Delaware Knife Laws
Delaware lets you carry an ordinary pocketknife concealed, which it defines as a folding knife with a blade of three and three quarter inches or less. Anything longer or of another type needs a concealed carry license. Automatic knives became legal on 30 July 2025 when SB 108 removed the ban, though Delaware’s older list of forbidden knives still mentions spring-released blades, so read the two together. There is no preemption, so a city may add a rule.
This is not legal advice, and we are not lawyers. It is a plain reading of published summaries and the statutes they cite, kept current on a fixed schedule. Local ordinances are frequently stricter than state law and are not all captured here. Check the statute, and check your city, before you carry.
Recent change. 2025 – SB 108 repealed the switchblade ban and widened the pocketknife exemption to 3.75 inches.
Delaware knife law at a glance
| Concealed carry blade limit | Only an ordinary pocketknife may be carried concealed, which Delaware defines as a folding knife with a blade of three and three quarter inches or less. Anything else needs a concealed carry license. |
|---|---|
| Automatic and switchblade knives | Legal since 30 July 2025, when SB 108 removed the restriction. |
| Knife types banned outright | Undetectable knives and knuckle-combination knives. Delaware’s older list also names any blade released by a spring or by gravity, which is the standard description of an automatic; read that line alongside the 2025 repeal rather than on its own. |
| Statewide preemption | No. |
| The statutes | Delaware Code Title 11 sections 222, 1441, 1442, 1443, 1446A, 1452 and 1457 — read them |
Source last revised 31 July 2025
Last known change 2025
Next review 15 November 2026
How fresh this is, and how you can tell
Two dates sit above, and they are not the same thing. Checked by us is the last time a person went back to the sources and confirmed this page still matches them. Source last revised is when the American Knife and Tool Institute last updated its own Delaware page. A 2021 revision date is not automatically wrong — it usually means nothing has changed since — but it does mean nobody had looked recently, and that is exactly the gap this page exists to close.
Crossing the Delaware state line
Knife law stops at the border and the next state does not have to agree with this one. If you drive, these are the states you are most likely to carry into, and what changes when you do.
| State | Automatic knives | Concealed blade limit |
|---|---|---|
| Maryland | Legal with conditions | Only a manual folding knife may be carried concealed. Anything that is a switchblade or spring-activated may not be, at any length. |
| Pennsylvania | Legal | Concealment is not a factor. The offense turns on criminal intent. |
| New Jersey | Restricted or banned | Concealment is not the issue under state law. |
A knife that is lawful in your pocket at home can be unlawful the moment you cross, and nobody stops you at the line to tell you. The map for all fifty states covers the rest.
Common questions about Delaware knife laws
What size knife is legal to carry in Delaware?
Only an ordinary pocketknife may be carried concealed, which Delaware defines as a folding knife with a blade of three and three quarter inches or less. Anything else needs a concealed carry license.
Are switchblades legal in Delaware?
Legal since 30 July 2025, when SB 108 removed the restriction.
Which knives are banned outright in Delaware?
Undetectable knives and knuckle-combination knives. Delaware’s older list also names any blade released by a spring or by gravity, which is the standard description of an automatic; read that line alongside the 2025 repeal rather than on its own.
Does Delaware have knife preemption?
No. Delaware has no statewide preemption, so a city or county can be stricter than the state code, and several are. Check your local ordinance as well as the statute.
Can I keep a knife in my car in Delaware?
Where a state has a concealed carry limit, a knife in a glovebox or a door pocket is generally treated as concealed. Read the concealed line above and apply it to the vehicle. If that line says concealment is not the issue in this state, the vehicle is not the issue either — but where you drive to still is, because schools and courthouses are barred everywhere.
Where this comes from
Two independent sources, cross-checked against each other, and the statute text where they disagree. The automatic knife column is the American Knife and Tool Institute’s state automatics table, checked against Knife Rights’ own switchblade legality table and their legislative update log. Everything on a state page is quoted or closely tracked from that state’s AKTI page, and we print the date AKTI last revised it so you can see for yourself how fresh the underlying work is.
Where a source is older than a change we know about, we say so on the page rather than quietly leaving the old answer up. That is the whole reason this is checked every two months.
Elsewhere on Popular EDC
The knife law map for all fifty states, the knife steel comparison chart for choosing the blade itself, and every Popular EDC tool in one place.
Data updated September 2026. Delaware knife law checked against the published sources on 15 September 2026, and due for review again on 15 November 2026.