HOUSTON -- They are deadly weapons that don’t get nearly the attention that guns do: knives.

You may be surprised where kids are finding them in Houston. 

Last week in Dickinson, a student allegedly stabbed another.

“Little ol’ terrorists is what they are,” neighborhood parent Glenanie James said.

It happened in Conroe a few weeks ago.

“Today, somebody got hurt really bad,” parent Daniel Maher said.

On the stretcher: a 12-year-old boy. Police say a 13-year-old had stabbed him.

In Houston, one year ago, a teenage girl was on trial for a gang fight. She’d stabbed a 15-year-old-boy to death.

The weapon: a fierce-looking double-bladed knife.

You hear a lot about the concern over kids and guns, but is a more common threat kids and knives?

Parents told 11 News that their young teenagers were buying illegal weapons at flea markets, so we went shopping.

For a mere $14, we could have purchased a knife very similar to the one used in that fatal gang fight.     

At another market, they had what they called “Hunting Knives” for just $20 --  one was a foot long. They also offered brass knuckles.

And we saw knives like these called butterfly knives. But that display isn’t at a flea market.

“This was all confiscated on school property,” Katy ISD Police Chief Mark Hopkins said. It was just some of what Katy ISD police took from students over the past few years: Bowie knives, little knives, martial arts weapons.

“But rarely do we see kids actually use these,” Chief Hopkins said. “It’s mostly for show.”

Another suburban district — Cy-Fair — said they’ve confiscated 15 knives just this year.

But like in Katy, none was ever used in an actual stabbing.

“The issue with violence is it’s almost always impossible to predict,” University of Houston clinical psychologist John Vincent said.

Vincent has studied children and violence.

“Many kids are fascinated by things they will never act on, which is good,” he said.

That fascination with knives is exactly what we saw at the flea markets: Kids crowding around a display case. But the clerk would not let kids handle the knives without a parent present.

While 11 News never saw an actual sale take place, it probably would not have been illegal anyway.

“A teenager can walk into a store and buy a knife,” criminal defense attorney Mark Bennett said. “I’ve represented people accused of causing a lot of damage with knives that are perfectly legal.”

As he and police explained, it’s usually not the sale of knives that’s scrutinized – it’s the possession. 

There are no age limits.

In Texas, anyone can legally carry knives with blades no longer than five-and-a-half inches.

But it’s illegal to carry Bowie knives, ones that open automatically, martial arts clubs and throwing stars and brass knuckles.

What’s more, most schools have their own rules prohibiting the possession of any knives.

But even then, school police say kids have stabbed each other with scissors and pencils.

It’s why some believe making knife laws tougher wouldn’t do much.

“Trying to control them doesn’t make much sense,” Bennett said.

In the two recent stabbings, police said the weapons used weren’t anything like these: In both cases, police say the kids used common kitchen knives.