Virginia HB 2298 that would remove switchblades from the list of weapons that cannot be carried concealed in the state is now off to Governor Youngkin for his action. The House concurred on the Senate amended bill by the same 61-32 bipartisan vote as originally passed the bill.

As we noted previously, the Senate amendment added "stiletto" to the list of items that cannot be carried concealed. This is essentially superfluous because prior court decisions in Virginia have held that a stiletto and dagger are "of like kind" to a "dirk,” which has long been prohibited from concealed carry. As such, both are already prohibited from concealed carry.

The Governor has until March 27th to act on the bill.

Our repeal last year of Virginia’s ban on switchblades (automatic) knives did not include repeal of the ban on concealed carry. This bill takes care of that.

Knife Rights is America’s grassroots knife owners’ organization; leading the fight to Rewrite Knife Law in America™ and forging a Sharper Future for all Americans™. Knife Rights efforts have resulted in 40 bills enacted repealing knife bans in 26 states and over 150 cities and towns since 2010.