Are Butterfly Knives Legal? Balisong Laws by State (2026)

Quick answer: Yes — butterfly knives (balisongs) are legal to own in the large majority of U.S. states. As of August 2026, only a handful of jurisdictions — New Mexico, Washington State, Washington D.C., and (in practice) New Jersey — prohibit them outright, while states like California heavily restrict sale and carry. In most other states you can legally own a balisong, though concealed-carry and blade-length rules vary widely.

Legal disclaimer: This guide is for general information only and is not legal advice. Knife laws change frequently and city or county ordinances can be stricter than state law. Always verify current statutes and consult local laws (or a licensed attorney) before buying, carrying, or transporting any knife. Last updated: August 2026.

Butterfly Knife Laws by State: Quick-Reference Table (2026)

The table below summarizes balisong ownership status in all 50 states plus Washington D.C. “Restricted” means ownership is generally allowed but carry, blade length, sale, or location rules apply — read the notes and check your state’s current statute before carrying. Where sources conflict or no balisong-specific case law exists, we say so: consult local laws.

State	Status	Key notes (verify locally)
Alabama	Legal	No balisong-specific ban reported; general weapon-location rules apply.
Alaska	Restricted	Legal to own; concealed-carry and age rules reported — consult local laws.
Arizona	Legal	Knife-friendly with statewide preemption; schools/polling places off-limits.
Arkansas	Legal	Legal; state knife-law preemption added in 2025.
California	Restricted (heavily)	Balisong with blade 2″ or longer counts as a “switchblade” (Penal Code § 17235). Carrying on your person, keeping in a vehicle in public, and selling/transferring are illegal (Penal Code § 21510). Possession at home is legal; blades under 2″ are legal.
Colorado	Restricted	Generally legal; concealed limits for blades over 3.5″; Denver ordinance stricter — consult local laws.
Connecticut	Restricted	Ownership at home legal; carry limited by CGS § 53-206 blade-length rules (keep carried blades ≤4″); balisong classification not litigated — consult local laws.
Delaware	Restricted	Balisongs not named in statute; 2025 SB 108 removed switchblade restrictions. Concealed carry of longer blades may require a license — consult local laws.
Florida	Restricted	Legal to own and open carry; concealed carry generally requires a concealed weapon license — consult local laws.
Georgia	Restricted	Treated as a standard folding knife; carry rules tied to blade length — consult local laws for the current threshold.
Hawaii	Restricted	Legalized May 14, 2024 (HB 2342/Act 21): own, sell, transport. Concealed carry still banned — open carry only.
Idaho	Legal	Legal; preemption added 2025; under-18 rules — consult local laws.
Illinois	Restricted	No state balisong ban; local ordinances control (Chicago restricts concealed blades over 2.5″).
Indiana	Legal	Treated as a standard folding knife.
Iowa	Restricted	Legal to own; concealed carry of blades over 5″ treated as a “dangerous weapon” — consult local laws.
Kansas	Legal	Legal (switchblade ban repealed 2013; preemption).
Kentucky	Legal	Legal; permitless concealed carry for adults 21+ — consult local laws for minors.
Louisiana	Legal	No balisong-specific restriction reported.
Maine	Legal	No balisong-specific restriction reported.
Maryland	Restricted	Legal to own; concealed carry of “dangerous weapons” restricted; Baltimore stricter — consult local laws.
Massachusetts	Restricted	Switchblade ban struck down in Commonwealth v. Canjura (Mass. SJC, Aug 27, 2024); generally treated as legal since, but carry rules still apply — consult local laws.
Michigan	Restricted	Ownership legal (switchblade ban repealed 2017); concealed carry may raise “dangerous weapon” issues (MCL 750.227) — consult local laws.
Minnesota	Restricted / unclear	Statute bans knives “opening automatically”; balisongs arguably fall outside it, but there is no balisong case law — likely legal to own, consult local laws.
Mississippi	Restricted	Legal; concealed-carry restrictions without a permit and rules for minors — consult local laws.
Missouri	Legal	No balisong-specific restriction reported.
Montana	Legal	Legal; school and government-building restrictions apply.
Nebraska	Restricted	Legal; blades over 3.5″ cannot be carried concealed without a permit.
Nevada	Legal	Legal since 2015 knife reform; Clark County concealed rules — consult local laws.
New Hampshire	Legal	Knife-friendly; no balisong restriction reported.
New Jersey	Prohibited (practical)	Balisongs are commonly prosecuted under the gravity-knife statute (N.J.S. 2C:39-3(e)); possession “without explainable lawful purpose” is criminal. Treat as a no-go state — consult a New Jersey attorney.
New Mexico	Prohibited	Switchblade ban (NMSA § 30-7-8) includes balisongs per State v. Riddall (1991): possession, sale, manufacture, and carry all prohibited.
New York	Restricted	Ownership legal statewide since the 2019 gravity-knife repeal. NYC is stricter: no carry of blades 4″ or longer, no visible carry in public, banned in the transit system.
North Carolina	Restricted	Legal to own and open carry; concealed carry prohibited — consult local laws.
North Dakota	Restricted	Legal; concealed carry of blades over 5″ restricted — consult local laws.
Ohio	Legal	Legal after 2021 carry reform and statewide preemption; treated as a standard folding knife.
Oklahoma	Legal	Legal; no balisong restriction reported.
Oregon	Restricted	Legal to own and open carry; concealed carry prohibited (ORS 166.240 as applied to balisongs).
Pennsylvania	Legal	Legal after the 2022 “prohibited offensive weapon” reform; Philadelphia stricter — consult local laws.
Rhode Island	Restricted	Legal to own and open carry; concealed carry of blades over 3″ prohibited.
South Carolina	Legal	No balisong restriction reported.
South Dakota	Legal	No balisong restriction reported.
Tennessee	Legal	Legal since the 2014 knife reform; treated as a standard folding knife.
Texas	Restricted	Legal to own; legal to carry since Sept 2017 (HB 1935). Blades over 5.5″ are “location-restricted” (schools, courts, polling places, 51% bars, etc.).
Utah	Legal	Knife-friendly; restricted-person and school rules apply.
Vermont	Legal	2025 repeal of the 3″+ switchblade ban removed the last automatic-knife restriction.
Virginia	Restricted	Legal to own and open carry; concealed carry of switchblade-class weapons prohibited (Va. Code § 18.2-308) and sale rules are unclear for balisongs — consult local laws.
Washington	Prohibited	“Spring blade knife” statute (RCW 9.41.250) is widely applied to balisongs: manufacture, sale, distribution, and possession are a gross misdemeanor. Repeal bills have failed twice — SB 5860 died in March 2024 and SB 5962 died in February 2026 — so the ban remains in force.
West Virginia	Legal	No balisong restriction reported.
Wisconsin	Legal	Legal since the 2016 knife reform and preemption law.
Wyoming	Legal	No balisong restriction reported.
Washington D.C.	Prohibited	Balisongs are prohibited under the District’s switchblade statute.

Statuses reflect ownership under state law as of August 2026, based on the sources listed at the end of this guide. “No restriction reported” rows rely on secondary databases rather than balisong-specific statutes — always confirm before you buy or carry.

What Federal Law Says About Butterfly Knives

There is no federal law that bans owning a balisong inside your own state. The key federal statute is the Federal Switchblade Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. §§ 1241–1245), and it does three specific things:

It regulates interstate commerce, not ownership. The Act prohibits knowingly manufacturing for, transporting in, or distributing switchblade-class knives in interstate commerce, with penalties of up to a $2,000 fine and five years in prison. It does not restrict purely in-state sales or possession within the 50 states.
Balisongs are generally swept into the federal definition. The Act covers knives that open “by operation of inertia, gravity, or both,” and U.S. Customs has historically classified butterfly knives as switchblades for import purposes (CBP ruling HQ H019251; 19 CFR Part 12). The 2009 “bias toward closure” amendment that protects assisted-opening pocket knives does not help balisongs, because they have no spring biased toward closure.
The federal possession ban is geographic, not general. Section 1243 applies only on federal lands, Indian lands, U.S. territories, and within special maritime jurisdiction — not in the states generally.

Advocacy groups report ongoing Second Amendment litigation challenging the Federal Switchblade Act and certain state bans, so this area of law is actively moving. Two things are true everywhere regardless of state law: knives are prohibited past TSA security checkpoints (checked baggage only, per TSA rules), and schools, courthouses, and federal facilities are off-limits.

Owning vs. Carrying vs. Shipping: Three Different Questions

Most confusion about balisong legality comes from mixing up three separate legal questions:

Owning — Can you legally possess a balisong at home? In the large majority of states, yes. Even California allows home possession (it bans carry and sale of blades 2″ and over, not possession at your residence).
Carrying — Can you take it with you in public? This is where most restrictions live. Several states allow open carry but prohibit concealed carry (Oregon, Hawaii, North Carolina, Rhode Island over 3″), and many others impose blade-length limits or permit requirements. A balisong that is perfectly legal in your safe can become a misdemeanor in your pocket.
Shipping — Can a seller legally send one to your address? Interstate dealer shipments sit in a gray zone under the Federal Switchblade Act, and USPS prohibits mailing switchblade-class knives to civilians; reputable sellers use common carriers and refuse orders to prohibited jurisdictions. Expect any responsible U.S. retailer to decline live-blade orders to New Mexico, Washington State, Washington D.C., New Jersey, and California.

States Where Balisongs Were Recently Legalized or Deregulated

The clear trend over the past decade has been toward legalization. Recent verified changes:

Hawaii (2024) — For decades the best-known balisong ban, Hawaii legalized manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, and transport of butterfly knives on May 14, 2024 (HB 2342, Act 21), following the Teter v. Lopez Ninth Circuit litigation. Concealed carry remains banned — open carry only — and penalties are enhanced if a knife is used in a crime.
Massachusetts (2024) — The state’s switchblade ban was struck down on Second Amendment grounds in Commonwealth v. Canjura (Supreme Judicial Court, August 27, 2024). Balisongs are generally treated as legal since the ruling, though carry statutes still apply.
Vermont (2025) — Repealed its ban on switchblades with blades 3″ and over, with past convictions expunged, removing the last automatic-knife restriction on the books.
Delaware (2025) — SB 108 removed switchblade sale and possession restrictions.
Earlier milestones — New York repealed its gravity-knife ban in 2019 (making balisong ownership legal statewide), and Texas’s 2017 HB 1935 reform made balisongs legal to carry (ownership was already lawful) with only location restrictions for blades over 5.5″.

One notable exception to the trend: Washington State. Its 2024 repeal bill (SB 5860) passed the Senate 45–3 but died in committee, and a second attempt (SB 5962) cleared the Senate Law & Justice Committee 8–1 in February 2026 before dying without a floor vote that same month — so the spring-blade ban there remains in force as of August 2026.

Are Balisong Trainers Legal?

Trainers — balisongs with a blunt, unsharpened “blade” that has no cutting edge — are how most flippers learn. Because most knife statutes define the prohibited item by its blade, trainers generally fall outside those definitions and are treated as legal even in restrictive states. That said, a few strict jurisdictions define knives by mechanism rather than edge, and no state has litigated trainers specifically — if you live in a prohibited or heavily restricted state, consult local laws before ordering even a trainer.

A Filipino Craft, Not a Movie Prop

It’s worth remembering why these laws exist at all: 1980s action movies cast the balisong as a street weapon, and legislatures reacted. But the balisong is a traditional Filipino craft object with roots in Batangas province, where smiths have hand-forged them for generations as working knives and heirlooms. Understanding that heritage doesn’t change the law — but it explains why collectors, martial artists, and flipping enthusiasts treat the balisong as functional art rather than a threat, and why the legal trend keeps moving toward treating it like any other folding knife.

If Balisongs Are Legal in Your State

If your state appears green in the table above (and your city has no stricter ordinance), you can legally own a balisong — and there’s a real difference between a mass-produced flipper and a hand-forged Batangas blade. A few starting points from our workshop:

Browse authentic Filipino balisong knives, hand-forged in the Batangas tradition.
Looking for a gift or a collector’s piece? See our personalized butterfly knives with custom engraving.
Already own one? Keep it smooth and rust-free with our knife care guide and supplies.

Before checkout, double-check three things: you’re 18 or older (many states restrict sales to minors), your shipping address is in a state where we can legally send a live blade, and your local city ordinances don’t add extra rules. If you’re in a restricted state, a trainer may be the right way to start — when in doubt, consult local laws first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are butterfly knives illegal in the United States?

No — there is no nationwide ban. Federal law only restricts interstate commerce in switchblade-class knives; ownership is governed by state law, and most states allow it. As of August 2026, outright prohibitions are limited to New Mexico, Washington State, Washington D.C., and (as a practical matter) New Jersey, with California heavily restricting sale and carry.

Why are butterfly knives illegal in some states?

Most bans date to switchblade-panic legislation of the 1950s–1980s, when the flipping action seen in movies led lawmakers to lump balisongs in with automatic knives, gravity knives, or “spring blade” knives. Courts and legislatures in Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Delaware have rolled those laws back in recent years.

Are butterfly knives legal in California?

Partially. A balisong with a blade of 2 inches or longer is classified as a switchblade under Penal Code § 17235, and Penal Code § 21510 makes it a misdemeanor (up to 6 months and/or $1,000) to carry it on your person, keep it in a vehicle in a public place, or sell/transfer it. Possessing one at home is legal, and balisongs with blades under 2 inches are legal.

Is it legal to buy a balisong online and have it shipped to my state?

If you live in a state where balisongs are legal, generally yes — though interstate shipments technically sit in a gray area under the Federal Switchblade Act, and USPS cannot be used for switchblade-class knives. Reputable sellers ship via common carrier and will not send live blades to prohibited jurisdictions (NM, WA, D.C., NJ) or California. Verify your own state and city rules before ordering.

Are balisong trainers (dull blades) legal everywhere?

Generally yes, because trainers have no cutting edge and most statutes define restricted knives by their blade. But a few jurisdictions regulate by mechanism, and there is little case law on trainers — if you’re in a prohibited state, consult local laws first.

Can I fly with a butterfly knife?

Only in checked baggage. TSA prohibits all knives, including balisongs and trainers, in carry-on bags. Also make sure the knife is legal both where you depart and where you land — crossing into a ban state with a balisong in your luggage can create legal exposure.

How old do you have to be to buy a butterfly knife?

Many states restrict knife sales or transfers to minors, and most reputable retailers (including us) require buyers to be 18 or older. Check your state’s specific age rules before purchasing.

Can I carry a balisong concealed in my pocket?

Don’t assume so. Even in states where ownership is fully legal, concealed carry is frequently restricted — Oregon and Hawaii prohibit concealed balisong carry entirely, and many states impose blade-length limits (e.g., 3″ in Rhode Island, 3.5″ in Nebraska) or permit requirements. Check your state’s carry statute and local ordinances before pocketing one.

Legal Disclaimer

This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Knife laws change frequently — several states have amended their statutes since 2024 alone — and municipal ordinances (such as those in New York City, Chicago, Denver, and Philadelphia) can be stricter than state law. Nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. Before purchasing, possessing, carrying, or transporting a butterfly knife, verify the current law in your state and municipality using official statutes or a licensed attorney. Where our sources conflicted or no balisong-specific case law exists, we have said “consult local laws” — take that seriously. Last updated: August 2026.