Jim Bowie’s Legendary Knife will Once Again be Legal to Carry in Texas September 1st

SAN ANGELO, TX -- Remember the Alamo? Or at least the movie?  Jim Bowie's legendary knife was featured in both John Wayne's version of 'The Alamo' and Billy Bob Thornton's and Bowie died fighting for Texas independence at the Alamo, but as he lived he was famous for carrying that knife with a large, wide blade and it was so famous it is now a category of knives which are still available under the name Bowie knife.  The problem was, you couldn't legally carry one in Texas.  Till now.  

Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law that allows Texans to carry Bowie knives and swords and spears and machetes openly legally beginning September 1st.  

HB 1935 eliminates swords, spears, daggers, dirks, stilettos, poniards, and Bowie knives from the list of illegal knives and limits the places they can be carried.

The ban on carrying Bowie knives and swords began in 1871 when the legislature passed a law outlawing them in an effort to stem violence in at the time.  

It is still illegal to carry knives at schools, colleges, correctional facilities, houses of worship, and bars.  HB 1935 changes ‘illegal knives’ to ‘location restricted knives.’

Rep. John Frullo and Rep. Harold Dutton co-sponsored the bill.  According to a report in the Dallas Observer, “The bill completes Knife Rights’ efforts to bring knife freedom to Texas , according to the group, a nonprofit that describes itself as giving voice to knife and edge tool owners, ‘to influence public policy and oppose efforts to restrict the right to own, use and carry knives and edged tools’.”

So no matter how you pronounce it, BOO-E or BOW-E, and no matter whether you prefer John Wayne's version of 'The Alamo" or Billy Bob Thornton's or the real thing, you'll be able to carry a Bowie knife or a sword or even a machete legally in Texas September 1st.  

But remember, it’s still not a good idea to take a knife to a gunfight.