Is it legal to carry a switchblade knife or automatic knife in Ohio?

Answer 1

any pocket knife with a blade under 4". This excludes switch blades, gravity knives and double edged. You may purchase knives that fall into this category at the age of 16, with proper photo identification.

Answer 2

Answer

they are legal to own

Answer

...but not always legal to carry:

Under Title 29 of Ohio Revised Code, §§ 2923.12, 2923.122, 2923.123, 2923.1212, you cannot carry a concealed weapon (includes a switchblade or automatic knife) in a school safety zone, a courthouse, a police station, a child care facility, a family day care facility, any correctional facility (jail, prison, community corrections center), including halfway houses and alternative residential facilities, airports, government buildings, etc.

In plain language: You can be arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon in any place having to do with education, day care, law enforcement, courts, detention or residential facilities, airports, government buildings (see below).

If you're causing trouble of any kind in public and are found carrying a switchblade, you may be charged with carrying a concealed weapon (among other things).

You are also obliged to abide by any federal or municipal laws that may apply.

Section 2923.12 (see below) addresses the conditions under which it may be acceptable to carry a concealed switchblade.

Ohio Revised Code

Title [29] XXIX § 2923.12

2923.12 Carrying Concealed Weapons

(A) No person shall knowingly carry or have, concealed on the person's person or concealed ready at hand, any of the following:

(1) A deadly weapon other than a handgun;

2923.12 (continued)

(D) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under division (A)(1) of this section of carrying or having control of a weapon other than a handgun and other than a dangerous ordnance that the actor was not otherwise prohibited by law from having the weapon and that any of the following applies:

(1) The weapon was carried or kept ready at hand by the actor for defensive purposes while the actor was engaged in or was going to or from the actor's lawful business or occupation, which business or occupation was of a character or was necessarily carried on in a manner or at a time or place as to render the actor particularly susceptible to criminal attack, such as would justify a prudent person in going armed.

(2) The weapon was carried or kept ready at hand by the actor for defensive purposes while the actor was engaged in a lawful activity and had reasonable cause to fear a criminal attack upon the actor, a member of the actor's family, or the actor's home, such as would justify a prudent person in going armed.

(3) The weapon was carried or kept ready at hand by the actor for any lawful purpose and while in the actor's own home.

2923.122 Illegal conveyance or possession of deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance or of object indistinguishable from firearm in school safety zone.

(A) No person shall knowingly convey, or attempt to convey, a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance into a school safety zone.

(B) No person shall knowingly possess a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance in a school safety zone.

(C) No person shall knowingly possess an object in a school safety zone if both of the following apply:

(1) The object is indistinguishable from a firearm, whether or not the object is capable of being fired.

(2) The person indicates that the person possesses the object and that it is a firearm, or the person knowingly displays or brandishes the object and indicates that it is a firearm.

2923.123 Illegal conveyance of deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance into courthouse - illegal possession or control in courthouse.

(A) No person shall knowingly convey or attempt to convey a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance into a courthouse or into another building or structure in which a courtroom is located.

(B) No person shall knowingly possess or have under the person's control a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance in a courthouse or in another building or structure in which a courtroom is located.

2923.1212 Signage prohibiting concealed handguns.

(A) The following persons, boards, and entities, or designees, shall post in the following locations a sign that contains a statement in substantially the following form: "Unless otherwise authorized by law, pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code, no person shall knowingly possess, have under the person's control, convey, or attempt to convey a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance onto these premises." :

(1) The director of public safety or the person or board charged with the erection, maintenance, or repair of police stations, municipal jails, and the municipal courthouse and courtrooms in a conspicuous location at all police stations, municipal jails, and municipal courthouses and courtrooms;

(2) The sheriff or sheriff's designee who has charge of the sheriff's office in a conspicuous location in that office;

(3) The superintendent of the state highway patrol or the superintendent's designee in a conspicuous location at all state highway patrol stations;

(4) Each sheriff, chief of police, or person in charge of every county, multicounty, municipal, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal jail or workhouse, community-based correctional facility, halfway house, alternative residential facility, or other local or state correctional institution or detention facility within the state, or that person's designee, in a conspicuous location at that facility under that person's charge;

(5) The board of trustees of a regional airport authority, chief administrative officer of an airport facility, or other person in charge of an airport facility in a conspicuous location at each airport facility under that person's control;

(6) The officer or officer's designee who has charge of a courthouse or the building or structure in which a courtroom is located in a conspicuous location in that building or structure;

(7) The superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation or the superintendent's designee in a conspicuous location in all premises controlled by that bureau;

(8) The owner, administrator, or operator of a child day-care center, a type A family day-care home, a type B family day-care home, or a type C family day-care home;

(9) The officer of this state or of a political subdivision of this state, or the officer's designee, who has charge of a building that is a government facility of this state or the political subdivision of this state, as defined in section 2923.126 of the Revised Code, and that is not a building that is used primarily as a shelter, restroom, parking facility for motor vehicles, or rest facility and is not a courthouse or other building or structure in which a courtroom is located that is subject to division (B)(3) of that section.

(B) The following boards, bodies, and persons, or designees, shall post in the following locations a sign that contains a statement in substantially the following form: "Unless otherwise authorized by law, pursuant to Ohio Revised Code section 2923.122, no person shall knowingly possess, have under the person's control, convey, or attempt to convey a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance into a school safety zone." :

(1) A board of education of a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district or that board's designee in a conspicuous location in each building and on each parcel of real property owned or controlled by the board;

(2) A governing body of a school for which the state board of education prescribes minimum standards under section 3301.07 of the Revised Code or that body's designee in a conspicuous location in each building and on each parcel of real property owned or controlled by the school;

(3) The principal or chief administrative officer of a nonpublic school in a conspicuous location on property owned or controlled by that nonpublic school.

Answer 3

If you are referring to a knife such as a hunting knife, yes. . . IF you are engaged in hunting.