Yes, brass knuckles are legal in Missouri. Since August 28, 2022, you can own, carry, buy, and sell them without violating state law. But Missouri still classifies metal knuckles as a “deadly weapon,” and that label controls almost everything that can still go wrong: where you can carry them, how you can use them, and what happens if a confrontation turns physical.
What the 2022 Law Changed
Before August 28, 2022, brass knuckles were listed as prohibited weapons under RSMo 571.020, in the same category as explosive weapons and gas guns. Possessing, making, transporting, or selling them was a criminal offense.1Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes RSMo Section 571.020
HB 1462 repealed that prohibition, along with the bans on firearm silencers and switchblade knives.2Missouri Senate. House Bill Summary – HB 1462 Since the effective date, keeping a pair at home, carrying them on your person, or selling them commercially is no longer a crime under Missouri state law. The legislation created no age restriction, license, or registration specific to brass knuckles.
The Deadly Weapon Classification
Missouri’s criminal code still defines “metal knuckles” as a deadly weapon under RSMo 556.061, alongside firearms, switchblade knives, daggers, blackjacks, and billies.3Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes RSMo Section 556.061 Possession is fine. The label matters because it feeds into the statutes on unlawful use of weapons, armed criminal action, and assault, and it changes how a use-of-force incident gets analyzed after the fact. An altercation that might otherwise be charged as a simple misdemeanor can be escalated when a deadly weapon is involved.
Where You Can’t Carry Them
The same 2022 legislation added RSMo 571.024, which restricts carrying brass knuckles into locations where firearms are already prohibited under RSMo 571.107. Those restricted locations include:
- Police, sheriff, and highway patrol offices, without the chief officer’s consent
- Polling places on election day, within 25 feet
- Jails, prisons, and juvenile correction centers
- Buildings or rooms occupied by circuit, appellate, or supreme courts
The full list under RSMo 571.107 is longer and worth reading if you carry regularly.4Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes RSMo Section 571.107
Bringing brass knuckles into one of these locations is not a crime. It triggers a civil fine. A first violation can bring up to $100. A second within six months can bring up to $200. A third or later violation within a year can reach $500. Refusing to leave when asked can also be cited. The penalty structure is deliberately lighter than what applies to firearms in the same buildings.
Criminal Penalties for Misuse
Missouri draws its hard line at how you use them. RSMo 571.030 makes it a crime to exhibit “any weapon readily capable of lethal use” in an angry or threatening manner.5Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 571.030 – Unlawful Use of Weapons Because metal knuckles are deadly weapons by statute, they clear that threshold easily. Flashing them during an argument, using them to intimidate someone, or wielding them in a fight all fall within the statute.
Penalties depend on the conduct and your record. Exhibiting a weapon in a threatening manner is generally a misdemeanor, but prior convictions, injury to another person, or use during certain felonies can push the charge higher. A violation that injures or kills someone can be charged as a felony with substantial prison time.5Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 571.030 – Unlawful Use of Weapons
Using brass knuckles while committing a felony can also add a separate armed criminal action charge under RSMo 571.015, which carries its own mandatory minimum sentence on top of the underlying crime.
Self-Defense Complications
Missouri allows physical force in self-defense when you reasonably believe it is necessary to protect yourself or someone else from unlawful force. RSMo 563.031 sets the framework, and Missouri is a stand-your-ground state, so there is no duty to retreat where you have a right to be.6Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 563.031 – Use of Force in Defense of Persons
Force still has to be proportional. Ordinary physical force is justified against ordinary unlawful force. Deadly force is only justified when you reasonably believe it necessary to prevent death, serious physical injury, or a forcible felony.6Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 563.031 – Use of Force in Defense of Persons
Here is where the deadly weapon classification cuts against you. Because metal knuckles are legally categorized as a deadly weapon, using them in a scuffle can be treated as deadly force even if you never intended to kill anyone. A prosecutor can argue that reaching for a classified deadly weapon during a fistfight went beyond what was reasonable. Stand-your-ground does not automatically justify every use, and the label raises the stakes when reasonableness gets evaluated after the fact.
Buying, Selling, and Shipping
The 2022 repeal covers the whole commercial chain. Manufacturing, selling, transporting, and repairing brass knuckles are all legal in Missouri.2Missouri Senate. House Bill Summary – HB 1462 Retailers can stock and sell them in stores or online. There is no state-level age restriction, license, or registration specific to brass knuckles.
Shipping is a different question once state lines are involved. Several states still ban brass knuckles outright, and shipping into those jurisdictions can create legal problems for the sender, the recipient, or both. The destination state’s law controls.
Traveling and Flying
Federal law does not specifically prohibit transporting brass knuckles across state lines. The main federal weapons statutes, including 18 U.S.C. ยง 922, focus on firearms and ammunition. Missouri’s legalization protects you inside Missouri only. Driving into a state that still bans them puts you at risk under that state’s law.
If you fly, the TSA does not allow brass knuckles in carry-on bags. They can go in checked luggage, but if a checked bag is opened for inspection and contains something illegal in the destination state, TSA agents are required to report it to local law enforcement.7Transportation Security Administration. Brass Knuckles Check the destination’s law before you pack.
Local Ordinances
Missouri’s preemption law under RSMo 21.750 blocks cities and counties from passing their own regulations on firearms and ammunition, but the preemption language does not explicitly cover brass knuckles or other non-firearm weapons.8Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes RSMo Section 21.750 No widely publicized local bans are in effect, but the question of whether a municipality could pass one is open. If you live in or travel to a city with strict local weapon rules, check the municipal code before you carry.