative.
| Destination | Why |
|---|---|
| District of Columbia | Prohibits automatic knives |
| Hawaii | Restricts automatic knives |
| Illinois | Possession requires a FOID card, which we cannot verify at checkout |
| Minnesota | Prohibits automatic knives |
| New Jersey | Makes commerce in switchblades unlawful, which reaches the sale itself |
| New Mexico | Prohibits automatics outside private property |
| New York | Prohibits automatic knives |
| Washington | Limits automatics to law enforcement and emergency personnel |
Cities stricter than their state, matched on the shipping city: Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City. A suburban mailing address inside city limits may slip past this check; the state rules above are the real safety net, and the law where the knife ends up is still on you.
No automatics to American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, or APO/FPO/DPO addresses.
The blade-length states
Three states allow automatics under a cap. We measure blade length on each automatic in the catalogue and the checkout compares it to your state.
| State | Maximum blade | What that means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| California | 2.0" | Most OTFs (3–4") are blocked. Sub-2" models like the Microtech Exocet or Pro-Tech Runt with a short blade are sellable. |
| Connecticut | 1.5" | Effectively everything is blocked. |
| North Dakota | 5.0" | Nearly the whole automatic catalogue is fine. |
If a product page does not list a blade length and you are in one of these states, the gate fails closed: the knife is blocked until we measure it. Call the shop and we will measure and update the listing.
What happens at checkout
- You enter a shipping address.
- Before payment, every automatic in the cart is checked against the state, city and territory rules above and, where relevant, its blade length against the cap.
- Anything blocked is named, with the reason, and you can remove it and continue with the rest of the order.
- You confirm you are 18 or older. Federal and state law require adult purchasers for bladed goods, and the carrier will ask for an adult signature.
Automatics ship UPS or FedEx only, never USPS.
Buying in person
None of this applies at the counter. If you are in Austin, come to 7600 N Lamar Blvd # A-1, handle the knives, and walk out with one. Texas law lets you carry it. We keep Pro-Tech, Microtech, Kershaw Launch and Spyderco automatics in the case; browse the automatic knives category to see what is in stock today.
Not an automatic, no restriction
Assisted-opening knives (a thumb stud or flipper starts the blade, a spring finishes it) are not automatics under federal law and ship everywhere we ship. Same for manual folders, fixed blades, and swords and machetes. If you love the OTF form factor but live in New York or New Jersey, a fast flipper from Spyderco or Benchmade gets you most of the way there.
Our full shipping policy has the rest of the details, including processing times and the free-shipping threshold.
Common questions
- Are automatic knives legal in Texas?
- Yes. Texas removed its switchblade prohibition in 2013 and has since preempted most local knife ordinances. We sell automatics over the counter in Austin and ship them anywhere in Texas.
- Why won't the site let me buy an automatic knife?
- Checkout checks the shipping address against our restriction list. If your state, city or territory is on it, the automatic is blocked before payment. Non-automatic knives in the same cart are unaffected.
- Can you ship an OTF to California?
- Only if the blade is 2 inches or shorter. Most OTF knives run 3 to 4 inches, so most are blocked to California addresses. Sub-2-inch models such as a Microtech Exocet are sellable.
- Do you ship automatics by USPS?
- No. Federal law does not exempt the postal service, so automatics go UPS or FedEx with an adult signature required at delivery.