New York Knife Laws
New York State treats a knife the same whether it is concealed or not. Switchblades are restricted unless you hold a valid hunting, trapping or fishing license. The bigger trap is New York City, whose own code bars a blade of four inches or more and bars carrying any knife visibly in public.
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.
New York knife law at a glance
| Concealed carry blade limit | State law applies the same whether the knife is concealed or not. |
|---|---|
| Automatic and switchblade knives | Restricted, with an exception for holders of a valid hunting, trapping or fishing license. |
| Knife types banned outright | Switchblades, ballistic knives, metal knuckle knives, cane swords, and anything a court decides is a dangerous knife on the facts. |
| Statewide preemption | No. New York City’s own code is much stricter than the state’s. |
| The statutes | N.Y. Penal Law 265.00, 265.01, 265.01-A, 265.02, 265.05, 265.06, 265.10, 265.15 and 265.20 — read them |
Source last revised 5 July 2023
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 New York 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 New York 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Vermont | Legal | No blade length governs and concealment is not an issue. |
| Massachusetts | Legal | Concealment is not the issue. |
| Connecticut | Legal with conditions | Four inches on the cutting edge for a knife you may carry, and one and a half inches if it is an automatic. Concealment itself is not the issue; the blade is. |
| New Jersey | Restricted or banned | Concealment is not the issue under state law. |
| Pennsylvania | Legal | Concealment is not a factor. The offense turns on criminal intent. |
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 New York knife laws
What size knife is legal to carry in New York?
State law applies the same whether the knife is concealed or not.
Are switchblades legal in New York?
Restricted, with an exception for holders of a valid hunting, trapping or fishing license.
Which knives are banned outright in New York?
Switchblades, ballistic knives, metal knuckle knives, cane swords, and anything a court decides is a dangerous knife on the facts.
Does New York have knife preemption?
No. New York 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 New York?
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. New York knife law checked against the published sources on 15 September 2026, and due for review again on 15 November 2026.