Nebraska Knife Laws (2026): Minors, Prohibited Persons, and Preemption

Nebraska's concealed-carry restriction on knives applies to only two groups: minors, defined for this purpose as anyone under 21, and a separately defined class of "prohibited persons." An ordinary adult who is not prohibited may carry a knife concealed without a permit. Nebraska also preempts local weapon regulation broadly: most state preemption statutes reach firearms only, but Nebraska's reaches "firearms or other weapons," so it covers knives too.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers Nebraska state law only, principally Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 28-1201, 28-1202, 28-1205, 28-1206, 28-1256, 13-330, and 69-2445. It does not cover Nebraska's concealed handgun permit act in detail or the general "deadly weapon" definition in § 28-109 used elsewhere in the criminal code.

Can an adult carry a knife openly or concealed in Nebraska?

For most adults, yes. Nebraska's general concealed-weapon-carry restriction, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-1202, is scoped narrowly: "A minor or a prohibited person shall not carry a weapon or weapons concealed on or about his or her person, such as a handgun, a knife, brass or iron knuckles, or any other deadly weapon." An adult who is not a minor and not a "prohibited person," the two categories this section names, is not restricted by this statute from carrying a knife concealed, but "prohibited person" for this section is a considerably broader class than a prior felony conviction, discussed in detail below. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 69-2445 reinforces this: "Nothing in the Concealed Handgun Permit Act prevents a person not otherwise prohibited from possessing or carrying a concealed handgun by state law from carrying a concealed weapon without a permit." No permit is required for an otherwise-lawful adult to carry a concealed knife. Open carry of a knife is not restricted by a separate statewide statute of general application either, though the State Capitol and the possession offense for a prohibited person, both discussed below, reach a qualifying knife regardless of whether it is concealed.

Who counts as a "minor" and a "prohibited person"

For the part of the criminal code covering this restriction, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 28-1201 to 28-1212.04, "minor" is defined in § 28-1201(11)(a) as "a person who is under twenty-one years of age," a broader age bracket than the more familiar under-18 line used elsewhere. Subsection (11)(b) then removes anyone 18 or older from that definition if the person is an active or reserve member of the U.S. Armed Forces, a member of the Nebraska National Guard or ROTC, or a peace officer or other duly authorized law enforcement officer, so a 19-year-old soldier or officer is not a "minor" for purposes of this restriction.

"Prohibited person" for § 28-1202's concealed-carry restriction is defined in § 28-1201(12), and it is not the same list § 28-1206 uses for its own offense. Section 28-1201(12)(a) defines "prohibited person" as anyone "prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition by state law, including, but not limited to, section 28-1206," or anyone "prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition by 18 U.S.C. 922(d) or (g), as such section existed on January 1, 2023." That trailing date is a static incorporation: Nebraska's class is fixed to the federal text as it stood on that date, so a later federal amendment, or a federal court decision narrowing a 922(g) category going forward, does not automatically move the Nebraska line. Subsection (12)(b) then states directly: "This definition does not apply to the use of the term prohibited person in section 28-1206." In other words, § 28-1206 lists its own, narrower group covered by its own offense (discussed below), while § 28-1202's "prohibited person" is the far broader class described in § 28-1201(12), which sweeps in the whole 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) possession-prohibition list (922(d) separately bars selling or otherwise disposing of a firearm or ammunition to one of these people, rather than barring their own possession): a prior felon, a fugitive from justice, an unlawful user of or a person addicted to a controlled substance, a person adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution, certain unlawful aliens, a person dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces, a person who renounced U.S. citizenship, and a person subject to a qualifying domestic-violence protective order or misdemeanor conviction, on top of anyone barred by any other Nebraska state law. A reader who does not fall into § 28-1206's list can still be a "prohibited person" for § 28-1202's concealed-carry restriction under this broader definition.

What counts as a "knife" for this restriction

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-1201(8) defines "knife" for this part of the code as: "(a) Any dagger, dirk, knife, or stiletto with a blade over three and one-half inches in length and which, in the manner it is used or intended to be used, is capable of producing death or serious bodily injury; or (b) Any other dangerous instrument which is capable of inflicting cutting, stabbing, or tearing wounds and which, in the manner it is used or intended to be used, is capable of producing death or serious bodily injury." Both branches require the death-or-serious-injury capability test; a blade over 3.5 inches satisfies branch (a) automatically if that test is met, while a shorter or otherwise-shaped item can still qualify under branch (b) depending on how it is used or intended to be used.

Penalties for the minor/prohibited-person restriction

A violation of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-1202 is a Class I misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class IV felony for a second or subsequent offense.

Prohibited persons: a separate, more serious possession offense

Beyond the concealed-carry restriction, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-1206 makes it a separate crime for a "prohibited person" to simply possess a firearm, a knife, or brass or iron knuckles, regardless of concealment. This section defines its own class directly in its own text rather than relying on § 28-1201(12)'s broader definition (§ 28-1201(12)(b) expressly excludes § 28-1206 from that definition), and it is narrower: it covers a person previously convicted of a felony, a fugitive from justice, a person knowingly violating a current protection order, and a person on probation under a deferred judgment for a felony; a person convicted within the past seven years of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence is separately prohibited from firearm or brass-or-iron-knuckles possession specifically, but not from knife possession under this section. Possessing a deadly weapon that is not a firearm, which includes a knife, as a prohibited person under this section's own list is a Class III felony. The statute exempts possession of archery equipment for lawful purposes and possession of a knife under a recreational license for butchering, dressing, or otherwise processing or harvesting game, fish, or furs, but only as to the prior-felony-conviction basis for prohibited-person status, not the other listed grounds.

Using a knife to commit a felony

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-1205 creates two separate offenses, each distinct from the underlying felony itself. Subsection (1)(a) criminalizes using a firearm, a knife, brass or iron knuckles, or any other deadly weapon to commit a felony prosecutable in Nebraska; use of a deadly weapon other than a firearm to commit that felony is a Class II felony under subsection (1)(b). Subsection (2)(a) is broader and easier to trigger: it separately criminalizes merely possessing a firearm, a knife, brass or iron knuckles, or a destructive device during the commission of any felony prosecutable in Nebraska, whether or not that item was used, and possession of a deadly weapon other than a firearm during the commission of a felony is a Class III felony under subsection (2)(b).

Schools: the statewide statute is firearm-specific

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-1204.04 makes it a Class IV felony to possess a firearm in a school, on school grounds, in a school-owned vehicle, or at a school-sponsored activity or athletic event, subject to exceptions for law enforcement, military and National Guard members, school security personnel under a qualifying written policy, students under supervised instruction, and several other listed categories. This statute's text covers firearms specifically; it does not name a knife or a general "weapon" category, so it does not itself create a knife-specific school offense.

The State Capitol: a knife-specific ban

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-1256 bans knowingly entering or attempting to enter the State Capitol while in possession of a "weapon" or "prohibited substance." For this section, "weapon" means a firearm or "a knife with a blade over three and one-half inches in length and which, in the manner it is used or intended to be used, is capable of producing death or serious bodily injury," the same test used in § 28-1201(8)(a). Subsection (3) lists four exceptions. Two are general: a person who has received prior approval from the Nebraska State Patrol, and possession of a weapon by a law enforcement officer acting in the course of official duties. The other two are both written around "the carrying of a concealed handgun" specifically, not a weapon generally: one for a qualified law enforcement officer or qualified retired law enforcement officer carrying under the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, 18 U.S.C. 926B or 926C, and one for a valid concealed handgun permit holder. Neither of those last two exceptions extends to a knife, so a permit to carry a concealed handgun does not authorize bringing a qualifying knife into the Capitol, and neither does the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act exception for a qualified retired officer who is not on duty.

Does Nebraska preempt local knife ordinances?

Yes, broadly, and unlike most other states, not limited to firearms. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-330, recodified from the former § 18-1703, provides: "Notwithstanding the provisions of any home rule charter, counties, cities, and villages shall not have the power to: (a) Regulate the ownership, possession, storage, transportation, sale, or transfer of firearms or other weapons, except as expressly provided by state law; or (b) Require registration of firearms or other weapons." Any county, city, or village ordinance, permit, or regulation that violates this is declared "null and void." Because the statute's text reaches "firearms or other weapons," not firearms alone, it preempts local knife regulation as well, including in home rule cities such as Omaha, except where state law expressly authorizes local regulation.

Federal law: what it does and does not reach

Federal law does not ban an individual from owning or carrying a switchblade. The Federal Switchblade Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1241 to 1245, instead restricts interstate commerce in switchblade knives, barring their manufacture for, or introduction, transport, and sale in, interstate commerce, and, in 15 U.S.C. § 1245, makes it a federal offense to knowingly possess, manufacture, sell, or import a ballistic knife in or affecting interstate commerce or within federal territorial jurisdiction. Sections 1242 and 1243 do not apply to certain knives and people, listed as exemptions in 15 U.S.C. § 1244. A 2009 amendment, § 1244(5), exempts any knife with a spring, detent, or other closure-bias mechanism that requires hand, wrist, or arm exertion on the blade itself to overcome the bias and assist opening, the carve-out that keeps modern assisted-opening folding knives legal in interstate commerce. A separate exemption, § 1244(4), covers a person with only one arm possessing or carrying a switchblade with a blade three inches or less. Nebraska has no switchblade-specific statute; an automatic knife is treated like any other knife under the § 28-1201(8) definition, which turns on blade length and death-or-serious-injury capability rather than an opening mechanism.

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Nebraska's knife laws as of September 2026. It is not legal advice. Consult a lawyer licensed in Nebraska for advice about a specific situation. Whether a particular short or unusually shaped knife meets the "capable of producing death or serious bodily injury" test in Nebraska's statutory definitions can depend on the specific facts.

For a state-by-state comparison, see knife laws by state. Nebraska's self-defense statutes are covered separately on the Nebraska self-defense laws page.

Statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-09-18. Last updated: 2026-09-18.