Are blades/knifes illegal when concealed in wisconsin?

Question

i have gathered the info that all concealed guns are illegal in wisconsin, no matter what the circumstances. but im looking simply for knifes, if used as a concealed weapon, would they be illegal?? on one similar question, someone answered 'if the blade is longer than 4inches, its illegal' sooo..anyone got a STRAIGHT answer for me?

Answer 1

According to Wisconsin Statue 941.23 any person (besides a police officer) who goes armed with a concealed and dangerous weapon is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Now I have heard different arguments on whether or not carrying a concealed knife with a blade of 3 inches or shorter in Wisconsin meets the criteria of being a dangerous weapon. The truth is, If you have a blade that measures under 3 inches, It is not considered concealed but just a tool.

Answer 2

Okay its not illegal for you to carry a knife like you described.  Keep in mind though, when youre talking to the police, you dont want ANY weapons on you.  So if youre in your car and they roll up, go ahead and take your knife off.

Answer 3

There is actually a reason you have having trouble getting a straight answer.

Wisconsin's law is worded rather strangely and does not mention knives by themselves (with the exception of switchblades and balisongs).  Rather, it lumps all deadly weapons together under a single statutory definition:  939.22 (10) "Dangerous Weapon": any device designed as a weapon and capable of producing death or great bodily harm.

So rather than having an explicit blade length limit like other states, WI is one of the dreaded "judgement call" states.   This means that a policeman encountering your knife will have to judge if the knife is primarily a "weapon knife" or a "utilitarian knife."  If he or she arrests you, then the court at trial will again make a judgement on the knife.

This makes things somewhat unpredictable, as some police could be laid back, while others may be super strict.

Many individual municipalities are even stricter, for instance Milwaukee County, Racine, and Sheboygen all have a 3 inch blade limit on top of the state law.

In practical terms, this means that a swiss army knife, boy scout knife or multitool will probably be ok.  But sheath knifes and so called "Combat folders" (such as the Cold Steel Ti-Lite or the Gerber Applegate Fairbairn Special) are no good.

Answer 4

You can read the statute at the link below.  Basically, it says "concealed and dangerous weapon".  So I would say a knife that is capable of killing someone would not be legal.  But I don't know if there is any case law where a judge has clarified this phrase.