>>No blade whatsoever will be allowed in a Federal Building.<<<br><br>Actually, that varies a lot from building to building, with no apparent overall policy (like the airlines, come to think of it).<br><br>I worked for over two years in federal buildings within 2 blocks of the White House in DC (no, I am not and never have been a government employee- it was a contract). This is an area with closed-circuit TV cameras covering every sidewalk and alley (usually visible cameras mounted a couple of stories up on the corners of buildings), and a forest of radio antennas, parabolic antennas, large, panning TV cameras, and even spinning radar antennas on the rooftops. Many of the rooftops are permanently closed.<br><br>In one of the buildings there were no metal detectors, and only parcels and bags were searched coming or going- and that was relaxed in the period of time that I was there. The other one had metal detectors and x-ray machines at every entrance, and everything entering the building had to go through one or the other. The legal limit for any carried blade in DC, regardless of where, is three inches, and they had pre-measured 3" strips attached to the edges of desks, so they could tell whether it was legal instantly by laying the blade against the edge of the desk (the 3" mark was labeled "ILLEGAL"). I know that anything larger was confiscated, and I know that there had been some arrests based on that- I never asked if *everyone* with a larger blade was arrested.<br><br>It's worth noting, though, that probably unlike the INS building you mention, neither of these buildings was really open to the "public". Those without government ID badges had to be escorted by someone with a badge.<br><br><br><br>