Automatic knives are legal in Kansas. You can buy, own, and carry a switchblade or out-the-front knife openly or concealed, with no restriction on blade length or opening mechanism, as long as you are not otherwise prohibited from possessing a weapon. The state removed every reference to automatic and gravity knives from its weapons statutes in 2013, and a statewide preemption law blocks cities and counties from adding their own rules. Federal law still limits how these knives move across state lines, and a handful of locations remain off-limits for weapons of any kind.
What Kansas Law Says Now
Kansas legalized automatic knives in 2013 through HB 2033, which stripped switchblades out of the two statutes that had criminalized them. Before the change, K.S.A. 21-6301 made it a crime to sell, manufacture, or possess a switchblade, and 21-6302 made it illegal to carry one. The 2013 amendments took every reference to automatic and gravity knives out of both.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Statutes 21-6301 – Criminal Use of Weapons
The result is one of the more permissive knife regimes in the country. Kansas sets no maximum blade length. It draws no legal distinction between side-opening switchblades and out-the-front (OTF) models. You may carry openly or concealed, and you need no permit for either.2Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Statutes 21-6302 – Criminal Carrying of a Weapon
There is also no state minimum age for buying, possessing, or carrying a knife. Kansas requires you to be 21 to carry a handgun concealed, but no equivalent rule exists for knives. Individual retailers often set their own age policies, and those are store rules rather than state law.
Local Cities and Counties Cannot Add Their Own Rules
K.S.A. 12-16,134 preempts the field. No Kansas municipality can pass or enforce an ordinance related to the possession, carrying, sale, purchase, or use of a knife. Any local knife ordinance adopted before July 1, 2014 is void, and the statute also bars prosecution for violations of those old ordinances dating back to July 1, 2013.3Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Statutes 12-16134 – Knives and Knife Making Components, Regulation by Municipality, Limitations
The preemption statute defines “municipality” in a way that excludes unified school districts, jails, and juvenile correctional facilities. School districts can and do adopt their own knife policies, so an automatic knife brought onto school property can trigger discipline or a trespassing charge even though no state statute specifically bans knives in schools.
Where You Still Cannot Carry One
State law is permissive, but a handful of locations remain off-limits for weapons of any kind.
- Federal buildings. Under 18 U.S.C. ยง 930, carrying a dangerous weapon into a federal facility is a crime. A pocket knife with a blade under 2.5 inches is exempt; a longer-bladed automatic knife is not.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
- Airport security areas. TSA prohibits knives in carry-on luggage. Checked baggage is the only way to fly with one.
- Post offices. Federal regulations have long banned weapons on U.S. Postal Service property. A 2024 federal district court decision in United States v. Ayala struck that ban down on Second Amendment grounds as applied to post offices, but the ruling came from a single Florida court and may face appeal, so enforceability is uncertain.
- Courthouses and secured government buildings. Most Kansas courthouses screen for weapons at the entrance, and individual buildings with security screening routinely prohibit all weapons.
- Jails and correctional facilities. These are explicitly excluded from the knife preemption statute, and bringing any weapon in is a serious criminal offense.
- Private property. Any business or property owner can prohibit weapons on their premises, often through posted signage, and ignoring the restriction can lead to a trespassing charge.
Buying a Switchblade in Kansas
Buying an automatic knife in person at a Kansas shop is straightforward. Buying one online is where things get complicated, and the complication comes from federal law rather than state law.
The Federal Switchblade Act of 1958 makes it a federal crime to introduce a switchblade into interstate commerce or to transport or distribute one across state lines. Penalties run up to $2,000 in fines and up to five years in prison.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1242 – Introduction, Manufacture for Introduction, Transportation or Distribution in Interstate Commerce The law targets the seller or distributor, not the buyer. But because the seller commits a federal offense by shipping across state lines, many retailers refuse to ship automatic knives even to states like Kansas where possession is legal.
Importing automatic knives from outside the country runs into a separate layer. U.S. Customs and Border Protection treats switchblade imports as “contrary to law” and seizes them at the border. The importer can petition for return, but only to export the knives back out of the country.6eCFR. 19 CFR 12.97 – Importations Contrary to Law
The federal exceptions are narrow. The Act exempts the Armed Forces and anyone acting in an official military capacity, along with individuals with only one arm who carry a switchblade with a blade of three inches or less. There is no general exception for law enforcement.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1244 – Exceptions
People Who Cannot Possess One
Kansas treats knife possession by convicted felons the same way it treats firearm possession. K.S.A. 21-6304 prohibits certain people with felony convictions from possessing daggers, dirks, switchblades, stilettos, and straight-edged razors.8Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Statutes 21-6304 – Criminal Possession of a Weapon by a Convicted Felon
The restriction is permanent for people convicted of person felonies or drug crimes. For other felonies, the ban lasts five or ten years depending on the offense. A violation is a severity level 8 nonperson felony, which can carry a presumptive prison sentence for someone with significant criminal history.
What Can Still Get You Charged
Simply carrying an automatic knife will not trigger the criminal carrying statute, because automatic knives were removed from the list of prohibited weapons in 2013. The realistic risks involve how the knife is used rather than the knife itself.
K.S.A. 21-6301 makes it a class A nonperson misdemeanor to possess any knife with intent to use it unlawfully against another person. The knife is legal; the intent is the crime. Brandishing one in a confrontation or carrying it to a fight is enough to convert lawful possession into a criminal offense, with up to a year in county jail and a fine up to $2,500.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Statutes 21-6301 – Criminal Use of Weapons
Actually harming or threatening someone with a knife exposes you to far more serious charges, including aggravated assault and aggravated battery, both felonies. The automatic nature of the knife adds no extra charge, but it also provides no cover for how the knife is used.