In a perfect world freedom and common sense would prevail and we could all go about our lives in a responsible manner able to carry the tools that we see fit. However, as we all know, the world is far from perfect. While there have been victories, there are still plenty of places that have laws on the books that can cause the every day carry person trouble.

What is scary about knife laws, is that in many cases they are confusing, ambiguous, or just plain strange. A half of inch of blade length, a sharpened upper swedge grind, how it is carried, etc. can all lead to the uninformed being jammed up over what we as “knife people” see as the smallest of details. Now apply that across the 50 states and local municipalities therein, and you can see that you would have to be the Rainman of knife laws to keep them straight.

Fortunately, Knife Rights has put this information literally at your fingertips with their Knife Rights LegalBlade app that is available for both Apple iOS and Android platforms. It provides an interface to view at a glance the laws of any locale.

First off, the biggest complaint we have heard is that it costs money. Yup it does cost a whopping $1.99 (better tell the kids they cannot go to college). Without going into the rant on the “want something for nothing” mentality that is taking hold of people, I will just address the cost issue. “Free apps” is a misnomer. Nothing is free. Apps that are “free to download to the user” are actually paid for by in app advertising and other methods. Knife Rights is a small, non-profit organization. They do not have a development staff and the LegalBlade app costs a good chunk of change to build and maintain. Your Big Mac money serves to offset those costs AND you get more than half a Starbucks latte of value from it.

Another unfortunate sign of our times is the disclaimer that you have to scroll through and agree to before using the app.

Look, whipping out your iPhone to show the arresting officer that you are “right” is not going to help you out. The app is not a lawyer, but a database of laws to use as guidance. You still need to use some common sense and realize many people have been arrested and later proven right after spending the night in jail.

After the legal stuff, just punch in your state.

What can be a bit confusing is that certain states do not have a city drop down if the state laws preempt the city laws. So for Arizona above, you would just touch “State Law Only”.

However, if there is a city specific set of laws, you will see them as above. In this case, you can either see the “State Law Only” or hit “New York City” for the laws specific to NYC.

Once you select your area you are presented with an easy to understand birdseye view grid of the laws.

This part of the interface is a bit clunky as there are two tables (the top one that starts with “Limitation” and the bottom that starts with “Knife Type”). You have a small area that you can scroll through both tables (meaning, the top and bottom table are separate and scroll independently). Not super intuitive, but the information is there. I would rather see all this information in one longer table to scroll through.

If you want to dive a bit deeper, hit “View Text of State Law and Legal Decisions” and you can view the actual verbiage of the laws and other in depth information.

Even if you are just an occasional traveler, the $1.99 is well worth it to have a quick, easy to access view of the laws of any place you may be visiting. For the seasoned road warrior, it is almost a necessity. The reality is that a small adjustment to your EDC setup can keep you out of trouble.

About Knife Rights: If you are reading this blog, chances are I am preaching to the choir regarding the fact that many places in the “free” USofA are overly restrictive in their knife laws. The sad reality is that unlike firearms, there are no large activist organizations to fight these inane laws at the local and federal levels. In 2006 Doug Ritter founded Knife Rights as a non profit 501c3 organization to advocate for knife rights at the state and federal levels. Knife Rights has worked to repeal arcane laws still on the books (like assisting in the repeal of the switchblade ban in Texas and Tennessee). They have also been on the offensive in attacking new laws (or ridiculous interpretations of existing laws). Knife Rights has been involved in an ongoing civil rights suit against New York City for their unconstitutionally vague (and just insane) reinterpretation of what constitutes a “gravity knife” in NYC that has basically made all folding knives illegal. Knife Rights has been on the front lines of opposing even indirect attacks on knives such as the recent executive branch actions to make all ivory trade illegal. Monkey Edge is a proud Knife Rights supporter. Any person (whether they carry a knife or not) who values individual liberty would be doing well to support them as well. Being a small organization, every bit helps.