Oregon Knife Laws: No Blade Limit, No Banned Knives and the One Rule About Concealment

The Short Version

Oregon regulates one thing about a knife: whether it is hidden. There is no blade-length limit, no permit, no registration and no knife you cannot own, because the Oregon Supreme Court held in 1984 that a switchblade is an "arm" protected by Article I, section 27 of the state constitution, and the Legislature has not tried to ban a knife since. The single carry statute, ORS 166.240, makes it a Class B misdemeanor to carry concealed "any knife having a blade that projects or swings into position by force of a spring or by centrifugal force, any dirk, dagger, ice pick, slungshot, metal knuckles, or any similar instrument." That list is the whole of Oregon knife law for the street. An ordinary folding knife of any size is not on it and can ride in a pocket. A fixed blade of any size can ride on a belt. An automatic, an OTF, an assisted opener, a butterfly knife or a dagger can be owned and carried openly but not hidden. The rest of the law is about places: public buildings, where a knife used as a dangerous weapon is a Class C felony, and courthouses, where anything beyond an ordinary pocketknife under 4 inches can be ordered out the door. Portland has no knife ordinance for its streets, because the Supreme Court struck down the one it had.

The Constitution Comes First

Oregon's knife law starts with a court case, not a statute. In 1957 the Legislature banned possessing a switchblade. In State v. Delgado, 298 Or 395 (1984), decided December 28, 1984, the Oregon Supreme Court held that the ban violated Article I, section 27, which says "the people shall have the right to bear arms for the defence of themselves, and the State." The court reasoned that a switchblade is a knife, a knife is an arm, and the Legislature may regulate how an arm is used or carried but not forbid a citizen to possess one. The Legislature answered in 1985 by repealing the possession ban and rewriting the concealed-weapons statute into the form it has today: switchblades, dirks, daggers and ice picks joined the list of things you cannot carry hidden, and the old exception for an "ordinary pocketknife" was dropped along with the other knives it had qualified. That history is why Oregon has no banned knife and no blade limit. It is also why the concealed list is short and specific: when the House subcommittee rewrote the statute, it deliberately left ordinary knives off, a fact the Supreme Court later used to strike down Portland's ordinance.

Concealed Is the Only Question

ORS 166.240(1) reads in full: "any person who carries concealed upon the person any knife having a blade that projects or swings into position by force of a spring or by centrifugal force, any dirk, dagger, ice pick, slungshot, metal knuckles, or any similar instrument by the use of which injury could be inflicted upon the person or property of any other person, commits a Class B misdemeanor." Three things follow. The knife has to be concealed, so open carry of anything is outside the statute. It has to be concealed "upon the person," so a knife in a glove box or a bag is not carried upon the person. The Court of Appeals said so about a knife in a car in State v. Crumal, 54 Or App 41 (1981). And it has to be one of the listed kinds, or "similar," which the courts have read narrowly. What counts as concealed comes from State v. Turner, 221 Or App 621 (2008): a weapon is concealed if it is "not readily identifiable as a weapon" or if the person "attempts to obscure the fact" that they are carrying it, and an imperfect attempt counts. The object need not be completely hidden. A knife worn openly in a sheath on the belt is not concealed, which the court held in State v. Johnson, 96 Or App 166 (1989). A knife inside a pocket, under a shirt or in a waistband is.

Which Knives Count

The list names four kinds of knife and a catch-all. "A blade that projects or swings into position by force of a spring" is the switchblade clause, and it covers side-opening automatics and OTFs, which project, and assisted openers, which use a spring to finish the swing once the blade is started. The Court of Appeals upheld a concealed-carry conviction for an assisted opener in State v. Markwell (2016), an affirmance without opinion that sets no precedent but tells you how the statute gets charged. "By centrifugal force" is the butterfly and gravity knife clause: a balisong that is flipped open and a knife whose blade drops out of the handle both fall in it. A dirk, a dagger and an ice pick are named. The catch-all, "any similar instrument," has been narrowed by three decisions: State v. Boswell, 88 Or App 344 (1987), held that an unlisted object must be similar to a listed one and designed or intended for use as a weapon. State v. McJunkins, 171 Or App 575 (2000), held that a knife is a dirk, dagger or similar instrument only if it is designed specifically for stabbing, and State v. Ruff, 229 Or App 98 (2009), applied the clause to a samurai sword. What is not on the list, by design, is the ordinary folding knife: a slip joint, a lockback, a liner lock, a frame lock, a button lock or a flipper on bearings that you open with your thumb or index finger. Those are legal to carry concealed at any blade length. A hunting or utility fixed blade with a single edge and a drop point is not a dirk or a dagger under McJunkins, but it is the kind of knife that invites an argument, and Oregon gives you an easy way to avoid it: wear it on the belt.

Fixed Blades, Sheaths and Pocket Clips

For a fixed blade the rule is simple. On the belt, in a sheath, in plain view, it is not concealed and the statute does not apply, whatever its length. Under a jacket or inside the waistband, the question becomes whether it is a dirk or dagger, and under McJunkins that turns on whether it was designed for stabbing: a double-edged spear-point boot knife is. A single-edged drop-point hunting knife is not, though you may have to explain that to an officer. Pocket clips are the unsettled part of Oregon law. A manual folder clipped in a pocket is legal either way, because it is not on the list. An automatic or assisted opener clipped in a pocket is a gamble: the clip is visible, the knife is not, and under Turner a weapon that is "not readily identifiable as a weapon" is concealed. No Oregon appellate court has held that a visible clip makes an automatic open carry, and the American Knife and Tool Institute does not recommend relying on it. If you carry an OTF in Oregon, carry it where the whole knife shows, in a belt holster or an open pouch, or keep it at home, in the car or in a bag, none of which is "upon the person."

Portland and Local Rules

Oregon preempts local firearm regulation by statute but has no knife preemption law, so cities can in principle write knife ordinances. In practice the Oregon Supreme Court took the biggest one off the books. Portland Code 14.32.100 made it a crime to carry concealed any knife other than an ordinary pocketknife with a blade of 3.5 inches or less. In City of Portland v. Lodi, 308 Or 468 (1989), decided November 16, 1989, the court held the ordinance was displaced by state criminal law under Article XI, section 2 of the constitution: the Legislature had considered ordinary knives when it rewrote ORS 166.240 in 1985 and chosen not to prohibit carrying them concealed, and a city may not criminalize what the state decided to allow. Portland's weapons chapter today, PCC 14A.60, covers loaded firearms, discharge, tear gas, stun guns and explosives, and says nothing about knives. The one Portland rule that does is the park code: PCC 20.12.050 bars possessing in any city park "any knife having a blade that projects or swings into position by force of a spring or by centrifugal force" and "any knife with a blade longer than 3-½ inches." It is a park rule rather than a criminal ordinance, enforced through exclusions from city parks of 30 days, or longer for repeat exclusions, and whether it would survive the Lodi reasoning in court has not been tested. The practical reading is that a manual folder under 3.5 inches goes anywhere in Portland, and an automatic or a longer blade stays out of the parks. Other Oregon cities can have rules of their own. None that we found adds anything to state law, but check the code of a city you spend time in.

Where You Cannot Carry

• Public buildings: schools, colleges, hospitals, the Capitol, city halls, state and local government officesORS 166.370(1)(a) makes it a Class C felony to intentionally possess "a loaded or unloaded firearm or any other instrument used as a dangerous weapon, while in or on a public building." 166.360 defines a public building as a hospital, a capitol building, a public or private school, a college or university, a city hall, the residence of a statewide elected official, the grounds adjacent to each, and any part of another building occupied by a state or local government agency. A "dangerous weapon" under 161.015 is anything that "under the circumstances in which it is used, attempted to be used or threatened to be used, is readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury," so the statute turns on how the knife is used rather than what it is. Prosecutors charge it when a knife is carried where it should not be, and the Markwell conviction was under this section as well. A concealed handgun licensee is exempt from the public-building rule under 166.370(3)(g), and so is anyone the building's controlling agency has authorized. For students, school district policy applies on top of the statute, and districts treat a knife as a weapon.
  166.370(1)
• Court facilitiesA courthouse, or any part of a building occupied by a circuit court, the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court or the Tax Court, has its own rule. 166.360(10)(b) defines a weapon there to include "any dirk, dagger, ice pick, slingshot, metal knuckles or any similar instrument or a knife, other than an ordinary pocketknife with a blade less than four inches in length." Under 166.370(2)(a)(B) a person with such a weapon in a court facility may be required to surrender it or remove it at once, and failing to comply is a Class C felony. The concealed handgun license exemption does not apply in court facilities. Security will take any knife at the door in any case.
  166.370(2)
• AirportsThe passenger terminal of a commercial service airport with over one million boardings a year, which in Oregon means PDX, was added to the public-building definition in 2021. Past the checkpoint, federal rules apply everywhere.
  166.360(9)(b)
• Portland city parksNo automatics and no blade over 3.5 inches, enforced by park exclusion.
  PCC 20.12.050
• Private propertyEmployers, landlords, venues and stores may post their own knife rules. Breaking one gets you removed, and refusing to leave is trespass.
  Posted rules

Minors and Felons

Oregon sets no minimum age for owning or carrying a knife and no rule against selling one to a minor. The age limits in chapter 166 are written for firearms. A 16-year-old with a folder in a pocket is breaking no state law, and a 16-year-old with an OTF hidden in a pocket is committing the same Class B misdemeanor an adult would. Schools are where minors meet the law: the public-building statute covers every public and private school and its grounds, and district conduct codes add suspension and expulsion on top. For a person with a felony conviction, ORS 166.270(2) creates the offense of felon in possession of a restricted weapon, a Class A misdemeanor, for owning or possessing "any instrument or weapon having a blade that projects or swings into position by force of a spring or by centrifugal force," or for carrying "a dirk, dagger or stiletto." Read that carefully: a felon may not own a switchblade, an OTF, an assisted opener, a butterfly knife or a gravity knife at all, not even at home, and may not carry a dirk, dagger or stiletto. An ordinary folding knife or a fixed blade that is not designed for stabbing is not a restricted weapon, and no Oregon statute bars a felon from owning or carrying one. The 15-year washout in 166.270(4) applies to the firearm offense only.

Penalties

What the Internet Gets Wrong

Four things, and the first one was on this page for years. There is no 4.75-inch limit in Oregon. No statute, case or ordinance contains that number. The only lengths in Oregon law are the 4-inch ordinary pocketknife exception for court facilities and the 3.5 inches in Portland's park code and in the Portland ordinance the Supreme Court struck down in 1989. A manual folder with a 5-inch blade is legal to carry concealed. Second, that switchblades or OTFs are illegal in Oregon: they have been legal to own since Delgado and legal to carry openly since 1985. The only prohibition is on carrying them concealed. Third, that assisted openers are "legal because they are not automatics": in Oregon the test is a blade that moves "by force of a spring," and a concealed assisted opener has been prosecuted under it. Fourth, that Portland bans knives: it tried, it lost in court, and the only Portland knife rule today is the one for city parks. The thing people get wrong in the other direction is the courthouse: a 4-inch OTF that is legal in a pocket on the sidewalk outside is a felony if you refuse to hand it over inside.

TEKTO Knives for Oregon

Oregon sorts the TEKTO line by how the blade opens, not how long it is. The F1 Alpha, F2 Bravo, F3 Charlie and F4 Echo are manual folders, opened by hand with no spring behind the blade, so they are not on the concealed list and can be carried in a pocket anywhere in the state outside a public building. All four are under 4 inches, so they also pass as ordinary pocketknives in a courthouse, though security will still hold them. The X1 Atlas is a 3.30-inch single-edged drop point, not a dirk or dagger, and in its Kydex sheath on the belt it is open carry everywhere a knife can go. The OTFs, the A5 Spry, A5 Spry Mini, A2 Badger, A7 Zastava and A4, and the A3 Delta side-opener are automatics: legal to own, legal to carry where the whole knife shows, and a Class B misdemeanor in a pocket. In Portland's parks, the F1, F2, F4 and X1 Atlas are under 3.5 inches and allowed. The F3 at 3.80 and every automatic are not.