States Grapple With Sale and Possession of Box Cutters as a Tool for Violence

Associated Press ^ | Oct 5, 2001 | Seanna Adcox

[Terrorista Nada]

States Grapple With Sale and Possession of Box Cutters as a Tool for Violence

States Grapple With Sale and Possession of Box Cutters as a Tool for Violence

By Seanna Adcox Associated Press Writer
Published: Oct 5, 2001

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - It's a simple and versatile tool for everyone from grocery clerks to hobbyists. But in the wrong hands, box cutters can be lethal.

New scrutiny has been leveled on the razor-type gadgets over the past month after allegations that the cheap and readily available tools were used to hijack four airliners and a moving bus.

"Anything like that, you can't control what purpose they're used for," said Rich White of Bridgeford Hardware in Albany, which normally sells a "handful" a week.

On Wednesday, a passenger on a Greyhound bus in Tennessee cut the driver's throat, causing a crash that killed six of the 40 people aboard. The driver told authorities the attacker used a box cutter.

That came a few weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Passengers who placed cell phone calls from the jets said the hijackers also used box cutters.

Whether they confused box cutters with similar tools like utility or X-Acto knives may never be known. The terms are used interchangeably, even by those who sell them.

A typical box cutter holds the corner of a razor blade in a flat, rectangular metal sheath not much bigger than a stick of gum. The 4-inch device is lightweight, inexpensive and easily accessible.

X-Acto knives, favored by graphic artists, are roughly the size of a pen with a smaller razor-like blade fastened to the end. Utility knives have a bigger handle and replaceable blades stored in the handle.

Before Sept. 11, some of the gadgets could pass through airport metal detectors without raising an eyebrow. The FAA had allowed any knife 4 inches long or less on the plane.

States have long grappled with the use of such tools. Some such as New York, Alabama and Virginia, define them as a "dangerous instrument" or "deadly weapon" if someone uses them in a crime.

The New York City Council unanimously passed a law in 1995 prohibiting stores from selling them to children under 18 and banning them from school grounds.

"We had an abundance of kids using them to cut people in schools, in gang fights," said councilman Al Stabile, who sponsored the bill. "The numbers were staggering."

To give the law more muscle, the city in 1998 increased the age to 21, limited their sale to home improvement and hardware stores and banned them from all public places.

Chicago law prohibits the sale of utility knives to anyone under 18. Possession is limited, though minors can use utility knives at school, work or home under the supervision of an adult.

Police in California say box cutters are commonly used as weapons there, too, while Florida includes razor blades and box cutters in its list of weapons not allowed on school grounds.

So far, the recent attacks have not affected box cutter sales largely because the industry is so specialized, said Roger Stuart, president of Listo Corp. in Alameda, Calif., which exports box cutters to Norway and Sweden.

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AP-ES-10-05-01 0442EDT

[ppaul]

To neutralize potential terrorist attacks like the 9/11 attack on the WTC caused by anger of the mistreated Muslims against America,
the Governor of Washington, Gary Locke, and the Mayor of Seattle, Paul Schell, last week declared Seattle to be a "Hate-Free Zone."
And, it worked! There have been no terrorist attacks in Seattle since then.

[AppyPappy]

Maybe we should pass a law against murder.

[nevergore]

I usually break off two in quick succession....Is that a double-tap???

NeverGore :^)

[backhoe]

Good Lord A'Mighty! I ignored this post because I thought it was the usual rather-silly parody of "When Boxcutters are outlawed, only outlaws..." that usually pops up around here at such times.....

But this is a "serious" article by a mainstream writer.... whew!

[NoCurrentFreeperByThatName]

I would say so.

I wonder what the full-auto rate of fire is?

[Drawsing]

Somebody post a picture of a typical box cutter. I'm curious. Is it the same as a utility knife with the replaceable blade? I use that at home all the time. You know you unscrew the one screw, lift out the blade, turn it around or replace it.

[FreedomPoster]

I'm guessing that's what they're talking about. Can you imagine - background checks to buy a utility knife? Too many sheeple crying out for Someone to Do Something, Anything!, and too many legislators willing to go along. What a bunch of maroons.

[Lysander]

I keep a sawed-off box cutter under the bed.

Beware of Federal agents asking you to cut one off for them.

[tracer]

Oh pulleeeeeez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jeremiah]

The one I carry is a real doozy, it is sheathed in plastic(hence less likely to trigger x-ray machines), and the blades can be broken off to keep sharp. I register it at the paint store everytime I buy one though, it even requires a signature(on the bill)

[GnL]

If it saves the life of just one child...

[Lysander]

Too many sheeple crying out for Someone to Do Something, Anything!, and too many legislators willing to go along. What a bunch of maroons.

They have made a career out of it. Just look at the "War on Drugs" for an idea about how they are going to run a "War on Terrorism." First thing out of the gate-- wider police powers and more restrictive laws on us.

[Wm Bach]

If this keeps up, pretty soon, terrorists will have to resort to sharpened screwdrivers, steak knives, awls, pick axes, nuclear bombs, bioweapons, or buses!

Gosh, it's important that we at least try to stop boxcutter terrorism now...maybe sell them only to special, trained and certified indivuduals within the govt. Boxcutters have no legitimate sporting use. Someone close the Sears Craftsman "loophole", please!

[Zon]

Too many sheeple crying out for Someone to Do Something, Anything!, and too many legislators willing to go along. What a bunch of maroons. 

I suspect that 90% of the people on FreeRepublic that don't think of themselves as sheeple, if a person from 1901 talked to them for a few minutes would think, "my God, 90% of these people don't even know they are sheeple themselves." I hope I'm wrong, but how many sheeple-laws and regulations have been passed in the last hundred years?

[Morgan's Raider]

Jeez, I'll probably have to get a BATF tax stamp to go under the handle of my heavy-duty contractor grade retractable utility knife.

[Zon]

If this keeps up, pretty soon, terrorists will have to resort to sharpened screwdrivers, steak knives, awls, pick axes, nuclear bombs, bioweapons, or buses!

Or just bare-handed, breaking their victims necks. 

Here's one from another thread:

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence doesn't think...

Let's just leave it at that. Best describes Brady and accomplices.

"abusive husbands, mentally unstable individuals, people with a grudge and people who are simply careless or uneducated about firearms safety can and do get CCW permits, posing a potential danger to their families and communities."

abusive husbands, mentally unstable individuals, people with a grudge and people who are simply careless or uneducated about knife, baseball bat and tire iron safety can and do get them posing a potential danger to their families and communities.

If guns cause crime, matches cause arson

Guns, knives, baseball bats and tire irons don't kill people, people with a grudge and people who are simply careless or uneducated kill people.

[Zon]

Boxcutters have no legitimate sporting use. Someone close the Sears Craftsman "loophole", please! 

LOL

It used to be that in supermarkets, the most used tool of employees was the price-marking gun, but they've been outlawed in favor of UPC codes. Now the most used tool is the box cutter. Go figure?

[Elenya]

I suggest a permit for screwdrivers owners.

GandtheD

[Wm Bach]

If guns cause crime, matches cause arson.

It's true! And don't forget breasts cause prostitution. Especially assault breasts.