TexasCHLforum.com

I think you have it now. The state preemption law specifically mentions firearms instead of the more generic term weapons. Since both are covered together in Chapter 46 of the Penal Code, we tend to think of them similarly. In reality, each type of weapon can be handled differently with the five major types being firearms, edged weapons, impact weapons, energy weapons, and chemical weapons.

So a city could pass whatever laws they want on knives, swords, clubs, OC spray, Tasers, etc. as long as they were making them more restrictive than state law. But, since we have preemption on firearms and explosives, cities cannot regulate them very much.

The interesting parts of this, when you want fine points for academic discussion, are in Chapters 229 and 235 of the Local Government Code. The law is not as simple as we say sometimes since it does allow for some specific regulations (like discharging a firearm and property sizes). And the preemptions are different for cities and counties. And there are about as many different variations of these laws as there are cities and counties in Texas. Some even ban pellet guns and air guns (since they are not firearms), some almost no ban whatsoever, and some ban archery equipment.

As citizens, we can talk general rules and that is what we usually do. But there is a reason law school takes so long and court cases are so complex. The real laws are not as we usually think. When you want to give yourself a headache, dig out a copy of the laws and try to read what the actual law is on something you thought you understood. Two good examples are theft and speeding. We all know what they are, right? Wait until you try to read those laws.

AEA,

The problem is that the city can always make laws that are more strict than the state law, they cannot make them more relaxed. If there is no state law specifying a knife is legal, the city can ban them. And since we almost never pass laws that specify what is legal, San Antonio can ban lock blades, no matter how popular they are. The preemption law only applies to firearms, unfortunately, so again, SA has the authority to ban the knives.

In one of the other threads, there was an interesting point made though. State law bans knives with blades over 5.5 inches. City ordinance bans knives with under 5.5 inch blades. So a knife with a blade that is exactly 5.5 inches would still be legal.

The good news is that the oridnance is only a class C misdemeanor and is very rarely enforced. But we really need to get it off the books anyway.

AEA wrote:Hitch up them wagons boys.......heading East for Florida!

You can unhitch those wagons now. The new laws are in effect and clear it for assisted open knives in Texas.