Missouri CCW Knife Laws

Thinking about carrying knife as a Misosuri CCW holder? If so, you may be surprised to learn that a CCW doesn’t give you any more leeway in regards to the type of knife you can carry. In fact, having a CCW probably makes it worse in that you’ll naturally be held to a more ridged standard of lethal force in an incident occurs. So, what type of knife can you carry as a Missouri CCW permit holder?

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While Missouri knife law is pretty laid back about knife ownership and open carrying, it’s the concealed portion you have to watch out for. Generally, you can conceal carry a knife with a blade length of no more than four inches long, so long as it is not a switchblade knife. Switchblades may be concealed by persons with only one arm and must have a blade length of less than three inches. Several court cases throughout the years have helped to both clarify Missouri knife laws, as well as make them confusing for the average individual. The carrying of a ‘concealed’ knife of more than four inches in a vehicle has been known to get some people in trouble because it was concealed, near the person’s reach. Just because the knife is in your vehicle, doesn’t mean you have any more freedom. This is unlike a concealed firearm, which you can conceal and carry in your vehicle without incident, so long as it isn’t brandished or taken out of your vehicle concealed, unless you have a CCW permit.

For more information regarding various court cases, you can search the following and find out more information: “1978 State v. Mason”, “1990 State v. Wilkerson”, “1992 State v. Purlee”, “2001 State v. White”.