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Pennsylvania Court: Automatic Knives not Protected by Second Amendment
ammoland ^ | 10 March, 2017 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 03/15/2017 5:19:11 AM PDT by marktwain

A Pennsylvania Court has found that automatic knives are not protected arms under the Second Amendment. The case is not precedential, and is unlikely to be appealed. The finding was made on 9 March, 2017.

On July 29th, 2014, William Battle entered the Pike County Administrative Building for an appointment with a probation officer.  Battle had plead guilty to aggravated assault involving a firearm in 2009, when he was 18, for a crime committed eight months earlier, when he was 17.  He was convicted as an adult. Aggravated assault is a felony in Pennsylvania.  Under Pennsylvania law Battle may not legally possess firearms.

Battle emptied his pockets as preparation to passing through a metal detector. An automatic knife with a four inch blade was part of the contents. A deputy saw the knife and examined it. Battle was arrested for illegal possession of an offensive weapon. The jury trial took place in 2016, and Battle was found guilty of possession of a prohibited offensive weapon. Battle was 25 years old.

An appeal was filed shortly after the conviction, based solely on the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.  The appeal did not reference Pennsylvania's state Constitution. Pennsylvania has a strong right to bear arms provision in the State's Constitution.  From ucla.edu:

Pennsylvania: The right of the citizens to bear arms in defence of themselves and the State shall not be questioned. Art. 1, § 21 (enacted 1790, art. IX, § 21).

The superior court that heard William Battle's appeal found that switchblade knives are not protected by the Second Amendment, because they “serve no common lawful purpose”. Judge Lillian Harris Ransom wrote the memorandum.  From the memorandum:


(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: banglist; constitution; knife; pa
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Switchblade knives, automatic knives; they are just knives.
1 posted on 03/15/2017 5:19:11 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain

Well, as the Founding Fathers clearly stated: “The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed — except, of course, them nasty automatic knives! Those are straight up bad news!”


2 posted on 03/15/2017 5:21:40 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Abortion is what slavery was: immoral but not illegal. Not yet.)
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To: marktwain

Do auto knives come with magazines, have they been known to go on killing sprees yelling Alla snacker /sarcasm

I did not read article just headline struck me as humorous


3 posted on 03/15/2017 5:22:51 AM PDT by Nailbiter
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To: marktwain
automatic knives

In deference to semi-automatic knives and manual knives. /S

4 posted on 03/15/2017 5:24:40 AM PDT by Road Warrior ‘04 (Molon Labe! (Oathkeeper))
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To: marktwain

Are idiot judges protected by the Constitution—especially those willfully violating the Constitution?


5 posted on 03/15/2017 5:25:11 AM PDT by WKUHilltopper (WKU 2016 Boca Raton Bowl Champions)
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To: marktwain

This stupid broad....


6 posted on 03/15/2017 5:29:02 AM PDT by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
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To: marktwain

This stupid broad....


7 posted on 03/15/2017 5:29:04 AM PDT by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
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To: Road Warrior ‘04

My knife is full auto. Only problem is I need an extension cord when I carve the turkey. Where I live though they limit it to 6 feet. I hear in Texas you can hook it up to one with no limit. Man, what I wouldn’t give to hook it up to one of those 150-foot long ones and let ‘er rip!!!


8 posted on 03/15/2017 5:31:51 AM PDT by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts FDR's New Deal = obama)
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

Comment #10 Removed by Moderator

To: marktwain

Wanna hear a good one? Check out Maryland knife laws.

One cannot carry a switchblade (Automatic) knife with the intent to do harm.

I virtually always carry a knife, as a tool. I have a really nice, very high end automatic that I never carry because I have no idea how one would measure intent.

Typical Maryland insanity


11 posted on 03/15/2017 5:38:37 AM PDT by cyclotic
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To: marktwain

Knife laws are terrible in some states. There needs to be an NRA for knives.


12 posted on 03/15/2017 5:41:45 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
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To: 21twelve

Yeah...That was an awesome response!!


13 posted on 03/15/2017 5:45:18 AM PDT by Mathews (Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV), Luke 22:36 (NIV))
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To: Moonman62

I think there is one. I would have heard about it here, over the years.


14 posted on 03/15/2017 5:47:34 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Moonman62; All

Knife Rights

http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

They are a small organization that hit way above their weight class.

They are the second front in the war to restore the Second Amendment.


15 posted on 03/15/2017 5:53:06 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: marktwain

when will we get judges who stop defining what they believe the law to be...

where are the tars and feathers...


16 posted on 03/15/2017 5:54:27 AM PDT by teeman8r (Armageddon won't be pretty, but it's not like it's the end of the world.)
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To: marktwain
Pennsylvania has a strong right to bear arms provision in the State's Constitution.

Apparently not.....

17 posted on 03/15/2017 5:54:50 AM PDT by papertyger (The semantics define how we think.)
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To: Road Warrior ‘04

Black knives, just like black guns, are assault knives. Right?


18 posted on 03/15/2017 5:55:35 AM PDT by shelterguy
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To: shelterguy

Black knives matter.


19 posted on 03/15/2017 5:56:26 AM PDT by NCLaw441
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To: marktwain

Whitest teeth someone ever came across!


20 posted on 03/15/2017 5:56:56 AM PDT by Renegade
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