Knife Rights, Inc. v. Blanche

What the court held

Knife Rights, Inc., knife dealers and individual collectors challenged the Federal Switchblade Act of 1958, which bars introducing, manufacturing for introduction, transporting or distributing switchblade knives in interstate commerce (15 U.S.C. § 1242). It also bars making, selling or possessing them in federal enclaves and Indian country (§ 1243). The Northern District of Texas dismissed the suit. On October 21, 2026, a unanimous Fifth Circuit panel reversed in part. Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod wrote the opinion, joined by Judges Don Willett and Cory Wilson. The panel held that switchblades are "Arms" within the Second Amendment's plain text. It held that the government failed to show § 1242's restrictions fit the nation's regulatory tradition, failing the "how" of Bruen's analogical test. It said the 1958 Act answered a "perceived societal problem" in the same way the laws struck in Heller and Bruen did. The challengers lost on § 1243. Their challenge was facial only, and the government pointed to plainly lawful applications such as courthouses, federal prisons and military bases. The court reversed the dismissal of the § 1242 claim, affirmed the dismissal of the § 1243 claim, and remanded for further proceedings, so no injunction has yet issued. Earlier in 2026 the Ninth Circuit rejected a facial challenge to California's switchblade restrictions in Knife Rights, Inc. v. Bonta. It held that at least one application of the California law, the ban on carrying a switchblade concealed, fits the historical tradition, which is the same facial-challenge reasoning this panel applied to § 1243. The government may seek rehearing en banc or Supreme Court review. State switchblade laws are unaffected.

Summarized from the court's opinion.

What this case is about

Whether the Federal Switchblade Act's ban on introducing, manufacturing, transporting or distributing switchblade knives in interstate commerce (15 U.S.C. § 1242) violates the Second Amendment

GunMapUSA summary of the issue, not a quotation from the court.

Key Dates

• 2026-04-01 — Argued
• 2026-10-21 — Fifth Circuit reverses dismissal of the § 1242 claim, holding the interstate switchblade ban unconstitutional; affirms dismissal of the facial challenge to § 1243; remands

Sources

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit — retrieved 2026-10-26
• CourtListener — retrieved 2026-10-26