← Knife laws by state

Pennsylvania Knife Laws

Lawful with conditions · read 2026-09-04

Pennsylvania permits most edged steel, but attaches conditions that catch buyers out. Automatics restricted; Philadelphia bars cutting instruments on the street.

Pennsylvania sets no statewide blade-length ceiling on concealed carry. That does not mean any blade may be concealed — intent, pattern and place still govern, and a court will read all three.

Open carry carries no statewide length ceiling in Pennsylvania. Sheathed, visible and plainly for work or display is the safest posture anywhere in the union.

Pennsylvania does not preempt local ordinance. Cities and counties may — and do — write stricter law than the capital, so the town you are standing in matters as much as the state.

What Pennsylvania says, pattern by pattern

Automatic (switchblade)Restricted
Balisong (butterfly)Restricted
Gravity or ballistic knifeBarred
Dirk, stiletto or double-edgedRestricted
Concealed blade-length ceilingNo statewide ceiling
Open-carry blade-length ceilingNo statewide ceiling
Cities may write stricter lawYes

Towns in Pennsylvania that are stricter

Municipal code read 2026-09-04. A town ordinance may only tighten the state's rule, never loosen it.

  • Philadelphia

    Carrying any cutting instrument on the public street or in a public place is an offence, absent lawful trade use.

    Phila. Code §10-820

Can this house ship steel to Pennsylvania?

Shipping is possession, not carry — most provinces permit ownership of what they forbid on the street. Warborn Blades ships to buyers of age in the United States and Canada, and the counter refuses a barred road before a card is ever touched.

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Steel that is lawful to own in Pennsylvania

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This reading is drawn from published Pennsylvania statute as it stood on 2026-09-04. Law changes. It is offered freely as a reading of law and is not legal counsel. Where your carry matters, ask a lawyer in your own province.

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