BLADE Show Welcomes New Pro-Knife Law

A new pro-knife law signed into law this week in Georgia comes just in time for the 36th Annual BLADE Show.

Signed May 8 by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, the new pro-knife law (HB 292) increases the legal carry length of a knife blade in the state from 5 to 12 inches.

“With the BLADE Show coming up June 2-4, attendees and exhibitors will have more freedom to carry their larger knives without fear of legal entanglements,” Knife Rights reported. It is language from Knife Rights’ Georgia Knife Law Reform bill, SB 49, that is included in the new pro-knife law.

Held annually in the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, the BLADE Show is the world’s largest and most important knife show and will feature over 1,000 exhibitors from every continent but Antarctica. Thousands of patrons worldwide will invade the Cobb Galleria show hall to enjoy the latest in factory and custom knives, knife collections, knife instruction via the show’s 4th Annual BLADE University, knife demos, the BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards, the BLADE Show custom knife awards, inductions into the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame© and much more. As such, the passage of the new pro-knife law is most welcome news for show exhibitors who sell larger knives like bowies, camp knives, combat knives and other models that fit within the new expanded length restrictions.

The new 12-inch length limit became effective as soon as Deal signed the bill. Since Georgia passed Knife Rights’ Knife Law Preemption in 2012, any lesser length restrictions in cities and towns are now voided by HB 292. Moreover, neither can local jurisdictions enact prohibitions more restrictive than those in the new pro-knife law.

The BLADE Show and blademag.com express their gratitude to such organizations as Knife Rights, the American Knife & Tool Institute and others that fight for common-sense knife legislation. Both organizations will be among the exhibitors at the BLADE Show and blademag.com encourages you to stop by the booths of each for more information on how to protect your right to own and carry knives.