Knife legislation
Legislation for knives, whether it’s a pocket knife or a fixed blade knife, is something you certainly need to get your head around. What’s legal and what’s not? To be short: all knives sold in our store and online shop are legal to own in The Netherlands. The legality of carrying them could in some cases be a different story, but everybody with common sense will understand in which situations carrying a knife would be logical and in which situations a knife doesn’t make sense.
Furthermore, at least over here in The Netherlands, there could be additional local council legislation.
Below you’ll find in short what the Dutch legislation says concerning knives, as we’ve been told. Of course, to err on the side of caution, no legal rights can be derived from this.
What does the Dutch law say?
In paragraph 1, article 2, multiple categories are described. All knives in Category I are illegal to own or carry. Category III are knives for which a legal permit is needed and knives in Category IV can be owned if you’re 18 years of age or older, but not carried without a permit.
This is illegal
- Stiletto’s (foldable knife, of which the blade can be opened sideways by means of a pressure release switch or similar mechanism)
- Automatic knives (knife with a blade that can be released from the front of the handle by means of a pressure release switch or similar mechanism or gravity, not being an assisted opening mechanism)
- Butterfly knives (knife of which the handle is split lengthways, enabling the blade to be brought out by folding the parts of the handle in opposite direction)
- Foldable knives with a total length of more than 28 cm
- Foldable knives of which the blade has more than one cutting edge
- Skinning knives (knife with a handle that’s positioned at 90 degrees of the blade, meant for holding in the palm of your hand, while the blade protrudes from between the fingers)
- Ballistic knives (knife of which the blade, whether or not accompanied by the handle, is propelled straight from a guiding cylinder by means of air-, gas- or spring pressure)
- Throwing (Ninja) stars
- Bladed weapons that are designed to look like something other than a weapon
For these you'll need a permit:
- Throwing knives
These knives may be owned, but not carried:
- Bladed weapons featuring a blade with more than one cutting edge, not being a weapon in Category I
- Daggers
- Swords
- Sables
- Bayonets
The complete Dutch legislation can be found online, including the Wet wapens en munitie. For the exact interpretation of this, we kindly ask you to follow the link to the government website (https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0008804/2020-01-01).
Disclaimer: We only sell knives that are legal in The Netherlands. By purchasing a knife at Krale, the customer agrees to know the knife legislation and meets the requirements that are dictated in that legislation. Buyer from other countries are responsible for following the legislation of their country.