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A fifth-grader in Cupertino, California was suspended and threatened with expulsion for bringing a small Swiss Army knife on a school-sponsored, science-oriented camping trip. In early April, Braden Bandermann’s class set off on Garden Gate Elementary School’s annual, week-long pilgrimage for fifth-graders to Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco. Before leaving, Braden did what any Silicon Valley 10-year-old faced with the perils of nature might do: He packed his trusty Swiss Army knife. As any camper knows, the multi-tool device is nothing if not versatile. Braden’s particular model contains a can opener, tweezers, a toothpick, a nail file, a...

CHICAGO, - A Chicago teacher's lawsuit alleges he was suspended for showing his second graders a pocket knife "as part of a curriculum-mandated 'tool discussion.'" Douglas Bartlett, who was suspended without pay from Washington Irving Elementary School during the 2011-2012 school year, filed a federal lawsuit against Chicago School District No. 299 and principal Valeria Newell, the Courthouse News Service reported Thursday. The suit calls the suspension of Bartlett, a 17-year veteran of the school district, a case of "overzealous application of political correctness.""Plaintiff, a school teacher, showed to his students a pocket knife, as part of a curriculum-mandated 'tool...

Witness Cesar Pena [Pic] A woman suspected of holding a knife to her 3-year old daughter’s throat was in court Friday, listening as her husband described what happened. Cesar Pena told the court his wife Stephanie discovered that he was planning to take a trip. She got upset and grabbed their daughter, holding a knife to her throat, and demanding he change his travel plans.

At least 14 people were injured, four of them seriously, in stabbing attacks at a community college campus in a Houston suburb on Tuesday, the authorities said.

At least 12 people were wounded Tuesday in stabbings on the campus of Lone Star College Cy-Fair near Houston, local media outlets are reporting. As many as 14 people were hurt in the stabbing spree. Police say they have arrested a suspect. One victim is reportedly in critical condition. It was initially thought that there was a second attacker still at large, but officials now believe the attacks have ended. Officials put the school on lockdown in the aftermath of the attacks, telling students to stay away from the area. Those already on campus were told to seek shelter immediately....

This weekend Knife Rights issued an alert regarding a repeal of the ban on switchblades in Texas. They are asking that those who reside, work, or travel to Texas contact the legislators below urging their support for HB 1862 which would repeal the ban. I'm glad to see that Knife Rights is working so hard on the second front for the Second Amendment. In Texas, Knife Rights supported HB1862 has been scheduled for a hearing this Tuesday, April 9, before the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence. HB1862, sponsored by Representative Harold Dutton Jr., will repeal the antiquated, senseless ban...

UPDATE (April 2, 2013) – Yesterday was a landmark day for Alaskan knife owners. HB 33 and SB 11 were combined. What is needed now before the session ends on April 14 is for HB 33 to pass the Senate and receive a concurrence in the House. Doing so will make it legal for an adult 18 years and older to own a Switchblades and Gravity knife. The American Knife & Tool Institute continues to stay in touch with Rep. Mark Neuman’s office to provide support. Alaska Bill Would Better Define Gravity and Switchblade Knives and Enact Knife Preemption“House Bill...

Police are looking for the man who approached a woman waiting at a bus stop in Queens early Monday, forced her to a nearby cemetery and raped her at knifepoint...

March 27, 2013: HELP US MOVE TENNESSEE KNIFE RIGHTS BILL: Knife Rights has just received word that HB0581, a Knife Rights requested bill that would enact Knife Law Preemption, repeal Tennessee's antiquated ban on automatic knives (switchblades) and repeal the the state's four-inch knife length limitation, is being held in the Tennessee House Ways and Means Committee. If you live, work or travel in Tennessee, please call Ways and Means Committee Chairman Mike Harrison at 615-741-7480 and politely request that he move HB0581 to a vote in the committee. If you get voice mail please leave a message for him...

That’s the title of my forthcoming article in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. My co-authors are Clayton Cramer and Joe Olson. The abstract: This Article is the first scholarly analysis of knives and the Second Amendment. Knives are clearly among the “arms” which are protected by the Second Amendment. Under the Supreme Court’s standard in District of Columbia v. Heller, knives are Second Amendment “arms” because they are “typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes,” including self-defense. Bans of knives which open in a convenient way (bans on switchblades, gravity knives, and butterfly knives) are unconstitutional....

NASHVILLE — The state Senate has approved and sent to the House a bill rewriting Tennessee’s knife laws to eliminate a prohibition against switchblades and to assure that knives with blades longer than 4 inches can be carried for self-protection. Current law makes possession of a switchblade a misdemeanor crime. Carrying a knife with a blade over 4 inches in length can be a felony if it’s “for the purpose of going armed.” Sen. Mike Bell, the Riceville Republican sponsor of the bill, says that carrying a knife for self-defense meets that definition, although current law also says a longer...

Nathan Bibeau of Lewiston, Maine said he made an unsettling discovery during his son Cayden’s 2nd birthday celebration. After the toddler blew out the candles, his Elmo-themed cake was cut and four pieces in, he found a paring knife inside the dessert. So the party was paused and Bibeau called the Auburn Walmart bakery where he purchased the cake to inform them -snip While the father says he understands that mistakes can happen and will still shop at Walmart, he has contacted a lawyer and is considering legal action.

<p>The Transportation Security Administration announced Tuesday that U.S. airline passengers will soon be allowed to carry small knives in their carry-on bags, a move that prompted swift condemnation from a flight attendants union.</p> <p>The union for Southwest Airlines flight attendants called the decision "dangerous" and "designed to make the lives of TSA staff easier, but not make flights safer."</p>

Waianae, Hawaii - Emergency Medical Services officials say a 19-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition after a stabbing at Waianae High School Friday. Honolulu police responded just before 12:30 p.m. The Department of Education says two students, both 19-year-old men, got into an altercation during class time right before lunch.  They were outside near the basketball court. The suspect stabbed the victim with a pocketknife, according to the DOE.  The victim suffered lacerations and taken to Queen's Medical Center.

Repercussions from a Henan school knife attack that injured 23 pupils last month are still being felt as Beijing security officials announced on Wednesday that every kindergarten, and primary and middle school in China will hire at least one full-time security officer. The officials, from the Central Comprehensive Social Management Commission that oversees law enforcement, said they had ordered a nationwide crackdown on crimes in neighbourhoods near schools. Illegal businesses and hazardous roads and construction projects nearby are also being inspected. The announcement, reported by the People’s Daily on Thursday, comes weeks after a man stormed into a village school...

BURLINGTON - A deaf man was stabbed several times Wednesday after another man mistook sign language for gang signs, according to police. The victim was walking down East Morehead Street at 5:10 p.m., using sign language with another man who was also deaf, said Burlington police staff Sgt. Mark Yancey.

REV AL SHARPTON (28 Dec 2012): In any civilized society you do not see massacres continue to happen, from Tucson to Aurora to Columbine to Virginia Tech to where we are now in Newtown to Chicago and you keep the same laws when clearly they're not working. ROSCOE IN MARYLAND: What happens when the criminal goes to knives Al? REV AL SHARPTON: Then you deal with knives. ROSCOE IN MARYLAND: Oh I see. REV AL SHARPTON: The same thing as if you have a head cold and the same thing you do if you have a head cold and the...

Back in my less sophisticated days (shocking as it may seem, I wasn’t always the mature, statesmanlike figure I am today), I sometimes resorted to silly arguments when debating gun control, such as, “does this mean you want to ban knives since they also can be used to kill people?” Smarter opponents would scoff and accuse me of knocking down straw men, assuming a non-existent slippery slope, or engaging in reductio ad absurdum.I wasn’t even sure what the last one meant, but I secretly felt chagrined because I also thought the argument was nonsense. But it’s not like we had...

A knife-wielding man slashed 22 children and an adult at an elementary school in central China on Friday, state media reported, the latest in a series of attacks on schoolchildren in the country. The man attacked the children at the gate of a school in Chenpeng village in Henan province, the Xinhua news agency reported. Police arrested a 36-year-old man, identified as villager Min Yingjun, Xinhua said. It did not give further details of the extent of the injuries. There have been a series of attacks on schools and schoolchildren around China in recent years, some by people who have...

Gilbert, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- In a victory for law-abiding knife owners, the California Court of Appeals last week reversed a lower court’s absurd expansive ruling that a knife that could be “wrist-flicked” open was a “switchblade.” The lower court made the faulty ruling despite an explicit provision in California law that distinguishes and protects one-hand opening and assisted-opening knives with a bias towards closure and despite prior Appellate Court rulings upholding that exception. These common folding knives represent over 80% of the U.S. market and the legislature clearly wanted them to be legal when they clarified the original switchblade law.: “Switchblade...

Hidden in among all the recent election news was the defeat of NH State Representative Jenn Coffey (R-Merrimack) who had led the successful fight to reform New Hampshire's knife laws. Coffey, the winner of Blade Magazine's 2011 Publisher's Award, had sponsored the bill that removed penalties for both possession and selling switchblades, dirks, daggers, and stilettos. Her bill which passed and was signed by the governor of New Hampshire changed the emphasis from the tool to the crime. In addition, Coffey is the National Legislative Director for the Second Amendment Sisters. She has written a book, Knives, Lipstick, and Liberty...

POLICE are trying to find a home invader who was badly hurt when he tried to force his way past an 83-year-old black belt home owner last night. The home invader, a muscular man in his thirties who may be linked to other burglaries, broke into the high-set home in Gilruth Rd, Kenmore at about 8.30pm. Inside were Edwin Dowdy, 83, and his wife Jutta, 76, who have in the property in the quiet Kenmore street since 1966. When the couple - who both have black belts in the Japanese art of Aikido - realised there was an intruder in...

A man who was attacked with a knife after someone barreled into his parked car and then shot the aggressor apparently acted in self defense, police said Monday. Santa Fe police say a 33-year-old man driving a red Toyota Tacoma pickup slammed into a parked car in the 100 block of Candelario Street at about 9:15 p.m. Sunday. The driver, who’s name was not released Monday morning, continued to the dead-end of the street, turned around and was confronted by the owner of the parked Nissan sedan, according to Sgt. Andrea Dobyns. “He saw the red Tacoma trying to leave...

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — When a robber pulled a 10-inch knife on a store clerk, the clerk pulled a gun and chased him from the store. Sheriff’s deputies spent much of Monday afternoon watching the video and trying to identify the robber. Deputies said the suspect put the knife to the throat of the 63-year-old clerk.

DENISON, TX-Bystanders rushed to the aid of a Denison woman who was stabbed during an altercation Monday afternoon. The names of both people involved in the stabbing have been released. Denison police say 64-year-old James Livingston of Sherman allegedly stabbed 31-year-old Sarra Armstrong of Denison. Investigators said bystanders got involved in the incident trying to protect Armstrong from further injuries. It was a typical Monday afternoon for John Polonchak until someone ran into his automotive store saying a woman had just been stabbed. "I had a concealed carry permit so I grabbed my weapon, ran down the road, saw a...

"Unexpected Swallowing of a Knife" -- that's a grabbier title than most ones you see in medical journals. The short item, a clinical image in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, explains that a 30-year-old woman with a history of bulimia had been bragging to friends that she no longer had a gag reflex. She put the knife into her mouth and then laughed -- at which point she swallowed the knife.

A teenager has been arrested after killing nine people and wounding four others in a knife attack in northeast China, state media reported Thursday. The 17-year-old, who was identified only by his surname Li, barged into the home of his girlfriend armed with a knife following an argument and killed two relatives of the girl, the Legal Daily said. As he left his girlfriend's home in Liaoning province's Xinbin county, he stabbed six more people to death and wounded five, it said. One of the injured died Thursday in hospital, the paper said. Li was arrested near the scene of...

July 11, 2012: Knife Rights is pleased to announce the filing of Pennsylvania HB2548 which would repeal the Keystone State's ban on the possession of automatic knives and enact Knife Rights' signature Knife Preemption Law. The legislation was drafted by Knife Rights Director of Legislative Affairs, Todd Rathner, and was introduced by Rep Michelle Brooks (R-17). Bipartisan Co-sponsors include Rep. Marc Gergely (D-35) and Rep. Jeff Pyle (R-60). Addition co-sponsors can be found on the bill's sponsor page. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Brooks said, "when Knife Rights brought to my attention the need to reform Pennsylvania's knife laws, I was...

Competitors Try to Best Each Other in Slicing Water Bottles, Tennis Balls; Bisecting a Grape Donavon Phillips windmilled his arms. He hopped a few times to get the blood flowing in his legs. A light sweat formed under his black-and-red jersey—just the right dew. "You can't go into this cold, because it's an all-out sport," said Mr. Phillips, pulling his right arm across his chest. He was warming up for a cutthroat event: the 10th annual World Championship Cutting Competition. It takes razor-sharp focus to be a cutting champ, along with a blade that resembles a bulkier, sharper version of...

Michael Schmidt says he has no idea why a man he passed while walking his dog Sunday night turned around and attacked him. "He came up behind, put his left arm over my chest, took his right arm, and slashed my throat from left to right," Schmidt explained. The attack happened at about 11 p.m. Sunday in the 1200 block of West Byron Street. As Schmidt gripped his throat, he said his attacker just stood there for several seconds, watching his victim bleed profusely. "He just had this sneer on his face. I think he was amazed that I didn't...

In Delaware, carrying any knife — including a kitchen knife or a paring knife or anything other than a closed folding knife with a blade of 3 inches or shorter — concealed is a felony, even in your home, unless you have a concealed weapons license. 11 Del. Code § 1442 provides, A person is guilty of carrying a concealed deadly weapon when the person carries concealed a deadly weapon upon or about the person without a license to do so as provided by § 1441 of this title. And 11 Del. Code § 222(5) defines “deadly weapon” to include...

A teen was arrested Tuesday night in Fort Smith after police say he attempted to rob Chaffee Liquor with a knife. The store manager pulled a gun on the attempted aggravated robber then called police. Cpl. Steven Dooly says the 16-year-old went into Chaffee Liquor on the corner of Massard and Zero Street around 8:20 p.m. Manager Jerry Hurlocker told police the teen walked to the counter with a folding lock blade knife and threatened him with it saying, ‘Give me all your f—ing money!’ according to the report. After a second threat, Hurlocker reached under a shelf and picked...

He has completed the community service, and he has paid the fine. Because of the way that Clayton Baltzer sees the world, he believes this must be part of God’s plan. Still, the Grove City High School graduate now has a New York weapons charge on his record. Baltzer, 19, is a Bible-college student — a camping-ministry major — and took his pocketknife to New York City on a field trip. He did not know about New York’s strict knife laws. He now has some fame among knife-rights advocates because of what happened to him. “I have never been in...

Atlanta, GA --(Ammoland.com)- Knife Rights is pleased to announce that Jason Hobbs is the recipient of its inaugural Carry a Knife – Save a Life Award which was presented at the Knife Rights Sharper Future Awards Breakfast on June 9th during BLADE Show in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Hobbs, of Leander, Texas, is being honored for the use of his Spyderco Caly 3.5 one-hand opening, lock blade pocket knife to save the life of his 6-year-old son Rivers who was attacked by a mountain lion on February 5, 2012. The Carry a Knife – Save a Life Award is to be...

Atlanta, GA --(Ammoland.com)- Knife Rights is pleased to announce that Roger Claunch is the recipient of its 2012 Freedom’s Guardian Award which was presented at the Knife Rights Sharper Future Awards Breakfast on June 9th during BLADE Show in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Claunch is the founder and owner of KnifeWorks.com, a knife retailer located in Columbia, Louisiana. The annual Freedom’s Guardian award honors a knife manufacturer or industry partner that has demonstrated their commitment to a Sharper Future by their support of the fight to protect or enhance our knife rights. Knife Rights Chairman Doug Ritter said, “Since the day...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A quick-thinking customer at an Orlando 7-Eleven stopped an armed robbery by kicking a knife out of the crook's hand and chasing him out of the store with a wine bottle. The good Samaritan's actions helped thwart a robbery at the 7-Eleven on South Orange Avenue just after 2 a.m. Thursday. Surveillance cameras captured the whole confrontation on video. In the surveillance video, the crook with a white bandana covering his face walks into the convenience store and pulls out a knife and demands cash from the clerk and a customer. But as soon as he...

New York, NY --(Ammoland.com)- America’s premier knife owners’ organization defending the right to own and use edged tools – announced it has bolstered support for its federal civil rights lawsuit to stop New York City officials from abusing a vague state law to make questionable arrests of law-abiding citizens carrying common pocket knives, and coerce knife retailers into making huge payments to avoid prosecution. An amended complaint adding two additional plaintiffs to the case was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 23 2012. New plaintiff Native Leather, Ltd., is one of...

A Stafford County man was shot and killed late Tuesday after he tried to stab a man who had refused to give him money, police said. Christopher Rigby, 29, of no fixed address, was pronounced dead shortly after being shot in the chest in the parking lot of Earl’s True Value on Chatham Heights Road in southern Stafford about 11 p.m. View Larger Map Sheriff Charles Jett said a young couple were in a vehicle parked in the part of the lot farthest from the hardware store when they noticed a couple of men walking around. The men eventually walked...

Virginia's General Assembly has finally purged the remnants of gun control from its books. The meaningless one-gun-a-month purchase restriction was repealed last session, and two years ago, Gov. Bob McDonnell signed a law granting concealed-carry permit holders permission to eat in restaurants that serve alcohol. Now it’s time for lawmakers to fix the state’s knife laws that are so irrational, they make walking around with a box cutter in one’s pocket a crime punishable by a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. The need for change is real. In the late 1990s, a man was convicted in Richmond for...

The Missouri General Assembly passed several pro-gun measures, sending them to Governor Jay Nixon before adjournment of the 2012 legislative session. Senate Bill 489 contains important Right-to-Carry reforms by honoring all live-fire training exercises as part of the concealed carry course prior to changes made in the training requirements last year. SB 489 would also legalize the ownership of auto-opening, switchblade knives throughout Missouri. House Bill 1647, would lower the Right-to-Carry age requirement from 21 to 18 years old for active duty military who are residents of or stationed in Missouri. It would also remove penalties for an accidental exposure...

An Arab terrorist was seriously wounded by his own knife when he tried to stab a soldier and dozens of bicyclists near Gush Etzion, all of whom escaped injury. The cyclists were riding from the Hevron Hills to Jerusalem to celebrate the 45th Jerusalem Unification Day. Soldiers escorted the bicycle event, and when the rider reached Gush Etzion, located only a few miles from Jerusalem, the terrorist took out his knife and lunged at soldiers. During the clash, his knife entered his stomach, wounding him seriously. Israel medics rushed him to Hadassah...

WATSONVILLE — Charges won’t be filed in the stabbing death of Brandon Gil in March, because investigators have determined that the suspect acted in self-defense. Watsonville Police Chief Manny Solano said Thursday that investigators determined that on March 31, after words were exchanged, Gil and another man, Ricardo Flores, attacked Frank Garcia first, outside El Miramar Restaurant and Bar on Main Street. Gil allegedly stabbed Frank Garcia in the upper body, and Garcia defended himself. “(Garcia) responded in fear of his life,” Solano said, adding that “this was a beef within the gang.” The three men are all associated with...

Police have released surveillance photos of two suspects in the stabbing of four Guardian Angels at a Red Line station on the Near North Side. The four suffered minor cuts during the confrontation around 11:15 p.m. Tuesday at the Clark and Division stop, police said, citing preliminary information. The Guardian Angels were on the platform, waiting to get on a train, when they spotted a man hitting a passenger and taking his iPhone 4S, police said. They intervened and a second man pulled a knife and cut three of the Guardian Angels on their arms and the fourth on the...

Guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens can be used to save lives. On Thursday, April 26, 2012, we got more proof. An attacker bought the knife inside a local market in Salt Lake City, UT, then stabbed one man in the side of the head and another person in the stomach. The attack took place in the market parking lot. A bystander with a concealed carry permit witnessed the attack and stepped in to keep it from escalating. The bystander was suspicious of what might be going on, and when he saw the stabbing, he just drew his pistol...

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A citizen with a gun stopped a knife wielding man as he began stabbing people Thursday evening at the downtown Salt Lake City Smith's store. Police say the suspect purchased a knife inside the store and then turned it into a weapon. Smith's employee Dorothy Espinoza says, "He pulled it out and stood outside the Smiths in the foyer. And just started stabbing people and yelling you killed my people. You killed my people." Espinoza says, the knife wielding man seriously injured two people. "There is blood all over. One got stabbed in...

Most of us have heard about how the media won't report on black-on-white crime. We also may know that authorities sometimes sweep it under the rug due to political pressure, usually with a wink and a nod. But not so in rural Alabama, where the police actually told a white crime victim that they "don't mess" with a local black motorcycle gang. The tragic event that led to this shocking admission occurred on March 28, as truck driver Nick Stokes and neighbor Johnathan Cooper were heading out of Birmingham hauling a portable cabin. While rounding a curve, one of Stokes'...

The Cutting Edge March 26, 2012: Knife Rights' Georgia Knife Preemption Bill SB432 must be scheduled for a vote in the next three days or it will not become law. It is critical for you to take a moment and call the office of Georgia's Speaker of the House David Ralston and POLITELY request that he "please schedule SB432 for a vote as soon as possible." That's all the message you need to leave. Georgia House Speaker David Ralston: 404-656-5020 Email: david.ralston@house.ga.gov

Gilbert, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- The Georgia House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee hearing on SB432 will be held Tuesday, March 20. SB432 is Knife Rights’ Knife Law Preemption bill that would repeal all local knife ordinances more restrictive than state law. Knife Rights’ Director of Legislative Affairs, Todd Rathner, is in Atlanta to lobby the committee members and testify at the hearing. His job is much easier and more effective when they have already received your calls and emails. Help Todd by calling or emailing TODAY! Once again, we need your help to get this bill passed. Your calls and...

Gilbert, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- The Georgia House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee has been assigned SB432, Knife Rights’ Knife Law Preemption bill that would repeal all local knife ordinances more restrictive than state law. The committee will consider SB432 in the coming days. Once again, we need your help to get this bill passed. Your calls and emails made a big impact in the Senate. Now, please call or email and ask the members of the committee to vote YES on SB432 when it is before them for consideration. Knife Rights’ Director of Legislative Affairs, Todd Rathner, will be traveling...

Gilbert, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- Quick thinking and a one-hand opening knife saved a construction worker recently, as posted by “Seth” on BladeForums.com. Below is his post (edited for readability) “I work in construction, mostly in copper fabrication and seamless gutters, but also a bit of everything. Last Friday, I was helping a co-worker do some roofing, We were installing Permaclad sheets, a very typical roof setup here, galvanized 26 guage steel sheets with a U-panel design. The roof was somewhat steep, but it was dry and we had decent traction. The sheets were 18 feet long x 3 feet wide. I...