Knives
ORC 2923.12(H) — the test changed from what it is to what you did with it
Ohio's knife law was rewritten in 2021 and most of what is written about it online still describes the old version. The change was not a longer list of permitted knives. It was a change in what the question is.
Since April 2021 the carrying section says that for its purposes a knife, razor or cutting instrument is not a deadly weapon or a weapon if the instrument was not used as a weapon. The same carve out went into the section on unlawful transactions, and the ban on manufacturing and selling automatic, spring blade and gravity knives was repealed.
- The old test asked what the knife was: how it opened, how long the blade ran, whether it looked like a weapon.
- The current test in that section asks what it was used for.
- Blade length is not the line. Ohio never had a blade length limit in statute, and the 2021 change removed the design questions that stood in for one.
- An automatic or out the front knife is no longer contraband to make, sell or carry on that basis alone.
| Where the question comes up | Which definition applies | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Carrying concealed, ORC 2923.12 | The carve out applies | Not a weapon unless it was used as one |
| Unlawful transactions, ORC 2923.20 | The carve out applies | Making, selling and furnishing are no longer barred on design |
| A school safety zone, ORC 2923.122 | The general definition | A knife can be a deadly weapon there on the ordinary test |
| A deadly weapon element or specification on another charge | The general definition | The carve out does not follow the knife into another offence |
Nothing in the general definition makes a knife a deadly weapon by default either. It is a definition with elements, and the elements have to be proved like any others. A knife is one if it is capable of inflicting death and it is either designed or specially adapted for use as a weapon, or it was possessed, carried or used as one.
Federal buildings, courthouses, secured areas of airports and private property with its own rules are all separate questions that this section does not touch, and a knife that is lawful to carry down a street is not therefore lawful everywhere on that street's route.
Sources for this section (7)
- ORC 2923.12 — Carrying concealed weapons
- Ohio S.B. 140 (2021) — Removed knives from the weapon definitions in the carrying and transactions sections unless used as a weapon, and repealed the ban on manufacture and sale of automatic and gravity knives
- ORC 2923.20 — Unlawful transactions in weapons
- ORC 2923.11 — Definitions, including deadly weapon and dangerous ordnance
- ORC 2923.122 — Weapons in a school safety zone
- ORC 9.68 — Statewide uniformity for firearms and, since 2022, for knives
- Ohio Const. art. XVIII, § 3 — Home rule, the authority of municipalities to govern their own local affairs
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.