Idaho lawmakers look at bill to put rules on concealed knives

Tuesday , the Transportation Security Administration announced its decision to allow passengers to carry pocketknives on planes.

But while the TSA is relaxing its knife rules, Idaho’s concealed weapons law prohibits many of them.

Over the last couple of months, we’ve heard about concealed carry permits for guns, but what about knives?

“You can’t carry a knife in a courthouse, a school, a correctional facility, those types of places,” said Sgt. Jeff Edwards with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office. “You also can’t conceal a dirk, a dagger or a bowie knife, which are all fixed blade, straight knives.”

Edwards said the state’s code on concealed knives is pretty vague.

There are no defined blade measurements, but Edwards said the average person with a pocketknife shouldn’t worry. He said law enforcement looks at the knife holder’s intent.

“The problem is when someone starts walking in to those specific locations with a knife concealed on their person and it’s found because somebody else sees it and gets concerned, that’s when we’re going to have an issue,” said Edwards.

At the moment, state lawmakers are crafting a bill that would allow Idahoans to conceal carry any knife with a blade 4 inches or smaller without a permit.

“When people get a concealed weapons permit, it’s going to cover them for a gun or a knife or even both,” said Edwards. “We don’t have one specifically for knives.”

Beginning in April, the TSA will allow airline passengers to carry pocket knives but the blade has to be less than 2.36 inches long and less than half an inch wide.

Passengers will also be allowed to carry souvenir baseball bats, golf clubs and other sports equipment.