Nevada Knife Law Would Make it Illegal to Bring a Pocket Knife to a High School Football Game

A proposed Nevada knife law, which would criminalize possession of a wide range of knives on school property, would make it illegal for a parent to possess a pocket knife at a high school football game.

The bill, SB. 171, was introduced earlier last month by Nevada State Senator Shelia Leslie and classifies any knife larger than 2 inches as a “dangerous knife.”

Anyone who possesses a dangerous knife on school property or at a school function could be charged with a misdemeanor, face a fine and be imprisoned for up to 15 days.

The bill even goes as far as to prohibit  knives at “any activity sponsored by a private or public school or child care facility.”

It doesn’t just apply to students and would extend to those in vehicles on school property as well.

Knife advocacy groups like Knife Rights are fighting against the law.  The group said that schools already have the latitude to enforce their own rules regarding knives and that the law would set a “dangerous precedent” for knife laws in the future.

Jim Bagwell, a Vietnam veteran who worked in law enforcement for 31 years, wrote an opinion piece in the Nevada Appeal last week railing against the legislation, which he said would make him a criminal.

When I go to Lampe Park in Gardnerville to watch my granddaughter run in a high school cross-country meet I would automatically be a criminal because I always have a pocket knife in my pocket.

What do you think?  Is the Nevada Legislature’s effort to criminalize knives going to0 far?