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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 The case is not precedential, and is unlikely to be appealed.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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To: teeman8r
where are the tars and feathers...

Right next to the corsets and girdles.

21 posted on 03/15/2017 5:59:07 AM PDT by papertyger (The semantics define how we think.)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie; marktwain
Now, now...

I’m sure that Judge Lillian Harris Ransom has more talent picking cotton up trash in the parks/on the road-side than in jurisprudence.

One that does not understand, or uphold, the Constitution sure can't claim its protections, no?
22 posted on 03/15/2017 6:00:22 AM PDT by i_robot73 ("A man chooses. A slave obeys." - Andrew Ryan)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie
I’m sure that Judge Lillian Harris Ransom has more talent picking cotton than in jurisprudence

Not really. She has absolutely no experience or ability in either field! In neither endeavor would she be "Out, standing in her field."

23 posted on 03/15/2017 6:01:43 AM PDT by BwanaNdege ("The church ... is not the master or the servant of the state, but the conscience" - Luther)
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To: marktwain
they “serve no common lawful purpose”.

Slicing through your seat belt in 0.6 seconds after your car lands in the water.


24 posted on 03/15/2017 6:04:03 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: marktwain

What really gets the libs is an automatic knife with more than a 10 round clip and silencer.


25 posted on 03/15/2017 6:05:47 AM PDT by redfreedom
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To: teeman8r; All

To give the judge a small benefit of some doubt, Pennsylvania law defines automatic knives as having “no common use”.

The judge cited that law.

Also, it appears that not much of a defense was written to support the appeal. There is an excellent article by David Kopel, for example, that I did not see cited anywhere.

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2013/11/knives-and-second-amendment-by-kopel.html

So, the judge just ruled on the Penn law, instead of doing serious research - which is really the defense’ job to provide.


26 posted on 03/15/2017 6:05:58 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: marktwain

Aren’t there some jurisdictions where locking knives, even if manual, are illegal? They want you to cut off your own fingers with your pocket knife!


27 posted on 03/15/2017 6:10:13 AM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: marktwain

It’s “right to bear arms” not “right to bear firearms”.

“Arms” is kind of generic.


28 posted on 03/15/2017 6:11:22 AM PDT by fruser1
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To: marktwain

The problem is not the implement, it’s the human agent. This judge, like SO MANY OTHERS, is a total ass. Just another slip and fall attorney with political connections, an agenda and no ability to think.


29 posted on 03/15/2017 6:13:52 AM PDT by ZULU (Particular circumstances can never be used to justify an act that is intrinsically evil.)
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To: marktwain
I wonder if the perpetrator was white or black..??
30 posted on 03/15/2017 6:20:23 AM PDT by unread (Joe McCarthy was right.......)
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To: 21twelve
I would be just as afraid to carry this into Texas as Pennsylvania. The trunk full of ammo and guns would be disregarded and I would be sent up the river for a spring loaded piece of sharp steel!

(no batteries required)

31 posted on 03/15/2017 6:27:41 AM PDT by Delta 21 (The minority demands NOTHING !)
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To: Nailbiter
Do auto knives come with magazines,

That, or a bayonet lug. Those things are dangerous.

32 posted on 03/15/2017 6:28:10 AM PDT by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
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To: unread

I wonder if the perpetrator was white or black..??


Black.


33 posted on 03/15/2017 6:29:45 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: marktwain
Appellant’s Brief at 9. However, Appellant’s reliance on Heller is misplaced, as offensive weapons are not covered by the constitutional right to bear arms.

What exactly is the difference between an "offensive" weapon and presumably a "defensive" weapon? I would challenge the mental midgets of the court to find any weapon that is only usable as one or the other. In short, their decision is based on not just one but two erroneous premise - 1) that a weapon can be classified as strictly offensive or defensive in nature. 2) that our Constitutionally protected rights only extend to non-offensive weapons.

In its discussion of the Second Amendment, the Heller Court explained that “the Second Amendment right, whatever its nature, extends only to certain types of weapons,” those “typically possessed by law-abiding citizens.” Heller, 128 S. Ct.

The Heller court couldn't be more wrong. The 2nd Amendment makes no such distinction. Keep and bear arms, period. Not, "keep and bear arms that meet these criteria..."

As such, the Constitutional right to bear arms affords no protection to “weapons not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.” Id. at 2815–16

This argument is exactly, EXACTLY why the 2nd Amendment was written. "We're only going to limit you to what law-abiding people would have." Of course, we make up the laws and define what is law-abiding or not... Which is the exact reason the 2nd Amendment was written - to protect our innate right to keep and bear arms (note, unqualified "arms") and prevent the government - the law makers - from defining what was law-abiding or not and thus infringing upon that right.

Our Supreme Court has likewise recognized a limitation to the Second Amendment. “While the right to bear arms enjoys constitutional protection, like many other constitutional rights, it is not beyond regulation.”

Couldn't disagree more. Preventing such "regulation" is exactly why these rights are explicitly protected. The SCOTUS royally screwed the pooch on that one. It is embarrassing.

It is apparent from a review of Section 908 that “offensive weapons,” as defined in Pennsylvania, are atypical. They are not possessed by lawabiding citizens for lawful purposes and...

Well, that argument is false on it's face. Every one and every thing is law-abiding unless and until a law is made preventing it. Carrying a particular tool (knife, gun, screwdriver, tape measure...) is not a criminal act. There are numerous purposes for having any of those items that are not criminal in nature. The crime is created out of whole cloth by simply banning the possession of the item. It then becomes a circular justification for the "law."

The statute defines an offensive weapon, including “a dagger, knife, razor or cutting instrument, the blade of which is exposed in an automatic way by switch, push-button, spring mechanism, or otherwise.”

If you have ever had one hand full/busy/pinned/disabled in any way and need a knife, you'd appreciate having one that opens easily. Automatic, even simply assisted-opening knives are a tremendous safety enhancement. For every scenario they could contrive where such a knife is used illegally and it's "automatic" nature is necessary to the crime, I can come up with one where such a feature saves life and limb.

34 posted on 03/15/2017 6:30:18 AM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Doing my part to help make America great again!)
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To: rjsimmon

can i get one with a silencer or suppressor, or does that require a 200.00 fee to atf


35 posted on 03/15/2017 6:32:28 AM PDT by Nailbiter
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To: Delta 21

I would be just as afraid to carry this into Texas as Pennsylvania.


I believe Knife Rights was able to have the Texas ban on automatic knives repealed two years ago.

http://staging.akti.org/news/texas-legislation-would-remove-switchbade-restrictions/


36 posted on 03/15/2017 6:33:49 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: marktwain

One word, “protection”! What ever it takes to protect one’s self from violence. What if he used a #18 Stilson wrench instead? I could never understand the big deal of a switchblade, when a lockback can open with the movement of your thumb just as quick.


37 posted on 03/15/2017 6:51:08 AM PDT by Bringbackthedraft (Again it disapeared? Damn cursor is in cahoots with the tag line.)
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To: Bringbackthedraft

I could never understand the big deal of a switchblade, when a lockback can open with the movement of your thumb just as quick.
________________________________________________________

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-switchblades-were-banned.html

Good synopsis of how it happened.


38 posted on 03/15/2017 7:13:50 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: marktwain

I was hearing news that they were trying. Still riding high on Kansas Constitutional carry (just updated my CCL, regardless - hoping for national reciprocity.

I travel from Ks down to El Paso and always leave my frog poker at home. It seems I am still outside the Texas law.

“Still illegal per Sec. 46.01(6)(C) are “dagger, including but not limited to dirk, stiletto and poniard.” There are no definitions for these knives in Texas law. Exercise caution as it is generally accepted that dagger includes any double-edged knife (and any double-edged switchblade would probably still be considered an illegal dagger).”

Some cops have $hitty days and I do my best to try to plan on not being on the receiving end of any authoritative legal explanations.

Still my fault. I should have just got the single edge blade. Double edged weapons are scary! The Bible uses them in comparison to the awesome power of the word of God.


39 posted on 03/15/2017 7:17:49 AM PDT by Delta 21 (The minority demands NOTHING !)
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To: marktwain

Switchblades are legal here in Maine.

The same law that was signed in 2015 for Constitutional
Carry also made switchblades legal.


40 posted on 03/15/2017 7:22:15 AM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation ("You can't fix America without pissing off the people who broke it".....Bill Mitchell)
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