Attorney Peter R. Heyne discusses the legality of brass knuckles in Wisconsin. Learn who can legally own brass knuckles and the laws surrounding carrying them in public.

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What are the Laws in Wisconsin for Possessing and/or Using Brass Knuckles?

Unlike with weapons like machine guns, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns,¹ Wisconsin does not explicitly ban the possession of brass knuckles—with one key exception (for minors). However, just as with the three types of firearms just listed,² a valid Concealed Carry License (CCL) does not cover brass knuckles, but only three types of weapons: “a handgun, an electric weapon, as defined in s. 941.295(1c)(a), or a billy club.”³ Thus, the only legal way to possess brass knuckles (or their functional equivalent) outside one’s own residence or place of business out in public⁴ is by open carry, e.g., wearing them on your knuckles for all the world to see.⁵ Furthermore, beyond simple possession, the use of brass knuckles is legally perilous, because a person will likely not prevail on a self-defense claim if he or she uses brass knuckles in a fight, unless his or her own life was in imminent danger.

1. Brass Knuckles: No Kids

The only clear statutory ban on brass knuckles (or anything like them) applies to minors: no one under 18 can possess “metallic knuckles or knuckles of any substance which could be put to the same use with the same or similar effect as metallic knuckles.”⁶ The offense is a Class A misdemeanor (maximum 9 months jail and $10,000 fine), and a kid under 17 who violates this law could possibly be waived out of juvenile court and prosecuted and punished as an adult.⁷

There is also significant legal liability for even the child’s parent or legal guardian: any adult who intentionally sells, loans, or gives metallic knuckles to a minor is guilty of a Class I felony offense (maximum prison of three and a half years and a $10,000 fine).⁸

Furthermore, there are no other exceptions for minors carrying or using brass knuckles as there are for firearms. Because brass knuckles are melee and not range/missile weapons, and thus cannot be feasibly used for target practice (like firearms), the statutory exception for being able to use brass knuckles under adult supervision or in an instruction course surely does not apply.⁹ Likewise, there is no armed forces/national guard exception, unless the military decides to go “Mad Max” and issue brass knuckles to troops to carry in the line of duty.¹⁰

In short, brass knuckles are completely forbidden for kids.

2. Concealed Carry License (CCL) Holders

Brass knuckles, when carried concealed, are also off limits even for valid CCL holders.

As stated in the introductory summary, the Wisconsin CCL statute allows the concealed carry of only three types of weapons—handguns, electric weapons, and billy clubs. Recall that concealed knives (of any kind) no longer require a CCL, unless the person cannot legally possess a firearm and the concealed knife if a “dangerous weapon.”¹¹  But handguns, electric weapons, and billy clubs are just a few of the myriad of weapons (industrially manufactured, handcrafted, and even improvised) that can be carried concealed. To get the complete answer, one needs to look beyond the CCL statute to two other criminal statutes—the law prohibiting Carrying Concealed Weapon (“CCW”)¹² and the law that the CCW statute cites defining “dangerous weapon” generally for the criminal code.¹³

The CCW statute prohibits a person from carrying "a concealed and dangerous weapon."¹⁴ "Dangerous weapon" is defined earlier in the statutes as one of five possible types of items:

1. Any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded
2. Any device designed as a weapon and capable of producing death or great bodily harm
3. Any ligature or other instrumentality used on the throat, neck, nose, or mouth of another person to impede, partially or completely, breathing or circulation of blood
4. Any electric weapon as defined in s. 941.295(1c)(a)
5. Any other device or instrumentality which, in the manner it is used or intended to be used, is calculated or likely to produce death or great bodily harm

“Great bodily harm means injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious permanent disfigurement or which causes a permanent or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ or other serious bodily injury.” WIS JI-Criminal 914 Great Bodily Harm—§ 939.22(14) (2008).

Brass knuckles meet this fifth and final category of “dangerous weapons.” After all, brass knuckles are not like tools such as hammers, baseball bats, crowbars, tire irons, etc., that have legitimate non-violent uses. Brass knuckles are designed as a force multiplier, to increase the human fist’s capacity to inflict blunt force trauma. A blow by brass knuckles to the face, skull, ribs, etc., could break bones or teeth, and thus cause “serious bodily injury/great bodily harm.” Accordingly, a comment in jury instruction 910 (on page 2), quoting the 1953 Judiciary Committee Report on the Criminal Code, states: “Things like blackjacks and brass knuckles are dangerous weapons per se. They are designed as weapons and have few, if any, lawful uses.”

Thus, brass knuckles are “dangerous weapons” and fall under the CCW statute, if carried concealed (e.g., out of ordinary view, such as in the person’s pocket, or in a vehicle).

As with the ban on minors possessing metallic knuckles, a violation of the CCW law is a class A misdemeanor (maximum nine months jail and $10,000 fine).¹⁵ However, for the civilian citizen (as expected, there are special rules for current and former peace officers), there is a key express statutory exception for CCW for those with valid CCL holders from Wisconsin or other US states (called “licensees”). But this exception applies only “if the dangerous weapon is a weapon, as defined under s. 175.60(1)(j).”¹⁶ That is the very statute cited in the summary above that defines “weapon” as only “a handgun, an electric weapon, as defined in s. 941.295(1c)(a), or a billy club.”¹⁷ Thus, a CCL is no defense to carrying any concealed weapons that qualify as “dangerous” Wis. Stat. § 939.22(10)—like brass knuckles—per beyond these three items (knives excepted¹⁸). A CCL is no free pass to carry any and all concealed weapons.

Use of Brass Knuckles for Self-Defense: Life or Death

As just discussed, brass knuckles will likely inflict what qualifies as “great bodily harm” under Wisconsin law. Under standard Wisconsin law of reasonable force, the privilege of self-defense could then apply only if the person reasonably believed that such force was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself. Wis. Stat. § 939.48(1). It would have to be a life-or-death situation, and if so, would you really trust your life to brass knuckles, especially if the attacker may be high on controlled substances and thus less susceptible to pain?

Conclusion

Brass knuckles may not be expressly illegal in Wisconsin, like machine guns, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns. But there are completely illegal for minors, and even a valid CCL is no protection to carry brass knuckles concealed. Using them in a fight can also expose their user to serious felony charges and prison without the protection of the privilege of self-defense, unless it was truly life-or-death. Overall, brass knuckles are just not worth the risk to possess or use.

 

 

Sources

1. Wis. Stat. §§ 941.26 and 941.28, respectively.
2. Wis. Stat. § 175.60(1)(bm)
3. Wis. Stat. § 175.60(1)(j)
4. As long as the person is not otherwise prohibited from possessing the weapon in the first place (e.g., because of a felony conviction, or a condition of bond for a pending criminal case, or a rule of community supervision under the Department of Corrections), a person can carry concealed weapons without a CCL in “in his or her own dwelling or place of business or on land that he or she owns, leases, or legally occupies.” Wis. Stat. § 941.23(2)(e).
5. And unlike with open-carried firearms or knives, for open-carried brass knuckles there is no statutory requirement for the government to prove “criminal or malicious intent” before an arrest and prosecution as either a municipal citation or a criminal charge for Disorderly Conduct. Wis. Stat. §§ 66.0409(6) and 947.01(2), respectively.
6. Wis. Stat. § 948.60(1)
7. Wis. Stat. § 948.60(2)(d)
8. Wis. Stat. § 948.60(2)(b).
9. Wis. Stat. § 948.60(3)(a) “This section does not apply to a person under 18 years of age who possesses or is armed with a dangerous weapon when the dangerous weapon is being used in target practice under the supervision of an adult or in a course of instruction in the traditional and proper use of the dangerous weapon under the supervision of an adult. This section does not apply to an adult who transfers a dangerous weapon to a person under 18 years of age for use only in target practice under the adult's supervision or in a course of instruction in the traditional and proper use of the dangerous weapon under the adult's supervision.”
10. Wis. Stat. § 948.60(3)(b)
11. For an in-depth analysis on Wisconsin knife laws, see Heyne, Knives Out: Regulating Blades in Wisconsin, 94 Wis. Law. 12 (July-Aug. 2021).
12. Wis. Stat. § 941.23
13. Wis. Stat. § 939.22(10)
14. Wis. Stat. § 941.23(2)
15. Wis. Stat. § 941.23(2)
16. Wis. Stat. § 941.23(2)(d)
17. Wis. Stat. § 175.60(1)(j)
18. Wis. Stat. § 941.23(1)(ap). See note 11 above.