·11250 Waples Mill Road · Fairfax, Virginia 22030 ·800-392-8683
Posted on 10/22/2009 12:10:59 PM PDT by neverdem
Fairfax, Va. – This week the United States Senate passed crucial legislation that will protect pocketknives used by tens of millions of Americans. The amendment, actively supported by the National Rifle Association, was included in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill and will keep pocketknives from being classified as illegal switchblades. U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) authored the amendment and were instrumental in its passage through Congress. U.S. Congressmen Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) also played vital roles in the amendment’s passage in the House.
"This amendment was necessary to prevent commonly-used pocketknives from being branded as illegal switchblades," said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist. "The National Rifle Association is grateful to Senators Cornyn, Pryor and Hatch and Congressmen Latta and Minnick, whose leadership fixed a provision that would have criminalized tens of millions of law-abiding Americans -- including millions of hunters and sportsmen."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) proposed amending the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958 earlier this year, which would have changed the interpretation of the definition of switchblade knives to include assisted-opening knives. Assisted-opening knives are frequently used by hunters, anglers, farmers, ranchers, firefighters, law enforcement and emergency personnel and others who may need to open a knife with only one hand. The measure, which will prevent this re-classification, now awaits President Obama’s signature.
-NRA-
Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen's group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation's leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military.
Interesting. I have an assist pocketknife—was told not to take it into California (neighboring state) when I bought it.
I understand the reason but doesn’t that render switchblades vs assisted-opening knives as a distinction without a difference?
Interesting. I have an assist pocketknife—was told not to take it into California (neighboring state) when I bought it.
No discussion of the reasonably apparent fact that the law against switchblades doesn’t make a great deal of sense.
If you want to stab someone, the 1/2 second needed to open a knife manually rather than by spring action wouldn’t seem to be much of a deterrent.
I carried a 4” folding Buck hunter to high school in a belt sheath every day. I assume it would have done at least as good a job of stabbing someone as any switchblade. Somehow I managed to restrain myself.
The best assisted openers, if anyone is looking to buy one, are the Kershaw models designed by Ken Onion.
www.kershawknives.com
But you still can’t take a butter knife into a school. A sharpened pencil or a metal compass is fine, but definitely not a butter knife.
The best assisted openers, if anyone is looking to buy one, are the Kershaw models designed by Ken Onion.
www.kershawknives.com
In a real world, the law should simply be repealed.
No criminal uses a “switch blade” any more.
Or of the reasonably apparent fact that their claim of authority to regulate them (they have a "substantial effect on interstate commerce") doesn't appear particulary sound, either.
Who would have ever thought that in the United States we would have to have a law protecting the use of pocket knives.?
“Interesting. I have an assist pocketknife—was told not to take it into California (neighboring state) when I bought it.”
I live in California, and you can buy them here. As long as there is no spring to assist the blade to open it is good to go.
But i am sure that as I write this, some troll in Sacramento is drafting “assault knife” legislation to address this very issue.
True, of course, which shows as far back as the 50s the Constitution was often ignored when the populace got into a moral panic.
BTW, who would have thought at the time that the “juvenile delinquency” everyone was so panicked about would in retrospect appear almost cute and cuddly?
Who said the tripe they call legislation has to make sense or even be in accord with the U.S. Constitution? That's why I'm eager for the SCOTUS decision on McDonald v. Chicago.
I believe they will incorporate the Second Amendment with it, even though that was the explicit intent of the 14th Amendment, i.e. making the first eight amendments of the Bill of Rights apply to the states.
Two other Second Amendment cases are still in SCOTUS' docket: NRA v. Chicago and Maloney v. Rice, as it was recently called. Maloney, a lawyer who had fighting sticks like Bruce Lee, variously called names like nun-chucks, etc., is questioning NY's law against them.
“The best assisted openers, if anyone is looking to buy one, are the Kershaw models designed by Ken Onion....”
I’ve got one his BOA’s. Kinda pricy but one of the best knives I’ve had in quite awhile. It’s used and abused, but that puppy stays sharp.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) proposed amending the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958 earlier this year, which would have changed the interpretation of the definition of switchblade knives to include assisted-opening knives.”
Customs is proposing legislation...right
I laughed when I first heard this, but it’s not really funny. We needed to send them a nice little message. Do your job, enforce the laws made by the peoples house and STFU.
I think they just got sent the message
Why in pluperfect hell is there a federal law restricting what kind of knife I can carry?? I should be able to carry ANY weapon ANYwhere, ANYtime for ANY reason. What I should NOT be able to do is USE that weapon to commit a crime. Where does this federal power exist in the constitution? This country is becoming a madhouse...a madhouse!
< /rant,random caps,and mixed movie references >
;^)
O2
I believe there is enormous confusion about what this applies to, creating inapplicable hysteria about “thumb-opening” models.
The concept behind a “switchblade” is that, held back awaiting only a button press, the blade “wants” to fly open - it has a “bias” toward opening if only the button is activated.
Of late, “assisted opening” designs (see Kershaw) emerged which sought to encroach on that self-opening style while staying just this side of legal. The design creates a “switchless” opener which, when closed, tends to stay closed - but a little movement of the blade shifts the position from the “bias to close” position to the “bias to open” position (a little hard to describe). It’s that for 95% of the range of motion of the blade, it wants to open wide up and stay there (a la switchblade), but for the first 5% of the range of motion of the blade (at the just-about-closed positions) it instead wants to close. As a result, it acts a whole lot like a switchblade without being one.
This latter design irks those tasked with suppressing trade in switchblades because it’s so close to the line without crossing it ... so they decided to just deem that new design a violation anyway and start suppressing millions of dollars in such business.
Due to overzealous customs agents, congressmen were persuaded to tweak the switchblade laws to clarify where exactly one [illegal] design ends and another [legal] design begins.
All this is not to be confused (which it is) with “thumb openers” which do not have any particular inherent bias to open, but got caught up in the ignorance and hysteria enjoyed by a justifiably paranoid industry and clientele.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.