TexasCHLforum.com

With state knife preemption taking effect, how does this affect taking knives past government metal detectors, say at courthouses?

I just had jury duty. They said no knives. I didn't argue with them.

oohrah wrote:I just had jury duty. They said no knives. I didn't argue with them.

Yeah I know what they'll WANT to do, I'm just wondering what the actual law says now.

Sorry a little OT, but I had jury duty for Dallas County last week and they took, and threw away, the P38 can opener I had on my key chain. Talk about "form over function"...I was in a building *full* of armed LEOs and, seriously, it was a freakin' *P38*!!!

You could do more damage with a car or house key than a P38. I'm betting it didn't end up in the trash either. Someone took it home.

TexDotCom wrote:Sorry a little OT, but I had jury duty for Dallas County last week and they took, and threw away, the P38 can opener I had on my key chain. Talk about "form over function"...I was in a building *full* of armed LEOs and, seriously, it was a freakin' *P38*!!!

...and they wonder why nobody shows up for jury duty...

It's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out.

Rep. Stickland's knife preemption bill, which went nowhere, included an exclusion that would have allowed municipalities (and, in the committee substitute, counties) to continue prohibiting weapons inside areas secured with metal detectors. However, Rep. Frullo's knife preemption bill--the one that passed--includes no such exclusion. I suspect that this is going to be a point of contention at city and county courthouses, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Ashamedly, I'm ignorant of this new law. What about it makes it illegal for a courthouse to ban otherwise legal knives inside the courthouse?

C-dub wrote:Ashamedly, I'm ignorant of this new law. What about it makes it illegal for a courthouse to ban otherwise legal knives inside the courthouse?

It adds state preemption of knife laws. Similar to the preemption for gun laws, it means that local governments cannot create knife laws that are more strict than the state. Since, at the state level, it is not illegal to carry a knife in a court, it is also not legal for local governments to prohibit knives in courts.

*IANAL and this is my interpretation of HB905.

CJD wrote:

C-dub wrote:Ashamedly, I'm ignorant of this new law. What about it makes it illegal for a courthouse to ban otherwise legal knives inside the courthouse?

It adds state preemption of knife laws. Similar to the preemption for gun laws, it means that local governments cannot create knife laws that are more strict than the state. Since, at the state level, it is not illegal to carry a knife in a court, it is also not legal for local governments to prohibit knives in courts.

*IANAL and this is my interpretation of HB905.

I get the impression that judges pretty much think their word is law inside their courtrooms, so unless if a judge tells court bailiff "no knives" I suspect getting any restriction on knives in courthouses is going to be very difficult regardless of HB 905. Wouldn't hurt my feelings to be proven wrong on this, but not holding my breath.

I think we need an SB 273-like bill for state weapon preemption. We need an enforcement mechanism.