Guide · 3 min read
Texas Knife Laws in Plain English: What You Can Carry, Where, and What Changed
Texas allows the carry of any knife, with location limits on blades over 5.5 inches. Automatics legal since 2013, balisongs since 2017, knuckles since 2019. What that means at a school, a bar, an airport and in your truck, from a knife store in Austin.
Updated October 21, 2026 · Austin Blade Co., 7600 N Lamar Blvd, Austin
We get asked this at the counter more than any other legal question, usually by someone holding a knife they are about to buy. The short version: Texas is one of the most permissive states in the country for knives, and the law has become simpler since 2013, not more complicated. Here is what applies, as of this writing. This is a store's plain-language summary, not legal advice; the statute is Texas Penal Code chapter 46.
The one rule that matters: 5.5 inches
Since September 2017 Texas has no list of illegal knives. What it has instead is a category called the location-restricted knife: any knife with a blade over 5.5 inches, measured from the handle. Under 5.5 inches, a knife can be carried almost anywhere in the state, openly or concealed. Over 5.5 inches, it can still be owned and carried, but not into certain places:
- schools and school buses, and university campuses
- polling places on election day
- courts and court offices
- racetracks
- the secured area of an airport
- within 1,000 feet of an execution on the day it takes place
- bars and restaurants that make 51% or more of their income from alcohol (the "51%" sign)
- high school, college and professional sporting events
- correctional facilities, hospitals, nursing homes and mental hospitals (unless authorized)
- amusement parks
- places of worship
Everything else, including your car, a park, a store or the street, is fine for a blade of any length. Most pocket knives, every automatic in our case and nearly every fixed blade under a bowie are under 5.5 inches and have no location limits at all.
What used to be illegal and is not anymore
- Switchblades and OTF automatics. Banned until September 2013. Now legal to buy, own and carry. We sell them over the counter; the only remaining complication is shipping to other states.
- Butterfly (balisong) knives, daggers, bowies, swords and spears. All lost their "illegal knife" status in September 2017. Length is now the only question.
- Brass knuckles. Legal since September 2019.
- Throwing stars and clubs are weapons under a different section and are not knives; the rules above do not apply to them.
Minors
A location-restricted knife (over 5.5 inches) may not be carried by anyone under 18 except under adult supervision, on their own premises or in their own vehicle. State law puts no age limit on shorter knives. We require a buyer to be 18, which is a store rule.
Cities and counties
Texas preempts local knife ordinances. A city cannot ban a knife the state allows. Austin has no additional knife restrictions.
Federal places are federal
State law stops at the door of a federal building, a post office, a military base or the sterile side of airport security. Those have their own rules, and the simplest one is: no knife at all.
Buying and shipping
Everything in the store can be bought in person by an adult. For shipping, the limit is the destination state's law, not Texas's: a handful of states ban automatics, a few cap blade length, and a few prohibit balisongs. Our state-by-state guide lists where we cannot send automatics, and checkout checks the address before you pay.
Shop the case
Common questions
- Is there a blade length limit in Texas?
- Not for carry in general. Since 2017 Texas allows any blade length; knives over 5.5 inches are 'location-restricted' and cannot be carried into schools, polling places, courts, racetracks, secured airport areas, bars (51% establishments), amusement parks and places of worship, among others.
- Are switchblades and OTF knives legal in Texas?
- Yes. Texas removed the switchblade ban in 2013. Automatics are legal to buy, own and carry; the 5.5-inch location rule applies the same as to any knife.
- Are butterfly knives legal in Texas?
- Yes, since September 2017, when Texas removed 'illegal knife' from the penal code.
- Can a minor carry a knife in Texas?
- A location-restricted knife (over 5.5 inches) may not be carried by anyone under 18 unless supervised by a parent or guardian, or on their own premises. Shorter knives have no age restriction under state law, though stores set their own rules.
- Can I carry a knife in my car in Texas?
- Yes. A knife of any length can be in your vehicle; the location restrictions apply to the places you walk into with it.
