Fifth Circuit Strikes Down the 1958 Federal Switchblade Act’s Interstate Ban, Holding Switchblades Are Protected Arms and the Right to Keep Them Includes the Right to Make, Ship, and Sell Them

Firearm Laws & Litigation Articles - USA Carry · Oct 22, 2026

Key Takeaways

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the core of the 1958 Federal Switchblade Act, ruling it violates the Second Amendment.

Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, joined by Judges Willett and Wilson, held that switchblade knives are arms protected by the Second Amendment.

The court ruled that the right to keep and bear arms includes the right to manufacture, transport, and distribute them through interstate commerce.

Only two of nearly two hundred pre-1900 statutes restricted knife sales the way the Federal Switchblade Act does, which the court called outlier…