Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB346 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 346
5	5	To protect the right of law-abiding citizens to transport knives interstate,
6	6	notwithstanding a patchwork of State and local prohibitions that burden
7	7	citizens.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	JANUARY30, 2025
10	10	Mr. L
11	11	EE(for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, and Ms. LUMMIS) introduced the fol-
12	12	lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Com-
13	13	merce, Science, and Transportation
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To protect the right of law-abiding citizens to transport
16	16	knives interstate, notwithstanding a patchwork of State
17	17	and local prohibitions that burden citizens.
18	18	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
19	19	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
20	20	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
21	21	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Knife Owners’ Protec-4
22	22	tion Act of 2025’’. 5
23	23	SEC. 2. INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF KNIVES. 6
24	24	(a) D
25	25	EFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 7
26	26	(1) the term ‘‘State’’ means any of the 50 8
27	27	States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, 9
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30	30	•S 346 IS
31	31	Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, 1
32	32	the Virgin Islands of the United States, and any 2
33	33	other territory of the United States; and 3
34	34	(2) the term ‘‘transport’’— 4
35	35	(A) includes staying in temporary lodging 5
36	36	overnight, common carrier misrouting or delays, 6
37	37	stops for food, fuel, vehicle maintenance, emer-7
38	38	gencies, medical treatment, and all other activ-8
39	39	ity related to the overall journey of the indi-9
40	40	vidual; and 10
41	41	(B) does not include any transportation of 11
42	42	1 or more knives with the intent to commit any 12
43	43	offense punishable by imprisonment for a term 13
44	44	exceeding 1 year involving the use or threatened 14
45	45	use of force against another, or with knowledge, 15
46	46	or reasonable cause to believe, that such an of-16
47	47	fense is to be committed in the course of, or 17
48	48	arising from, such journey. 18
49	49	(b) R
50	50	EQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding any provision 19
51	51	of any law or any rule or regulation of the United States, 20
52	52	or of a State or any political subdivision of a State, any 21
53	53	individual who is not otherwise prohibited by Federal law 22
54	54	from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a 23
55	55	knife or knives shall be entitled to transport a knife or 24
56	56	knives from any place where the individual may lawfully 25
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59	59	•S 346 IS
60	60	possess, carry, or transport such a knife or knives to any 1
61	61	other place where the individual may lawfully possess, 2
62	62	carry, or transport such a knife or knives if— 3
63	63	(1) in the case of transportation by motor vehi-4
64	64	cle, the knife is, or the knives are, not directly acces-5
65	65	sible from the passenger compartment of the trans-6
66	66	porting motor vehicle, or, in the case of a motor ve-7
67	67	hicle without a compartment separate from the pas-8
68	68	senger compartment, the knife is, or the knives are, 9
69	69	contained in a locked container, locked glove com-10
70	70	partment, or locked console; 11
71	71	(2) in the case of transportation by air, the 12
72	72	knife is, or the knives are, contained in a locked con-13
73	73	tainer and are not in the passenger cabin of the air-14
74	74	craft; or 15
75	75	(3) in the case of transportation by other 16
76	76	means (including any conveyance over land, or on or 17
77	77	through water), the knife is, or the knives are, con-18
78	78	tained in a locked container. 19
79	79	(c) E
80	80	MERGENCYKNIVES.— 20
81	81	(1) I
82	82	N GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 21
83	83	any knife or tool designed for enabling escape in an 22
84	84	emergency incorporating a blunt tipped safety blade, 23
85	85	a guarded blade, or both, for cutting safety belts— 24
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88	88	•S 346 IS
89	89	(A) may be carried in the passenger com-1
90	90	partment of a transporting motor vehicle; and 2
91	91	(B) shall not be required to be secured in 3
92	92	a locked container, locked glove compartment, 4
93	93	or locked console. 5
94	94	(2) E
95	95	XCEPTION.—This subsection shall not 6
96	96	apply to the transport of any knife or tool described 7
97	97	in paragraph (1) in the passenger cabin of an air-8
98	98	craft the passengers of which are subject to airport 9
99	99	screening procedures of the Transportation Security 10
100	100	Administration. 11
101	101	(d) T
102	102	EMPORARYLODGING.—Subject to the require-12
103	103	ments under subsection (b), a knife or knives may be kept 13
104	104	accessible in any form of temporary lodging overnight, as 14
105	105	described in subsection (a)(2)(A). 15
106	106	(e) N
107	107	OARREST ORDETENTION.—An individual who 16
108	108	is transporting a knife or knives in compliance with this 17
109	109	section may not be arrested or otherwise detained for vio-18
110	110	lation of any law or any rule or regulation of a State or 19
111	111	any political subdivision of a State related to the posses-20
112	112	sion, transportation, or carrying of knives, unless there is 21
113	113	probable cause to believe that the individual is in violation 22
114	114	of 1 or more of the requirements under subsection (b). 23
115	115	(f) C
116	116	LAIM ORDEFENSE.— 24
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119	119	•S 346 IS
120	120	(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual may assert 1
121	121	this section as a claim or defense in any civil or 2
122	122	criminal action or proceeding. 3
123	123	(2) B
124	124	URDEN OF PROOF .—If an individual as-4
125	125	serts this section as a claim or defense in a criminal 5
126	126	proceeding, the relevant State or political subdivision 6
127	127	shall bear the burden of proving, beyond a reason-7
128	128	able doubt, that the individual was not in compliance 8
129	129	with the requirements under subsection (b). 9
130	130	(g) R
131	131	IGHT OFACTION.— 10
132	132	(1) I
133	133	N GENERAL.—Any individual who, under 11
134	134	color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, 12
135	135	or usage, of any State or political subdivision of a 13
136	136	State, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any indi-14
137	137	vidual to the deprivation of the rights, privileges, or 15
138	138	immunities set forth in this section, shall be liable 16
139	139	to the individual so deprived in an action at law, suit 17
140	140	in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress. 18
141	141	(2) A
142	142	TTORNEY’S FEES.—When an individual 19
143	143	asserts this section as a claim or defense, the court 20
144	144	shall award the prevailing party (including any party 21
145	145	who receives a favorable resolution through a deci-22
146	146	sion by a court, settlement of a claim, withdrawal of 23
147	147	criminal charges, or change of a statute or regula-24
148	148	tion), other than a State or any political subdivision 25
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151	151	•S 346 IS
152	152	of a State or its employees or representatives, a rea-1
153	153	sonable attorney’s fee. 2
154	154	(h) R
155	155	ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-3
156	156	tion shall be construed in any way— 4
157	157	(1) to limit any right to possess, carry, or 5
158	158	transport a knife or knives under applicable State 6
159	159	law; or 7
160	160	(2) to impose additional restrictions or require-8
161	161	ments on interstate travel by air with a knife or 9
162	162	knives. 10
163	163	Æ
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