Alabama fixed blade carry laws?

"Section 13A-11-50 Carrying concealed weapons

Except as otherwise provided in this Code, a person who carries concealed about his person a bowie knife or knife or instrument of like kind or description or a pistol or firearm of any other kind or an air gun shall, on conviction, be fined not less than $50.00 nor more than $500.00, and may also be imprisoned in the county jail or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not more than six months."

Judging by that, one would assume all knives are illegal carried concealed, but case law clears things up a bit...

"-A "butcher's knife" 11 inches long overall is a knife "of
like kind or description" as a bowie knife (1897).
- "A 'bowie knife' ordinarily designates a long knife shaped
like a dagger, but having only one edge, and does not
include a knife which opens and shuts and is not too large
to be carried in a trouser's pocket..." (1985)
- "'Lock-blade'" knife not included... within the statutory
prohibition." (1985)"

No state restrictions on folders at all, "...which opens and shuts and is not too large to be carried in a trouser's pocket..."

City laws vary on blade length restriction, though; Montgomery is three inches, while Huntsville is four.

It would SEEM that you can carry a fixed blade concealed, so long as it isn't a bowie...but there isn't any case law to clear it up.

Open carry, however, doesn't seem to be restricted at all.

 

Technically. But if you start looking at Decatur's knife laws, they seem to ban knives regardless of length or anything else. Same with several other places.

The chance of being arrested simply for carrying a knife is pretty slim, and the laws are mostly in place to prosecute people carrying WITH intent to harm.

But it's all too much hassle for me to bother carrying a fixed blade, or even a large folder.

 

The four inch limit of my Ala city is sufficient for anything I would be carrying, but I've been a bit concerned about visiting or driving through other towns or states with more restrictive laws. It's hard to imagine a situation where this might come into question other than when someone is committing a crime. I've never heard of anybody being arrested for pocket knife violations or having a knife confiscated after a traffic violation or the like... but then I don't hang out at the police station either.

Has anybody actually heard of a knife carry warning, knife confiscation, or knife fine or arrest (other than in commission of another crime) happening in Alabama? Or even elsewhere in the US?

(By the way, this is my first EDCF post. I'm looking forward to checking out some Spyderco discussions and visiting the classified threads.)