I get conflicted answers to the legality as some LEO's say
That's your problem, taking the word of an officer that isn't trained to provide an answer.
If ALL LEOs tell you something is illegal you can bet it is. If some say it is while other say not, you should check.
You need to read the TX knife/weapon laws and then pose the question to the people that decide whether a thing is or isn't a switchblade. That would be the senior legal official, AG for Texas?.
Here's the law in TX -
Illegal Knives are defined as;
(A) knife with a blade over five and one-half inches;
(B) hand instrument designed to cut or stab another by being thrown;
(C) dagger, including but not limited to a dirk, stiletto, and poniard;
(D) bowie knife;
(E) sword; or
(F) spear.
---
Switchblades are any knife that has a blade that folds, closes, or retracts into the handle or sheath, and that:
(A) opens automatically by pressure applied to a button or other device located on the
handle; or
(B) opens or releases a blade from the handle or sheath by the force of gravity or by the application of centrifugal force..
Those didn't specifically make it crystal clear to everyone (like your LEOs) that a AO that had to be opened by pushing the blade and not a button wasn't a switchblade so Knife Rights and American Knife and Tool Institute worked to get House Bill 4456 introduced and passed, that added the below to section (B) for switchblades;
The term does not include a knife that has a
spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward
closure and that requires exertion applied to the blade by hand,
wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure and open the
knife.
That defines a AO and exempts if from consideration as a switchblade.
BUT, again, you should take the section of the law and ask your AG in writing if this specifically clarifies that AOs are not switchblades under the law.
