Texas Lawmaker Files Bill to Remove Knife Ban on Two Restricted Locations
A Texas Democratic state representative has filed a bill that would ease a ban on carrying knives longer than 5.5 inches in certain places.
Texas House Representative Harold Dutton, Jr. (D-Houston), has introduced HB 1311, a bill that would remove two commonly-visited places where location-restricted knives (knives over 5.5 inches) are banned. Those locations are amusement parks and restaurants or bars that derive 51% of their income from the sale or service of alcoholic beverages.
Background
In 2017, the Texas Legislature passed a new law removing prohibitions on publicly carrying what were at the time considered “illegal knives,” including Bowie knives, daggers, and other types of knives. However, the state maintained a carry restriction on knives with blades 5.5 inches or longer in certain places, including schools, colleges, correctional facilities, amusement parks, and bars or restaurants that derive 51% or more of their sales from alcohol sales.
Houses of worship were originally included, but that ban was removed when permitless carry was enacted in 2021. Minors are also restricted as to when they can carry these knives.
Similar bills to HB 1311 passed by overwhelming margins in the Texas Senate in 2019 and in the Texas House in 2021.
Knife Rights passed the nation’s first Knife Law Preemption bill in Arizona in 2010 and has since passed preemption bills in Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.