II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 246
To protect the right of law-abiding citizens to transport knives interstate,
notwithstanding a patchwork of local and State prohibitions.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY24, 2025
Mr. B
UDD(for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. DAINES,
Mr. P
ETERS, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
A BILL
To protect the right of law-abiding citizens to transport
knives interstate, notwithstanding a patchwork of local
and State prohibitions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Interstate Transport 4
Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF KNIVES. 6
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this Act: 7
(1) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 8
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, American 9
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•S 246 IS
Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana 1
Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and 2
any other territory of the United States. 3
(2) T
RANSPORT.—The term ‘‘transport’’— 4
(A) includes staying in temporary lodging 5
overnight, common carrier misrouting or delays, 6
stops for food, fuel, vehicle maintenance, emer-7
gencies, or medical treatment, and any other 8
activity related to the journey of a person; and 9
(B) does not include transport of a knife 10
with the intent to commit an offense punishable 11
by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year 12
involving the use or threatened use of force 13
against another person, or with knowledge, or 14
reasonable cause to believe, that such an of-15
fense is to be committed in the course of, or 16
arising from, the journey. 17
(b) T
RANSPORT OFKNIVES.— 18
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 19
provision of any law or any rule or regulation of a 20
State or any political subdivision thereof, a person 21
who is not otherwise prohibited by any Federal law 22
from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving 23
a knife shall be entitled to transport a knife for any 24
lawful purpose from any place where the person may 25
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•S 246 IS
lawfully possess, carry, or transport the knife to any 1
other place where the person may lawfully possess, 2
carry, or transport the knife if— 3
(A) in the case of transport by motor vehi-4
cle, the knife— 5
(i) is not directly accessible from the 6
passenger compartment of the motor vehi-7
cle; or 8
(ii) in the case of a motor vehicle 9
without a compartment separate from the 10
passenger compartment, is contained in a 11
locked container other than the glove com-12
partment or console; and 13
(B) in the case of transport by means 14
other than a motor vehicle, including any trans-15
port over land or on or through water, the knife 16
is contained in a locked container. 17
(2) L
IMITATION.—This subsection shall not 18
apply to the transport of a knife or tool in the cabin 19
of a passenger aircraft subject to the rules and regu-20
lations of the Transportation Security Administra-21
tion. 22
(c) E
MERGENCYKNIVES.— 23
(1) I
N GENERAL.—A person— 24
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(A) may carry in the passenger compart-1
ment of a mode of transportation a knife or 2
tool— 3
(i) the blades of which consist only of 4
a blunt tipped safety blade, a guarded 5
blade, or both; and 6
(ii) that is specifically designed for en-7
abling escape in an emergency by cutting 8
safety belts; and 9
(B) shall not be required to secure a knife 10
or tool described in subparagraph (A) in a 11
locked container. 12
(2) L
IMITATION.—This subsection shall not 13
apply to the transport of a knife or tool in the cabin 14
of a passenger aircraft subject to the rules and regu-15
lations of the Transportation Security Administra-16
tion. 17
(d) N
OARREST.—A person who is transporting a 18
knife in compliance with this section may not be arrested 19
for violation of any law, rule, or regulation of a State or 20
political subdivision of a State related to the possession, 21
transport, or carrying of a knife, unless there is probable 22
cause to believe that the person is not in compliance with 23
subsection (b). 24
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(e) COSTS.—If a person who asserts this section as 1
a claim or defense in a civil or criminal action or pro-2
ceeding is a prevailing party on the claim or defense, the 3
court shall award costs and reasonable attorney’s fees in-4
curred by the person. 5
(f) E
XPUNGEMENT.—If a person who asserts this 6
section as a claim or defense in a criminal proceeding is 7
a prevailing party on the claim or defense, the court shall 8
enter an order that directs that there be expunged from 9
all official records all references to— 10
(1) the arrest of the person for the offense as 11
to which the claim or defense was asserted; 12
(2) the institution of any criminal proceedings 13
against the person relating to such offense; and 14
(3) the results of the proceedings, if any. 15
(g) R
ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-16
tion shall be construed to limit any right to possess, carry, 17
or transport a knife under applicable State law. 18
Æ
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