Ninth Circuit upholds California’s switchblade ban

(CN) — A Ninth Circuit panel of judges upheld a lower court decision Friday, siding with California in a Second Amendment challenge brought by a knife advocacy organization to carry concealed switchblades in public.

Knife Rights Inc. and two retailers argued on appeal that California’s ban on switchblades is unconstitutional, urging the court to reverse two lower court rulings that switchblades are not protected “arms” under the Second Amendment and are “not in common use for lawful purposes” because they are “dangerous and unusual.”

In an opinion filed Friday, U.S. Circuit Judge Kim Wardlaw said the three-judge panel upheld the summary judgment of Joe Biden appointee U.S. District Judge James Simmons for the Southern District of California, focusing on whether California’s ban on carrying concealed switchblades in public complies with the Second Amendment.

“Plaintiffs’ facial challenge fails because they cannot establish that California’s switchblade regulations are unconstitutional in every one of their applications,” the Bill Clinton appointee said.

The panel relied on the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which set a new standard for evaluating Second Amendment cases. Under Bruen, courts must determine whether modern gun laws align with the nation’s “historical tradition of regulation,” but only after plaintiffs show the weapon is protected by the Second Amendment.

“In assessing whether a law is ‘relevantly similar under the Second Amendment,’ courts are instructed to compare modern and historical regulations in terms of ‘how and why the regulations burden a law-abiding citizen’s right to armed self-defense,’” Wardlaw said.

In California, owning a switchblade at home is legal, but carrying or selling one in public is prohibited. State law defines a switchblade as a “pocketknife with a blade of 2 inches or longer that releases automatically” and also bans gravity and butterfly knives, which are switchblades but lack spring-loaded blades.

Citing historical restrictions on Bowie knives during the Civil War and antebellum eras, the panel concluded “states may ban the concealed carry of dangerous edged or impact weapons, such as switchblade knives, which can be used to cause devastating injury or death to a victim.”

The judges did not clarify what qualifies as a “dangerous and unusual” weapon, noting that while lower courts have debated what is “in common use today in self-defense,” the Supreme Court has provided “minimal guidance” on what makes a weapon “bearable,” “dangerous” or “unusual.”

“We need not resolve these complicated questions today, and we explicitly decline to express a view on the proper interpretation of this language,” Wardlaw said.

The appeal was heard on Oct. 8, 2025, after summary judgment in California’s favor was ruled in August 2024.

Though switchblades have been around since the 19th century, they entered the mainstream in American culture after WWII soldiers returning home from Europe brought them back, primarily from Italy, according to the Knife Rights website. Following their popularity, the switchblade became synonymous with juvenile violence, appearing in knife fights in popular movies like “Rebel Without a Cause” and “West Side Story.”

Knife Rights asserts that its efforts have resulted in 58 bills repealing knife bans in 36 states since 2009. It initiated its lawsuit against California’s switchblade ban in 2023.

The California Attorney General’s Office and Knife Rights did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

U.S. Circuit Judges Ronald Gould, a Bill Clinton appointee, and Lucy Koh, a Joe Biden appointee, rounded out the panel.