Are Brass Knuckles Illegal? Laws in All 50 States

Are brass knuckles illegal? In 13 states and D.C., yes, even at home. 19 more limit carry, and 17 let most adults own and carry them.

Originally published: November 1, 2026

Brass knuckles, are simple but effective hand weapons consisting of a metal ring or bar with finger holes that slip over the knuckles to turn a punch into a far more damaging blow. Their design concentrates force into a smaller area while protecting the wearer’s hand, making them popular for street fighting and self-defense long before modern firearms became widespread. Versions of the concept appear in various cultures for centuries, but the modern form gained notoriety in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States and Europe, where they were carried by sailors, laborers, and later associated with urban gangs and criminal activity.

Many jurisdictions eventually banned or heavily restricted them precisely because of that efficiency: a single strike can easily cause severe lacerations, broken bones, or worse, and they are easy to conceal. Unlike firearms, which are often regulated under specific licensing schemes, brass knuckles have frequently been treated as inherently dangerous weapons with little legitimate sporting or utility purpose. That history of restriction is why the question of legality is not straightforward. Federal law does not broadly prohibit them, so the answer depends almost entirely on state and local statutes, which range from outright bans with felony penalties to complete legality with no special restrictions. The result is a patchwork of rules that can change at the state line, making a clear nationwide answer impossible without examining each jurisdiction individually.

Are Brass Knuckles Illegal in Your State?

Knuckles turn up as gag gifts, belt-buckle novelties and flea-market curiosities, which is how a lot of people come to own a set without ever reading a weapons law. Depending where you are in the country, most laws go three ways three ways: states that ban owning a set at all, states that let you keep one at home but control how it leaves the house, and states with no knuckle rule for most adults. The right answer is the one in your state’s statute, read for both owning and carrying, before the set goes anywhere but a drawer.

Each row was read from the state’s own statute or code site in October 2026. Where the official site blocked automated reading, the row links a labeled copy on Justia or public.law. “Not named” means the statute never says knuckles, so the state’s general weapon rules decide it, and a court could still call a set a deadly weapon. Cities and counties can add rules, and school grounds, courthouses, jails and airports carry separate bans in many states.

Owning vs. Carrying: Where People Get Caught

Most of the trouble comes from the middle group, the 19 states where a set is legal in your nightstand and illegal in your jacket. North Carolina is the clean example: G.S. 14-269 makes it a crime to carry metallic knuckles hidden on you anywhere except your own premises. Virginia says the same thing about “metal knucks” (yes, the code spells it that way), with an exception for your home and your place of business.

A few states go further and ban carrying them openly too. Oklahoma’s law covers metal knuckles “whether such weapon be concealed or unconcealed,” Connecticut makes carrying them on your person a class E felony, and Massachusetts reaches knuckles on your person or in a vehicle you control. In New Hampshire, carrying or selling them is a misdemeanor, so a yard-sale table full of knuckles is its own problem.

Then there are the states that let adults carry hidden weapons without a license. Kentucky lets anyone 21 or older who can legally own a gun carry concealed firearms “or other concealed deadly weapons,” and its code lists artificial knuckles as a deadly weapon by name. West Virginia does the same at 18 and up. Notice that a no-permit gun law does not always reach knuckles, though. North Dakota’s no-license rule says you may carry a firearm concealed, while the same section says nobody may carry a dangerous weapon hidden without a license or an exemption, and metal knuckles are a named dangerous weapon there.

Where Brass Knuckles Are Banned Outright

In 13 states and D.C., the law reaches the set in your drawer. California’s Penal Code § 21810 covers anyone who makes, imports, sells, gives, lends or possesses metal knuckles, punishable by up to a year in county jail or a state prison term. Michigan treats possession as a felony worth up to five years or $2,500. Missouri and Kansas make it a class A misdemeanor, and Tennessee lists knuckles right alongside machine guns and explosives in its prohibited-weapons statute.

New Jersey sits by itself. Its law makes possessing a metal knuckle a fourth-degree crime unless you have an “explainable lawful purpose,” and the statute does not define one. If you live there, I would treat that phrase as a reason to leave them at the store.

Plastic, Wooden and Knuckle-Knife Versions

Swapping brass for plastic does not get you around most of these laws. New York names “plastic knuckles” separately from metal ones, Kentucky’s definition covers knuckles made “from metal, plastic, or other similar hard material,” and Massachusetts covers “knuckles of any substance which could be put to the same use.” California splits it in two: metal knuckles under § 21810, and composite or hard wooden knuckles under § 21710, a misdemeanor.

The knuckle knife (a blade with a knuckle-ring handle, the trench-knife look) has its own lines in a couple of codes. New York bans the “metal knuckle knife,” and Delaware’s § 1452 makes it a misdemeanor to sell or possess a knife “the blade of which is supported by a knuckle ring grip handle,” even though Delaware lets you own plain knuckles. If you collect knives, check our knife laws by state page too, because the blade rules and the knuckle rules are written in different sections.

What Changed Recently

• Texas, 2019: HB 446 removed knuckles from the Penal Code’s prohibited-weapons list, effective September 1, 2019. 
• Nebraska, 2023: LB 77 rewrote § 28-1202 so that only minors and prohibited persons are barred from carrying a hidden weapon “such as a handgun, a knife, brass or iron knuckles.”
• South Carolina, 2024: Act No. 111 repealed the old concealed-weapons section, 16-23-460, effective March 7, 2024.
• West Virginia, 2026: HB 4106 extended carry without a license to adults 18 to 20, effective June 12, 2026. The state’s code counts metallic knuckles as a deadly weapon, so that rule covers them.

Can You Fly With Brass Knuckles?

Only in a checked bag. TSA’s own listing for brass knuckles reads “No” for carry-on bags and “Yes” for checked bags, with a warning that they are “still illegal in some states” and that TSA will report an illegal item to local police if a bag gets opened. Landing in Los Angeles, Chicago or New York with a set in your suitcase is the classic way to break a law you never thought about. Our TSA rules for EDC gear page covers the rest of what rides in your pockets.

What to Carry Instead

Think about what you want the knuckles to do. If the answer is “something on my keys that helps if I get grabbed,” a kubotan keychain is the usual counter suggestion, and compact pepper spray buys distance instead of asking you to close it. Both have their own state rules, so read those too. And remember that even a perfectly legal set used in a fight turns into a self-defense question, which is its own set of tests; Freedom’s Lodge lays them out in its guide to self-defense laws by state.

Even in states where brass knuckles are legal, carrying them is often a poor practical choice. Many jurisdictions that allow possession still treat their use in a fight as an aggravating factor that can elevate charges from simple assault to a more serious weapons offense, and the same object that looks like a tool in one context can be viewed as a concealed weapon in another. They also offer little practical advantage over empty-hand skills or more common tools once legal scrutiny, potential civil liability, and the difficulty of explaining them to police or a jury are factored in. For most people the safer and more reliable approach is to focus on awareness, avoidance, and training rather than relying on a device that remains legally and tactically risky across much of the country.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are brass knuckles illegal in Texas?

No. Texas took knuckles off its prohibited-weapons list with HB 446, effective September 1, 2019, and the current Penal Code § 46.05 list does not include them.

Can you own brass knuckles in California?

No. California’s Penal Code § 21810 makes it a crime to make, import, sell, give, lend or simply possess metal knuckles, and § 21710 covers composite and hard wooden knuckles as a misdemeanor.

Are plastic brass knuckles legal?

Not where the law is written around the shape instead of the metal. New York bans plastic knuckles by name, Kentucky’s deadly-weapon definition includes plastic, and Massachusetts covers knuckles of any substance. In states with no knuckle statute, plastic and metal are treated the same way: by how you use them.

Can you put brass knuckles in a checked bag?

TSA allows them in checked bags but not carry-on bags. TSA also warns that they are illegal in some states and that it reports illegal items to local police, so the law where you land still governs.

Can I keep brass knuckles as a collectible?

In some banned states the statute itself gives collectors a narrow defense. Pennsylvania lets a defendant prove he possessed the weapon “solely as a curio,” and Tennessee has a defense for dealing with one solely as a curio, ornament or keepsake. Those are defenses you argue in court, not permits, so a collection in those states is still a risk.

So, are brass knuckles illegal? In a third of the country the answer is no, and in another third it depends on your pocket. Find your row, read the statute, and if your state is on the banned list, let that set stay a story about your grandfather instead of evidence.

Sources: State statutes linked in each table row; California Penal Code § 21810, “Metal knuckles” and § 21710, “Composite knuckles or hard wooden knuckles” (public.law); Texas Legislature, HB 446 (86th Legislature), enrolled text; Texas Penal Code § 46.05, “Prohibited Weapons” (public.law); West Virginia Legislature, HB 4106 (2026) bill history; South Carolina Code, Title 16, Chapter 23, “Offenses Involving Weapons”; TSA, “What Can I Bring? Brass Knuckles”; Tennessee Code § 39-17-1302, “Prohibited weapons” (Justia).

James Nicholas

NFA Firearms Manufacturer & Professional Gunsmith The XDMAN has a talent for taking complex firearms subject matter and breaking it down into an easy-to-understand format that all experience levels can relate to. James is an 07/02 NFA Firearms Manufacturer, a Professional Gunsmith with over 20 years of experience, and a Firearms Writer, Photographer and Firearms Expert. Connect with him on Instagram, X, and Facebook as @therealxdman.

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