New Hampshire Knife Laws: No Restrictions Since 2010, Statewide Preemption, and the Courthouse Felony

The Short Version

New Hampshire has the shortest knife law in New England and one of the shortest in the country. Until 2010, RSA 159:24 made it a crime to sell or possess a switchblade, dagger, dirk or stiletto. House Bill 1665, sponsored by Representative Jenn Coffey, a former EMT, repealed the section outright that year. In 2011 the Legislature amended RSA 159:26 to give the state exclusive authority over "firearms, firearms components, ammunition, firearms supplies, or knives" and declared every contrary municipal ordinance "null and void." Nothing has been added since. There is no concealed carry rule for knives, no open carry rule, no blade length, no permit and no minimum age.

Two statutes remain. RSA 159:3 bars a person convicted of a felony against a person or property, or a drug felony, from possessing "a stiletto, switchblade knife, sword cane, pistol cane, blackjack, dagger, dirk-knife, or other deadly weapon," a class B felony. And RSA 159:19 makes it a class B felony to carry any deadly weapon into a courtroom or an area used by a court. "Deadly weapon" is defined in RSA 625:11, V by manner of use, which is also what turns a lawful knife into an element of criminal threatening or assault. For a TEKTO customer with no felony record, every knife we make is a New Hampshire knife, OTF automatics and the double-edged A7 Zastava included. The one place to leave it is the courthouse, and the one state line to watch is Massachusetts.

The 2010 Repeal: HB 1665

RSA 159:24 was a 1950s statute of the usual kind: it banned the manufacture, sale and possession of "any knife commonly known as a switchblade knife," and, as amended, daggers, dirks and stilettos. AKTI credits the repeal to Representative Coffey, and the argument made for it was practical, that a first responder with one hand busy needs a knife that opens with the other. HB 1665 passed in 2010 and removed the section entirely. New Hampshire was among the first states to repeal a switchblade ban, and the repeal was complete: no replacement definition, no length limit, no list of restricted knives. The words "switchblade knife," "dagger" and "dirk-knife" now appear in the RSA only in 159:3, the felon statute.

Preemption: 159:26

RSA 159:26, I provides that "to the extent consistent with federal law, the state of New Hampshire shall have authority and jurisdiction over the sale, purchase, ownership, use, possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter pertaining to firearms, firearms components, ammunition, firearms supplies, or knives in the state," and that, except as a statute specifically allows, "no ordinance or regulation of a political subdivision may regulate" those matters. Paragraph II makes it retroactive: "all municipal ordinances and regulations not authorized under paragraph I ... pertaining to firearms, firearm components, ammunition, firearms supplies, or knives shall be null and void." The only local power kept is zoning for knife businesses "in the same manner as other businesses." The 2011 amendment, effective August 6, 2011, is what added knives. Manchester, Nashua, Concord and every town are under the state rules on this page and nothing else.

Convicted Felons: 159:3

RSA 159:3, I makes it a class B felony for a person convicted of a felony against the person or property of another, a felony under the Controlled Drug Act, or a comparable federal or out-of-state felony, to own or possess "a pistol, revolver, or other firearm, or slungshot, metallic knuckles, billies, stiletto, switchblade knife, sword cane, pistol cane, blackjack, dagger, dirk-knife, or other deadly weapon as defined in RSA 625:11, V." The named knives are the old 159:24 list, preserved for this one purpose. An OTF is a switchblade knife. A double-edged Zastava is a dagger. The catch-all, "other deadly weapon," borrows the manner-of-use definition, so an ordinary pocketknife is within the statute only if it is used, intended or threatened as a weapon, which is not a position a person with a qualifying record wants to argue. The penalty is up to seven years and a fine of up to $4,000.

Courthouses: 159:19

RSA 159:19, I provides that "no person shall knowingly carry a loaded or unloaded pistol, revolver, or firearm or any other deadly weapon as defined in RSA 625:11, V, whether open or concealed or whether licensed or unlicensed, upon the person or within any of the person's possessions owned or within the person's control in a courtroom or area used by a court," a class B felony. "Area used by a court" means the whole building when the building is used only for courts, except the space between the entrance and security, and in a mixed-use building the courtrooms, jury rooms, chambers, holding areas and the corridors that connect them. The statute requires a posted notice at each public entrance and makes its absence a defense. Court security screens every entrance and holds firearms at the door. It does not hold knives, so the knife stays in the car. Because the definition is manner-of-use, a pocketknife in a pocket is arguably not a deadly weapon at the moment of entry, but the statute is a felony and the argument is not worth having.

The Deadly Weapon Definition: 625:11, V

RSA 625:11, V defines "deadly weapon" as "any firearm, knife or other substance or thing which, in the manner it is used, intended to be used, or threatened to be used, is known to be capable of producing death or serious bodily injury." The word "knife" is in the definition, but the test is the manner of use, so a knife carried as a tool is not a deadly weapon and a knife brandished is. The definition does its work in the assault and threatening statutes: criminal threatening with a deadly weapon under RSA 631:4 is a class B felony, and second-degree assault with one under 631:2 the same. New Hampshire asks nothing about the knife you carry. It asks what you do with it.

Where You Cannot Carry

• Courtrooms and areas used by a courtAny deadly weapon. Class B felony. Screening at the door. Leave it in the car.
  159:19
• SchoolsNo knife-specific statute, but every district's safe-school policy bars knives and RSA 193-D makes dangerous weapon possession a reportable act. Leave it at home.
  RSA 193-D
• Places of official custodyA knife is contraband under RSA 642:7 for a person in custody, and none enters a jail or prison.
  642:7
• Airports and federal propertyNo knives past the checkpoint at Manchester-Boston Regional under federal rules, and none in a federal building or courthouse under 18 U.S.C. 930.
  TSA
• MassachusettsNot a New Hampshire rule, but the one AKTI flags: an OTF or a dagger that is lawful in Nashua is a felony a mile south in Massachusetts for most people. Check before you cross.
  AKTI
• Private property and workplacesAn owner may bar knives and an employer may set a policy. The remedy is being asked to leave or being disciplined, and after that, trespass.
  Trespass

Penalties

Class B felony ranges are set by RSA 651:2. New Hampshire has no misdemeanor knife offense. The only knife crimes are the felon statute and the courthouse statute.

What the Internet Gets Wrong

Three things. First, that New Hampshire restricts switchblades or daggers. It did until 2010. Pages written before then, and the many pages copied from them, still say so. Second, that a town can have its own knife rule. Not since August 6, 2011. Third, that New Hampshire has no knife crimes at all. It has two, both felonies: the felon statute and the courthouse statute, and the courthouse one catches the pocketknife as readily as the dagger. The practical rule that matters most is not New Hampshire's: it is that the border with Massachusetts runs through the Merrimack Valley, and the knife law changes completely at the line.

TEKTO Knives for New Hampshire

Every TEKTO knife is a New Hampshire knife. The A5 Spry in any blade style and the A7 Zastava with its double-edged spear point are lawful in a pocket, lawful on a belt and lawful in the car. The A3 Delta is a 3.60-inch side-opening automatic with a button lock and safety. The X1 Atlas fixed blade in MagnaCut is the knife for the Whites and the Lakes Region. None of them goes into a courthouse, and none of them goes south of the state line in a pocket without reading the Massachusetts page first.