Knives are bearable arms, therefore they are afforded Second Amendment protections. On June 12, 2025, Governor Phil Scott, R-Vt., signed into law a repeal of the state’s switchblade knife ban.
Since the 1950s, switchblade knives and other weapons associated with alleged gang activity have been scrutinized and overregulated. The 1958 Federal Switchblade Act banned the interstate commerce of these knives. Many states and jurisdictions adopted their own prohibitions on the knives–Vermont doing so that same year. On June 12, 2025, Republican Governor Phil Scott signed a law repealing the switchblade prohibitions in the Green Mountain State.
The new law goes into effect on July 2, 2025.
The original prohibition, Sec. 8. 13 V.S.A. § 4013, stated:
A person who possesses, sells, or offers for sale a weapon commonly known as a “zip” gun, or a weapon commonly known as a switchblade knife, the blade of which is three inches or more in length, shall be imprisoned not more than 90 days or fined not more than $100.00, or both.
VT S0109 repeals that prohibition, striking the language related to switchblades.
The new law further provides an expungement mechanism for those who have been previously convicted under the law: “The court shall order the expungement of criminal history records of convictions of 13 V.S.A. § 4013 for possessing, selling, or offering for sale a switchblade knife that occurred prior to July 1, 2025.”
The law also orders the court to execute the processing of those expungements by July 1, 2026.
The passage and enactment of VT S0109 comes via the support of Knife Rights, a “501(c)(4) member advocacy organization which promotes pro-knife legislation and opposes anti-knife legislation.”
“We sincerely appreciate the efforts of longtime Knife Rights friend Senator Patrick Brennan who we have supported for over a decade as he has worked in the House and now in the Senate to repeal the state’s ban on switchblade (automatic) knives three inches or more in length,” Knife Rights said in a release. “Vermont has Constitutional (Permitless) Carry so, prior to this bill you could carry any legal firearm open or concealed and you could carry any knife open or concealed except a switchblade with a blade 3 inches or longer. Until now, that’s the only knife that you weren’t allowed to even possess in Vermont.”
Knife Rights has led the fight in seeing switchblade knife prohibitions or restrictions repealed, with the ushering of law changes in 21 states. In 2010 New Hampshire was the first state that the organization worked with on such a proposal.
Second Amendment attorney, author, activist, and podcast host, Evan Nappen, wrote over a decade ago about the monumental New Hampshire repeal. In his article, “Miracle in New Hampshire,” Nappen states that the ban was outdated.
As Second Amendment activist Jeff Knox, Director of Operations for The Firearms Coalition, said in support of the New Hampshire knife rights effort: “I think that the people of New Hampshire can safely lower their guard now that the youngest members of the Sharks and the Jets are in their 80s.”
The repeal of Vermont’s switchblade prohibition is part of a larger effort to make the Second Amendment more whole. There are more infringements across the U.S. that keep law-abiding citizens from being able to protect themselves with the most simple and rudimentary bearable arms. Knife Rights is at the–actual–tip of the spear cutting through all the bad policy regulating bladed arms in common use.
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