<P> After the Civil War, many restrictions on knife and even gun ownership were imposed by state, county, and city laws and ordinances that were clearly based on fear of weapon possession by certain racial groups, particularly African - American and Hispanic Americans . In some states, so - called "Black Codes" adopted after the Civil War required blacks to obtain a license before carrying or possessing firearms or Bowie knives . The governments of Texas and other former states of the Confederacy, many of which had recognized the right to carry arms such as Bowie knives openly before the Civil War, passed new restrictions on both gun and knife possession and use . In some cases, these laws were directed at freed slaves and other minorities; in other cases, by reconstruction legislatures anxious to disarm rebellious militias and groups seeking to disenfranchise African - American and other minorities . The April 12, 1871 law passed by the Texas' Reconstruction legislature is typical, and is the ancestor of the present law restricting knife possession and use in Texas: </P> <P> Any person carrying on or about his person, saddle, or in his saddle - bags, any pistol, dirk, dagger, sling - shot, sword - cane, spear, brass knuckles, bowie knife, or any other kind of knife, manufactured or sold, for the purpose of offense or defense, unless he has reasonable grounds for fearing an unlawful attack on his person, and that such ground of attack shall be immediate and pressing; or unless having or carrying the same on or about his person for the lawful defense of the State, as a militiaman in actual service, or as a peace officer or policeman, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor ..." </P> <P> While most gun restrictions were eventually repealed, many knife laws remained in effect in the South . In Texas, this was largely explained by the presence of large numbers of Tejanos . By 1870, Texas whites of the day had almost universally and exclusively adopted the revolver for self - defense, while Tejanos, steeped in the blade culture (el legado Andaluz) of Mexico and Spain and generally without the means to purchase handguns, continued to carry knives . Thus while local and state Texas gun laws and ordinances were gradually relaxed or eliminated during the late 1800s, the old prohibitions against bowie knives, daggers, dirks, and other long - bladed knives remained on the books, since they served to disarm and control a minority group viewed as engaging in lawless behaviors and violence without legal justification . The Texas law remained on the books for almost 150 years, until modified in 2017 to allow carrying these weapons with some restrictions . </P> <P> Many of today's state criminal codes restricting knife use and ownership have been amended repeatedly over the years rather than rewritten to remove old classifications and definitions that are largely a historical legacy, a process that frequently results in illogical, confusing, and even conflicting provisions . Thus in Arkansas, a state in which knife fights using large, lengthy blades such as the Bowie and Arkansas Toothpick were once commonplace, a state statute made it illegal for someone to "carry a knife as a weapon", specifying that any knife with a blade 3.5 inches or longer constituted prima facie evidence that the knife was being carried as a weapon, yet allowed a complete exemption to the law when "upon a journey". </P>

What is the maximum length of a legal knife