Knife Rights’ bipartisan Texas Knife Law Reform Bill, HB 1935, to repeal “illegal knives” in Texas statute, was passed out of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee by a unanimous vote. It now goes to the floor on the Local and Uncontested Calendar. Keep your fingers crossed.
Knife Rights Director of Legislative Affairs, Todd Rathner, has been in Austin again for another full week working to get this bill passed. HB 1935, as amended, eliminates daggers, dirks, stilettos, poniards, swords, spears and most notably, Bowie knives, completely from Texas statute, effectively allowing them to be carried anywhere in the state.
However, in order to get the bill moved after the tragic University of Texas stabbing, the amendment stipulated that knives with blades over 5 1/2 inches are now defined as “location restricted” knives. These knives may be carried all over the state except in a narrow list of places such as schools, colleges, correctional facilities, houses of worship, and bars that derive more than 51% of their income from alcohol sales. This is an unfortunate amendment, but the alternative would have been to watch the bill die and throw years of work in Texas down the drain.
This bill’s passage would still be a huge win for knife owners in Texas and given the tragic circumstances, Todd’s done an incredible job not just saving the legislation, but ending up with 95% of what we wanted. If we get this bill passed, we will be back in two years and again try to finish the job in Texas.
This is a perfect example of why your support is so important. Otherwise, Todd could not have spent two weeks in Austin and this bill would have died. It’s that simple. Your support is critical!
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