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Washington state’s draconian knife ban bill from last year, SB 5098, has reared its ugly head again, as we told you might happen. The bill failed to get a floor vote before last year’s legislature ended. Now it is back and due to the way Washington’s legislature works, the amendment we worked so hard to insert in the bill to protect knife carriers to a significant extent went away.

The original bill that would ban possession of “any knife” on over 6.5 million acres of public land in Washington, including parks and such, absent the House amendment, has again passed the Democratic controlled Senate by a vote of 29 to 20 and has been sent to the House.

While hardly perfect, the amendment that was added with the support of our friend Representative Mari Leavitt excluded “possessing or controlling a hunting or fishing knife carried for sports use, or a knife commonly used for food preparation, on the premises of a park facility or county fairground.” This is a good amendment, and it will cover a whole lot of knives, and made a very, very bad bill a lot less bad.

Rep. Leavitt has agreed to assist us once again and we will work with her and our other partners in Washington to get that amendment back into the bill as it moves through the legislative process in the House. The amendment isn’t our ideal solution, which would remove the knife ban entirely, but it is far better than nothing in a state with a strong anti-weapon bias in the legislature.

Since 2010 Knife Rights’ efforts have resulted in 58 bills & court decisions repealing knife bans & protecting knife owners in 36 states and over 200 cities and towns! 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™.

I suppose this kind of proposed bill is why a friend of mine moved out of Washington. He's a hunter. This is a nauseating move from the state.

Scandi Grind wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 31, 2026 10:22 am

I suppose this kind of proposed bill is why a friend of mine moved out of Washington. He's a hunter. This is a nauseating move from the state.

Fellow knife people from there tell me that many have left CA, OR, and WA to move to Idaho. Buck knives and many Spyderco lovers are in ID and Nevada.

critter wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 31, 2026 7:53 am

Washington state’s draconian knife ban bill from last year, SB 5098, has reared its ugly head again, as we told you might happen. The bill failed to get a floor vote before last year’s legislature ended. Now it is back and due to the way Washington’s legislature works, the amendment we worked so hard to insert in the bill to protect knife carriers to a significant extent went away.

The original bill that would ban possession of “any knife” on over 6.5 million acres of public land in Washington, including parks and such, absent the House amendment, has again passed the Democratic controlled Senate by a vote of 29 to 20 and has been sent to the House.

While hardly perfect, the amendment that was added with the support of our friend Representative Mari Leavitt excluded “possessing or controlling a hunting or fishing knife carried for sports use, or a knife commonly used for food preparation, on the premises of a park facility or county fairground.” This is a good amendment, and it will cover a whole lot of knives, and made a very, very bad bill a lot less bad.

Rep. Leavitt has agreed to assist us once again and we will work with her and our other partners in Washington to get that amendment back into the bill as it moves through the legislative process in the House. The amendment isn’t our ideal solution, which would remove the knife ban entirely, but it is far better than nothing in a state with a strong anti-weapon bias in the legislature.

Since 2010 Knife Rights’ efforts have resulted in 58 bills & court decisions repealing knife bans & protecting knife owners in 36 states and over 200 cities and towns! 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™.

Hadn’t heard, or even thought, about this as a possibility — yeesh. I’ve been staying in Washington this winter for work and never even considered the possibility of knives in the woods being illegal. There’s parts out here that are REMOTE! Gun laws are wonky enough but now this? Good thing I’m headed back to Florida in May.

Once again, Knife Rights is being hyperbolic and disingenuous about not just the intent but the language of this law and the effects it will have.

Actual bill:
https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium ... 0128121536

I encourage people to read this, and if you have any trouble interpreting the language, ask a legal professional that's not a biased lobbyist group with a clear agenda to foment hysterical political-discord.

But any reasonable person who reads it can deduce that "parks" in this sense means outdoor recreational areas within the defined boundaries of a city, and not the great outdoors, aka the wilderness, aka the woods, etc. If you want to get really technical about it, the language also clearly defines again and again that it pertains only to areas where children are likely to be, such as playgrounds, pools, etc. It also specifically excludes national forests, rest stops, and other areas that are not obviously the wilderness or a public place where children are at play. One could be pedantic and argue that you never know when you might run into a random group of kids playing around in the remote wilderness, but no park ranger in their right mind would ever arrest you for such a thing, nor would any prosecutor attempt to make such an argument--thats the type of nonsense logic exclusive to politicians and lobbyist groups.

The bottom line is that you can buy into the rhetorical nonsense that WA state, which financially benefits tremendously from outdoor recreation that necessitates the use of a knife, is trying to ban the use and carry of knives in those roles, or you can put two brain cells together and realize that Knife Rights and any other group or entity trying to convince you of this is manipulative, disingenuous and dishonest. They're deliberately misleading knife enthusiasts and soliciting donations to do continue to do so.

Also, as a special appeal, I would hope that Knife Rights donors would reconsider whether they want to continue donating to a group that pedals this kind of irresponsible misinformation. This only hurts their credibility and ability to enact meaningful changes. I absolutely support anyone interested in activism that can result in laws that actually reflect the common and popular sensibilities of knife enthusiasts, but doing so with clear and egregious propaganda is not something I support. Some might say the ends justify the means, and if that's your view then I support that too, but I am not going to sit here and let Knife Rights pedal misinformation and claim to represent knife enthusiasts unchecked, because I am an honest person before I am a knife enthusiast and this is absolutely, 100% dishonest and underhanded.

If I haven't made it abundantly clear yet: Shame on Knife Rights for this dishonest and unethical behavior. To all other knife enthusiasts, please reconsider supporting this organization until they make a commitment to do better. If you oppose the amendments to this law--which I do too--then the appropriate thing would be to write to your representative yourself with honest, sensible and cogent arguments against enacting more legislation that will do nothing to increase protection for children and can only really result in law-abiding citizens being further burdened and disadvantaged for no good reason. That is a position that any reasonable and sensible person could understand and consider even if they do not agree with it, but this angle Knife Rights is playing is total nonsense that's more likely to lead to your voice being considered less than to be considered more, and while Knife Rights is technically a non-profit that doesn't mean you're not paying someone's salary for producing this garbage.

Any reasonable person might agree with you, but government officials are not, so interpreting this the law out of context is likely to happen, and in my opinion, exactly the point. You bring up some fair points, but I might argue that they are somewhat blown out of proportion in a similar way that Knife Rights is blowing this possible legislation out of proportion.

Knife Rights are lobbyists, that comes with certain things to be aware of and you do bring up some good ones. However, I will say that I am far more supportive of what knife rights is doing than Washington state. Obviously supporting or not supporting is up to individual discretion, and yes, always do your research.

Double post.

Totally agree with Doug Ritter and Knife Rights.

All weapon and tool rules should favor freedom over perceived safety. The less restrictions and accountability the better. Punish those who abuse tools and weapons.

Mage Scandi and Doug, can I safely carry my Spyderco Endura and Buck Bantam while eating nachos with sausages in downtown Washington State cities?