After 10 Years’ Effort, Pennsylvania Switchblade Ban Repeal Signed into Law! Effective 1/2/2023

November [6], 2022 – Gilbert, Arizona: Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf today signed House Bill 1929, repealing Pennsylvania’s ban on automatic knives!

The repeal is effective on January 2, 2023. Until then, possession of automatic knives remains illegal in Pennsylvania. We still have work to do in Pennsylvania; without knife law preemption, cities and towns can still prohibit automatic (and other) knives, and many do. Download our LegalBlade App 2.0 to find your local knife laws. Also, concealed carry of an automatic knife “…with the intent therewith unlawfully and maliciously to do injury to any other person…” remains illegal in Pennsylvania.

Knife Rights Chairman Doug Ritter said, “I would like to thank all who emailed their legislators to support Knife Rights’ efforts on HB 1929. We worked diligently with our friends in the House and Senate to get HB 1929 bipartisan support resulting in votes of 202-1 in the House and 50-0 in the Senate. I am especially appreciative of Governor Wolf signing this bipartisan bill to advance freedom and criminal justice reform in Pennsylvania. This repeal is the culmination of 10 years of Knife Rights’ efforts in Pennsylvania.”

Knife Rights Director of Legislative Affairs Todd Rathner worked closely with our team on the ground in Pennsylvania to assure this bill’s passage and to stop a potentially destructive, last-minute amendment which could have doomed this important legislation. Our team in Pennsylvania worked successfully with Governor Wolf’s office to educate him on why he should sign SB1929.

Knife Rights would like to thank HB 1929 sponsor Representative Martin Causer (R-HD67) who said, “It was a team effort getting HB 1929 to Governor Wolf’s desk for his signature. I want to thank Knife Rights and their mobilization of their members to support HB 1929. It’s that support that helped secure passage of a good piece of legislation.”

Knife Rights would also like to thank Senator Shariff Street (D-SD3) who sponsored our similar bill in the Senate, for assisting in this bipartisan effort to get HB 1929 through the Senate. Sen. Shariff said, “I was honored to work with Knife Rights on House Bill 1929 to secure bipartisan passage of this important criminal justice reform bill.”

We are proud of the collaborative process by which this issue was discussed, supported, and eventually passed and signed into law.

Knife Rights has led the effort to repeal switchblade bans or restrictions in 20 states, starting with New Hampshire in 2010. Repeals have since been enacted in Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and now, Pennsylvania.