North Dakota Knife Laws: The Dangerous Weapon List, the 6-Inch Line, and the License That Covers Knives

The Short Version

North Dakota's knife law is a definition and a concealment rule. Section 62.1-01-01 defines "dangerous weapon" to include "any switchblade or gravity knife, machete, scimitar, stiletto, sword, dagger, or knife with a blade of six inches or more," along with blackjacks, knuckles, throwing stars and the like. Section 62.1-04-02(1) provides that "an individual, other than a law enforcement officer, may not carry a firearm or dangerous weapon concealed unless the individual is licensed to do so or exempted under this chapter," and 62.1-04-05 makes a violation a class A misdemeanor. A knife that is not on the list, a single-edged folder or fixed blade under 6 inches that opens by hand, is not a dangerous weapon and may be carried any way. A knife that is on the list may be carried openly by anyone, and concealed by a license holder.

Two things set North Dakota apart from its neighbors. Its permitless carry provision, added in 2017, says "firearm" and not "dangerous weapon," so a driver's license does not let you hide an OTF. And it has no knife preemption, so Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks have ordinances of their own. For a TEKTO customer the F-series folders and the X1 Atlas are North Dakota knives without a second thought, and the OTF automatics ride openly or under a class 2 license.

The Dangerous Weapon List: 6 Inches and the Named Knives

The definition names the knives by type and then adds a length: switchblade, gravity knife, machete, scimitar, stiletto, sword, dagger, "or knife with a blade of six inches [15.24 centimeters] or more." AKTI's summary gives the figure as five inches. The Century Code as published today says six. The word "includes" matters, because in State v. Vermilya the North Dakota Supreme Court held that the list is not exhaustive and that a modified straight razor, which was neither a named knife nor a 6-inch blade, was a dangerous weapon where its use as a weapon was fairly inferable. The practical reading is that the named knives and the 6-inch blade are dangerous weapons as a matter of law, and that an ordinary knife becomes one when the circumstances show it was carried as a weapon. A Spry is a switchblade. An F2 Bravo is a 3.30-inch folder and nothing more.

Concealed Carry: 62.1-04-02 and the License

The concealed weapons license in 62.1-04-03 is styled a "concealed firearm and dangerous weapon license," and it comes in two classes: class 1, which requires a written test and a shooting demonstration and carries wider reciprocity, and class 2, which requires an open-book test, is available from age 18 to residents, and is the one most knife owners need. Either class authorizes concealed carry of a dangerous weapon, which means a licensed North Dakotan may conceal an OTF, a dagger or a 7-inch fixed blade. Out-of-state licenses are recognized under 62.1-04-03.1 where the issuing state recognizes North Dakota's. Without a license, concealing a listed knife is a class A misdemeanor, up to 360 days and $3,000, and the definition does not care whether the OTF was in a pocket for work.

What Concealed Means: Holsters, Trunks and the Field

62.1-04-01 defines "concealed" as "carried in such a manner as to not be discernible by the ordinary observation of a passerby," and says absolute invisibility is not required: a weapon is concealed if it is unsecured and worn under clothing, carried in a bundle, or kept in a vehicle "under the person's control" and available to the person, "including under any seat in the vehicle or in any unlocked glove compartment." Then it lists what is not concealed: a weapon "carried in a belt holster which is wholly or substantially visible," a weapon in a case designed for carrying it that is wholly or substantially visible, a weapon "locked in a closed trunk or luggage compartment of a motor vehicle," and a weapon "carried in the field while lawfully engaged in hunting, trapping, or target shooting, whether visible or not." For a knife, the belt holster rule is the belt sheath rule: an X1 Atlas in its Kydex sheath on a belt with the sheath showing is open carry, and the same knife under a parka is not. The trunk rule is how an unlicensed owner transports an OTF. The glove box is not.

Permitless Carry Covers Firearms, Not Knives

North Dakota's permitless carry provision, 62.1-04-02(2), lets a person who "is not otherwise precluded from possessing a class 2 firearm and dangerous weapon license" and who carries a valid driver's license or identification card "carry a firearm concealed under this chapter." It was enacted in 2017 for residents and later extended to holders of out-of-state identification. It says "firearm." The surrounding subsection, the license and the penalty all say "firearm or dangerous weapon," and the Legislature left the dangerous weapon out of the exemption. AKTI reads it the same way: constitutional carry "for firearms but not for dangerous weapons." The result is odd and real: a North Dakotan with no license may conceal a pistol and may not conceal a switchblade. The class 2 license, which the exemption presupposes you could get, is the fix.

Public Gatherings and Bars: 62.1-02-05 and 62.1-02-04

Section 62.1-02-05 makes it a noncriminal offense, "punishable by a fee of one hundred dollars," to knowingly possess a firearm or dangerous weapon at a public gathering, which the section identifies as a school or school-sponsored event on school property, a church or other place of worship, and a publicly owned or operated building. The exceptions are long: officers, the military, sport shooting competitors, gun shows, hunter safety classes, security personnel, state and federal parks, rest areas and restrooms, events held with the permission of the person in control, and "a firearm in a temporary residence or motor vehicle." Because the section says dangerous weapon, it reaches a switchblade or a dagger and not an ordinary folder. District policies reach the folder. Section 62.1-02-04 makes it an infraction to possess a firearm or dangerous weapon in the part of a liquor establishment set aside for alcohol sales and consumption, with an exception for the restaurant portion where people under 21 are allowed.

Local Ordinances

Section 62.1-01-03 bars political subdivisions from enacting any ordinance "relating to the purchase, sale, ownership, possession, transfer of ownership, registration, or licensure of firearms and ammunition which is more restrictive than state law." It says firearms and ammunition, and AKTI lists North Dakota as a state without knife preemption. The cities have used the room: AKTI points to Bismarck's weapons chapter (6-08), Fargo's dangerous weapons section (10-0304) and Grand Forks' park rules (9-0120). None that we know of bans an ordinary pocketknife, but the definitions and the places differ from the state's, and a knife lawful on a county road may be a citation in a city park. Read the code of the city you carry in, and treat the state rules on this page as the floor.

Where You Cannot Carry

• Schools, places of worship and publicly owned buildingsNo firearm or dangerous weapon. $100 noncriminal offense, with exceptions for parks, rest areas and a weapon left in a vehicle. School policies bar every knife.
  62.1-02-05
• The bar area of a liquor establishmentNo firearm or dangerous weapon. An infraction. The restaurant side is excepted.
  62.1-02-04
• CourthousesPublicly owned buildings under 62.1-02-05, and court security screens every entrance for knives of any size. Leave it in the car, locked in the trunk if it is a listed knife.
  62.1-02-05
• Airports and federal propertyNo knives past the checkpoint at Hector International or Bismarck under federal rules, and none in a federal building or courthouse under 18 U.S.C. 930.
  TSA
• Tribal landThe Standing Rock, Spirit Lake, Turtle Mountain and Fort Berthold reservations set their own rules. Check before you carry.
  Tribal codes
• 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 A misdemeanor limits are set by 12.1-32-01. The $100 public gathering fee is the lowest knife penalty in the Century Code and the one most often paid.

What the Internet Gets Wrong

Four things. First, that the dangerous weapon line is 5 inches. It was. The current statute says six. Second, that North Dakota's constitutional carry covers knives. It covers firearms, and the statute says so in one word. Third, that an OTF is illegal in North Dakota. It is lawful to own, sell, carry openly and carry concealed with a license. It is a class A misdemeanor concealed without one. Fourth, that a knife in the glove box is "transported," not carried. Under 62.1-04-01 an unlocked glove box is concealment and a locked trunk is not. The rule that catches people is the vehicle one, usually a listed knife under the seat at a traffic stop.

TEKTO Knives for North Dakota

The F2 Bravo and F4 Echo are folders under 6 inches that open by hand, outside the dangerous weapon list and lawful in a pocket for anyone. The X1 Atlas at 3.30 inches is likewise unlisted. Carry it in its sheath on a belt and it is not even a question. The A5 Spry is a switchblade under 62.1-01-01: lawful to own, lawful clipped where the whole handle shows, lawful locked in the trunk, lawful concealed with a class 2 license, and a class A misdemeanor hidden in a pocket without one. For a North Dakotan who wants the Spry in the pocket, the class 2 license is an open-book test at the sheriff's office, and it is the one that makes the difference.