Mississippi Knife Laws
Mississippi does not set a blade length, but a bowie knife, dirk, butcher knife or switchblade may not be carried concealed. The practical workaround is written into the law: a knife in a sheath or holster that is even partly visible does not count as concealed. Automatics are legal to own and to carry that way. Preemption comes from the state constitution and is narrower than a plain statute, covering concealed carry rather than everything.
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.
Mississippi knife law at a glance
| Concealed carry blade limit | No blade length governs, but a bowie knife, dirk, butcher knife or switchblade may not be carried concealed. A knife in a sheath or holster that is even partly visible does not count as concealed, which is the practical way to carry one. |
|---|---|
| Automatic and switchblade knives | Legal to own and to carry openly or in a partly visible sheath. Not concealed. |
| Knife types banned outright | None outright. |
| Statewide preemption | Yes, through the state constitution, which reserves the power to restrict concealed carry to the Legislature. That is narrower than a plain preemption statute. |
| The statutes | Mississippi Code 97-37-1, 97-37-5, 97-37-7, 97-37-9, 97-37-13, 97-37-15, 97-37-17 and 97-37-19 — read them |
Source last revised 1 March 2022
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 Mississippi 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 Mississippi 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | Legal | No blade length governs, and open or concealed makes no difference. |
| Arkansas | Legal | Concealment is not the test. Arkansas defines a knife as any bladed hand instrument three inches or longer, and the offense is carrying one with intent to use it unlawfully. The three inches is part of the definition, not a carry limit. |
| Tennessee | Legal | No blade length governs and concealment is not an issue. |
| Alabama | Legal | No blade length governs statewide. The state does not treat concealment as the problem; a city might. |
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 Mississippi knife laws
What size knife is legal to carry in Mississippi?
No blade length governs, but a bowie knife, dirk, butcher knife or switchblade may not be carried concealed. A knife in a sheath or holster that is even partly visible does not count as concealed, which is the practical way to carry one.
Are switchblades legal in Mississippi?
Legal to own and to carry openly or in a partly visible sheath. Not concealed.
Which knives are banned outright in Mississippi?
None outright.
Does Mississippi have knife preemption?
Yes. Mississippi has statewide preemption, which means a city cannot write its own stricter knife ordinance. One rule covers the whole state, and that is most of what preemption is worth.
Can I keep a knife in my car in Mississippi?
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. Mississippi knife law checked against the published sources on 15 September 2026, and due for review again on 15 November 2026.