Oppressive Knife Laws

Bernard Levine Website ^ | 1998 | Bernard Levine

[hosepipe]

Check yer nives and shootin irons at the hat counter bump..

[yarddog]

When stainless steel was first used for knife blades it was not very good. I still don't think it is the very best but plenty of fine blades are made of stainless now, and it is no problem getting them to keep an edge. It can be a problem putting an edge on some of them, particularly Buck knives.

[Jibaholic]

From the Gospel of Bill: Bring Not A Knife To A Gun Fight. There is a reason why most concealed carry classes focus on a range of 7 yards - one lesson (the Tueller Drill) is that a fit adult can close 7 yards before you can draw and fire an aimed shot. The lesson of the Tueller Drill: don't bring a gun to a knife fight.

[nevergore]

I've always have carried an automatic knife......

[Chode]

my only edged weapon...PumaTAC1

[Hypervigilant]

I have some of these Kershaw Spring Assist knives:

http://www.bladehq.com/item--Kershaw-Avalanche-Spring--144

Easy one-hand operation.

[Lurker]

It can be done, but it takes some work with a good Arkansas stone.

L

[tpaine]

Zon wrote:

Very good article. It applies far beyond the narrow scope of knives.
Many people on this forum would agree with its narrow scope but contradict themselves on it's wider application to issues such as the war on drugs, anti-smoking laws, pornography and other inalienable rights.

"-- puritanism's unbroken record of failure will not stop people from trying again and again.
Every new generation is born with faith in the power of magic words -- written laws -- to prevent sin.
And every American generation for the past century and a half has produced its own new wave of oppressive and futile [prohibitive] laws. --"

As you note Zon, great essay..
Lets see what some of FR's foremost prohibitionists have to say about the war on knives..

[muawiyah]

The writer certainly put together a lot of stuff on knives, but he attributed the anti-knife legislation of the early part of the 20th century to "bombings".

Things like that always make me begin doubting the "conclusions" in such pieces ~ not necessarily the "facts" or "factoids", but the secondary results of too-casual analysis of the situation.

Frankly, once you've missed being "bombed" you develop a clear-cut aversion to the idea that bombers should be allowed to run loose.

The Democrats, on the other hand, think nothing of mad bombers getting Presidential pardons or commutations of sentence. We even have a case where one convicted bomber became a serious campaign advisor to the highest levels of the Democratic party (SEE: Brent Kimberlin for example).

[Armedanddangerous]

Get a SOG Flash II. Its my favorite assisted opening folder.

As fast as an auto, without the legal troubles.

I have three of them.

[robertpaulsen]

"possession of a slingshot is a felony in New Jersey."

In Devon, Connecticut, it is unlawful to walk backwards after sunset.

In St. Louis, it's illegal to sit on the curb of any city street and drink beer from a bucket.

It's illegal in Wilbur, Washington, to ride an ugly horse.

So there.

[festus]

;It's illegal in Wilbur, Washington, to ride an ugly horse.

Well I guess thats one place Camilla is safe.

[Concho]

Check out the Columbia River (CRKT) Assisted Openers. I have both the Wild Weasel and the Voodoo. Faster than a switchblade. Always handy, and very good steel. Like the credit card, ya shouldnt leave home without it.

[razorback-bert]

Can you own one of these up your way yet?

[CrazyIvan]

Thanks. Didn't know SOG made one. I would love to have a Boker Automatic, but laws here don't permit.

[aviator]

Check out Emerson Knives. Fastest draw out of the pocket around with the "wave" feature. Superb quality knife!

[conservativeharleyguy]

"There is a reason why most concealed carry classes focus on a range of 7 yards-one lesson (the Tueller Drill) is that a fit adult can close 7 yards before you can draw and fire an aimed shot. The lesson of the Tueller Drill: don't bring a gun to a knife fight".

Thank you. I'm glad someone gets it.

I'm in no way advocating "knife control". I love and collect knives myself, but in nearly thirty years of military/police/security work, I've been stabbed twice, once in the arm, and once in the leg. I've seen a number of others stabbed as well.

When I was a much younger man, I was an SRT Officer. We routinely trained for just that eventuality. From any distance inside of about 7-10 yards, pretty much any even semi-decent knife-fighter can close on you and stick you before you can draw and put even one round in him. You might kill him, but you will get stuck, probably more than once, and it'll hurt like a bitch. If you come up against a proficient one (there are those who study the techniques very diligently...like convicts), it could be far worse.

Knowing that, I'm always amazed when the news automatically portrays a police shooting of a "mere" knife-wielding assailant as "excessive force". There may very well be such cases, but it's far easier to point a "blanket" finger of blame than to examine the dynamics of a deadly force encounter with a knife wielder.

Just try to make a split second "shoot-no-shoot decision in the face of an onrushing blade. Then compound it with having to choose between your service sidearm, a "less-than-lethal" alternative (i.e. Taser, chem, PR-24, etc.), or even the ludicrous "warning or disabling shot".

If you don't believe it, train for it sometime. You'll be surprised. I've always maintained that anyone who says "never bring a knife to a gunfight" has never been in a gunfight or been stabbed.

All of that said, I always have (since I was a small child), and always will carry some form of edged weapon.

[Armedanddangerous]

There are several different blade lengths and several different models of assisted openers.

There are lots of options, even if you can only carry a sub 2 inch folder. And they are really reasonably priced.

[The Antiyuppie]

I recall that in some state I lived in, it was legal to own a switchblade - but only if you were missing an arm! I saw one that I liked in a store in Atlanta - and the clerk said "you can't carry it, though". So I asked her, "so how do I get it out of the store"? The clerk just got totally confused. The girl I was with though that was pretty funny...

[elmer fudd]

lol Some knives are inherently dangerous? Nooooo. I just can't believe it.

Well, there was a Russian knife called the pilum that was available back in the 80's that probably did qualify as inherently dangerous. When you activated a lever a powerful spring inside would actually shoot the blade out of the handle at a respectable velocity. From what I've read of it though you were more likely to accidentally discharge it than you were to actually shoot it at anything.

Interestingly they are now extremely illegal and you'll do more time for having one than you would for possessing an illegal machinegun. You can look up the details by googling "ballistic knife".