Portland, OR knife laws and Benchmade knives

[Scorp1974]

Hi,

I had a quick question about Portland Knife carry laws. I own a Benchmade Mchenry and Williams Design Knife which I can open by holding down the stud and flicking it. I'm concerned about carrying it because the Oregon law prohibits carrying knives which open by "centrifugal force". My question is: does my knife fall under this classification? Will I have to keep it at home while in Portland?

Thanks,

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[krkruse]

... Really Thats new to me. but I dont really know any laws all that well..

Just dont be stabbin anyone. Its not like you are going to get arrested or ticketed or even questioned just for having it on you. I carry an auto knife sometimes and its never been a problem/.

 

[Mark W.]

The law is about concealment. if the knife is visible or the clip holding it in your pocket is visible you are not concealing it. same goes for Switchblades.


http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/or.txt
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors166.html

 

[Muddslinger12]

"Centrugal force" opening knives=Old School "butterfly" knives that you swing the handles around it a circle to flip it open. Atleast thats how I interpretted it.

The way you describe opening your knife could be done with almost any knife. just lube it up real good and snap your wrist hard enough.

Personally I carry a "spring assisted" kershaw EVERYWHERE and I couldnt imagine it being an issue. Its just a pocket knife! I used to carry a similar one when I was in HS EVERYDAY and never had an issue even when I got busted with chew the security guards seen my knife and didnt care. (even had they said anything I woulda just pulled the "Its for woodshop card" lol)

Really smart for looking into your laws but really I wouldnt stress it too much.

 

[deen_ad]

In WA spring assisted knives are still illegal unless your police, fire or maybe even ambulance personnel. New law as of earlier this year.

RCW 9.41.250 Definition
(2) "Spring blade knife" means any knife, including a prototype, model, or other sample, with a blade that is automatically released by a spring mechanism or other mechanical device, or any knife having a blade which opens, or falls, or is ejected into position by the force of gravity, or by an outward, downward, or centrifugal thrust or movement. A knife that contains a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that requires physical exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife is not a spring blade knife.

New section added by HB 2347
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
(1) RCW 9.41.250 does not apply to:
(a) The possession or use of a spring blade knife by a general authority law enforcement officer, firefighter or
rescue member, Washington state patrol officer, or military member, while the officer or member:
(i) Is on official duty; or
(ii) Is transporting a spring blade knife to or from the place where the knife is stored when the officer or
member is not on official duty; or
(iii) The storage of a spring blade knife by a general authority law enforcement officer, firefighter or rescue
member, Washington state patrol officer, or military member;
(b) The manufacture, sale, transportation, transfer, distribution, or possession of spring blade knives pursuant
to contract with a general authority law enforcement agency, fire or rescue agency, Washington state patrol, or
military service, or pursuant to a contract with another manufacturer or a commercial distributor of knives for use,
sale, or other disposition by the manufacturer or commercial distributor;
(c) The manufacture, transportation, transfer, distribution, or possession of spring blade knives, with or
without compensation and with or without a contract, solely for trial, test, or other provisional use for evaluation
and assessment purposes, by a general authority law enforcement agency, fire or rescue agency, Washington
state patrol, military agency, or a manufacturer or commercial distributor of knives.
(2) For the purposes of this section:
(a) "Military member" means an active member of the United States military or naval forces, or a member in
good standing of the reserves components or national guard.
(b) "General law enforcement agency" means any agency, department, or division of a municipal corporation,
political subdivision, or other unit of local government of this state or any other state, and any agency,
department, or division of any state government, having as its primary function the detection and apprehension of
persons committing infractions or violating the traffic or criminal laws in general.
(c) "General law enforcement officer" means any person who is commissioned and employed by an employer
on a full-time, fully compensated basis to enforce the criminal laws of the state of Washington generally. No
person who is serving in a position that is basically clerical or secretarial in nature, or who is not commissioned
shall be considered a law enforcement officer.
(d) "Fire or rescue agency" means any agency, department, or division of a municipal corporation, political
subdivision, or other unit of local government of this state or any other state, and any agency, department, or
division of any state government, having as its primary function the prevention, control, or extinguishment of fire
or provision of emergency medical services or rescue actions for persons.
(e) "Firefighter or rescue member" means any person who is serving on a full-time, fully compensated basis as
a member of a fire or rescue agency to prevent, control, or extinguish fire or provide emergency medical services
or rescue actions for persons. No person who is serving in a position that is basically clerical or secretarial in
nature shall be considered a firefighter or rescue member.
(f) "Military service" means the active, reserve, or national guard components of the United States military,
including the army, navy, air force, marines, and coast guard.

 

[krkruse]

Yep Just don't do anything stupid and you'll be fine.

I never knew that knives are CCWs.. So someone could get busted for having a knife in a bag? Does your CHL cover it?

 

[lcb97269]

Dope is now legal in Washington but not some knives or machine guns. Crazy politicians.

 

[Redcap]

Dope is now legal in Washington but not some knives or machine guns. Crazy politicians.

Pot is now legal. Dope is heroin.

 

[lcb97269]

You must be young not to have heard the term "smoking dope." It had nothing to do with heroin.

 

[deen_ad]

Yep Just don't do anything stupid and you'll be fine.

I never knew that knives are CCWs.. So someone could get busted for having a knife in a bag? Does your CHL cover it?

The WA CPL (Concealed Pistol License) does NOT cover anything but pistols. Don't know about OR.

 

[PaulZ]

there is no such thing as "centrifugal force" it is Inertia.

 

[Redcap]

You must be young not to have heard the term "smoking dope." It had nothing to do with heroin.

"Dope" hasn't referred to weed for 20 years or better now.

 

[Muddslinger12]

A knife that contains a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that requires physical exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife is not a spring blade knife.

SO.. Is my knife considered "Legal"? It requires you to push the back off the blade so therefore "reguires the use of a "hand" (or "part of a hand" being a finger in this case) to overcome the bias of closure and open the knife.

Is this right? Or is a finger not suficient since its not listed? It says hand, wrist or arm but they damn sure dont right it so it can be clearly interpreted. Im sure if they could, they would write it in some foriegn language to make it even more difficult to understand clearly.

Obviously it makes NO SENSE any of my knives I could sling out if I did it hard enough. The point in a spring assisted knife is for ppl to do it one handed and be able to use the other hand for work but because a very few select ppl will use that free hand to grab someones shirt and pull them in while they get the knife out and open to stab them and steal there stuff WE get punished?

 

[Muddslinger12]

delete me please

 

[Hawaiian]

I collect auto knives and balisongs. They are legal to own and carry in Oregon as long as they are NOT concealed. For years we always were of the opinion that if the pocket clip or sheath was visible, it was not cocealed. A Multnoma county judge in Portland ruled otherwise. He opinioned that the clip could be for a cell phone and the officer would not know for certian that it was a knife.
And, it was a standard pocket knife that could be flicked open by inertia. Now, the defendant was initially arrested in a demonstration and was taunting police and resisting arrest so the judge had no sympathy for him. If he had proper representation other than a public defender, he might have beat the concealed weapons charge. Most all modern pocket knives today can be wrist flicked open. Just goes to show that if you give the LEO or a Judge reason to go after you, they can and will.

 

[lcb97269]

Then again, it is Portland. It has always been a cut or 2 below the level of sanity. I try to avoid going into Portland unless I have to. Unfortunately, the VA is in Portland and I have to go there on occasion.

 

[phathom]

Google Kershaw Blur

I carry one of these daily in WA. I have looked into it and knives of this sort are legal to carry, if it was a push button to do it, and not by pushing on the actual blade itself, it would be illegal. Being they are assisted opening and not auto opening, they are legal. If yours is similar design, it should be as well.

 

[Hellingbamster]

If you can buy the knife is a local store, one would think it was legal to have and use as sold.

 

[FourTeeFive]

If you can buy the knife is a local store, one would think it was legal to have and use as sold.

True, but not necessarily concealed. That is the case in WA with Balisongs and fixed-blade knives, and large folders.

A knife that contains a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that requires physical exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife is not a spring blade knife.

This is what makes a spring-ASSIST knife, such as a Kershaw, legal in WA:

Knife Rights - Important Knife Bill Becomes Law in Washington State

 

[idRATHERbeOUTDOORS]

Why are we quoting Washington law if the question is about Portland?
Portland overall is screwy when it comes to laws. just look at this one. "14A.110.280 Weapons.

No person, except a peace officer or shall bring or carry aboard a Portland Streetcar vehicle or to a station any firearm, knife (except a folding knife with a blade less than 3 ½ inches in length) or any other instrument, article, device, material or substance specifically designed to inflict or cause bodily harm to another. Where possession of such weapons cannot be prohibited by law, a person in possession of a weapon may not display or carry the weapon in a manner which is likely to result in fear or alarm by other persons or Portland Streetcar employees."

It's a law that says you can't carry a knife or gun in public transit vehicles, but says that even thought they can't make that illegal, they'll do it anyway cause you may scare people. As for knife laws I don't think they have any special laws that differ from state law at least not that I could find. Title 14 Public Order and Police ----list of city laws