An e-mail from KnifeRights.com reports that the “Senate has passed the conference report for the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill with our amendment to the Federal Switchblade Act intact.” The bill now goes to President Obama for his expected signature. The bill makes technical changes in the definitions of the Federal Switchblade Act. In particular, under the revised statute, a “switchblade” is not: “a knife that contains a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that requires exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife.”
Earlier this year, the Customs Bureau had proposed revising several of its previous rulings; the effect would have been to bring a very large percentage of folding knives under the Switchblade Act. Knife Rights–with strong assistance from the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) and from the National Rifle Association–led a public mobilization which garnered widespread, bi-partisan congressional support. At first, the citizen activism resulted in Customs halting its proposed regulatory change. Because the Switchblade Act’s original langauge is very broad, Knife Rights then worked for a permanent resolution to the problem, by clarifying the statute.
A citizen group with a shoestring budget, Knife Rights was founded in 2006. Today’s action is an impressive accomplishment for such a new organization.
troll_dc2 says:
Is the traveling public safer as a result of this amendment?
October 20, 2009, 5:40 pmPhatty says:
Yet another example of illogical, legislative action against certain types of weapons with stigma attached. A person can cause just as much harm with a folding knife as with a traditional switchblade. The blade on a folding knife is just as pointy and sharp as a blade on a switchblade. But, because criminals on TV and in the movies were depicted as using switchblades, that makes them evil, whereas your average boy scout carries a folding knife, which makes them okay.
They should either both be illegal or both be legal.
October 20, 2009, 5:45 pmBen P says:
I’m unsure as to what this means exactly. Is this folding knives with locking blades that can be opened with one hand? or butterfly blades? or something else altogether?
October 20, 2009, 5:51 pmJustme says:
Yes, Yes, and Yes.
October 20, 2009, 5:58 pmBen P says:
I certainly think both should be legal.
But I do think you’re ignoring the obvious distinction here. One can also just as easily cause just as much damage with a fixed blade chefs knife. The relevant distinction is how easy they are to conceal and then to bring from concealment into use, not how much damage can be done.
Assuming for whatever reason we want to stop someone from carrying a knife in a particular area. If he’s carrying a large butcher or hunting knife it’s quite difficult to conceal. A folding knife is much more easy to conceal, but would be difficult to employ quickly and with a single hand. An automatically extending knife would require less effort to bring from concealment into use.
I admit that’s a really thin distinction, and it is a wrong end, but it would probably bass a rational basis standard if it were brought before a court.
October 20, 2009, 6:00 pmPhatty says:
I also think both should be legal, and I get the distinction between fixed blade and concealable blade knives (which is why I didn’t say anything about fixed blade knives).
October 20, 2009, 6:12 pmIt is just as easy and quick to flick a folding knife open with your thumb as it is to press a button on a switchblade knife. The only distinction I see is the “coolness” factor, which is the same thinking that politicians use to ban certain types of gun that have aesthetic features that are no more harmful than any other gun.
Regolith says:
An extremely thin distinction. With practice, a non-switchblade folding knife designed to be opened with one hand can be opened almost as fast as a switchblade. The difference would probably be measured in milliseconds.
The nice thing about switchblades and spring-assisted blades (the type of folder that this statute was changed to explicitly allow), is that they can be easily opened by those who are not dexterous enough to open a regular folder without pain or discomfort, such as those with severe arthritis.
October 20, 2009, 6:16 pmrmd says:
Here’s a good example: http://www.kershawknives.com/knifetech.php?feature_id=1&brand=kershaw
Other manufacturers have similar products.
October 20, 2009, 6:52 pmSuperSkeptic says:
Kniferights dot com? Federal switchblade Act? Who knew?!
What about butterfly knives, are they prohibited because they “[open] by operation of inertia, gravity, or both.”?
Would Heller, by analogy, or maybe Heller in conjunction with Griswold’s right to privacy, protect possession of switchblades in the home? Or would Raich, by commerce clause analogy of protecting the regulatory regime, prohibit possession of switchblades in the home for personal defense of the family?
October 20, 2009, 7:13 pmChrisTS says:
You must be in the wrong place, Dear. :-)
October 20, 2009, 7:25 pmThe Unbeliever says:
Thank goodness, too. IIRC, the expanded definition of banned weapons sparked a thread on VC where a lot of us (me included) said “I guess we’ll just become criminals”.
I would argue you can do more damage with the chef’s knife, since the strength of fixed blades allows for more powerful blows using certain moves. There are significant tradeoffs between concealability and deployment time, between portability and strength; I always found it curious that laws against certain features of portable blades were most common, because it forces a knife carrier to choose a potentially more damaging blade.
October 20, 2009, 8:35 pmCornellian says:
I’d light to see us take things to the next level of fork rights then spoon rights. At that point, the final frontier of hand rights will be visible on the horizon.
October 20, 2009, 8:52 pm[DK: After hands, we plan to start working on arms rights.]
Jame_Retief says:
What you are really attempting to get across is that neither of them should be banned, simply because of the perception that they are dangerous.
October 20, 2009, 9:10 pmJustme says:
Actually, it is provably faster to employ a normal folding knife than it is a ‘switchblade’. For example, see the “Wave” function on an Emerson knife (some of the finest knives made IMNSHO). http://www.emersonknives.com/videos/CQC-7.MPG
In that video you will see a normal folding knife being opened. Most people who see it will think its an assisted or ‘switchblade’ type knife. I assure you that anyone can open it that fast and its not some highly trained ninja type.
October 20, 2009, 10:28 pmrxc says:
I am a sailor, and I have a very nice folding knife that I can open or close with one hand (the other hand may be occupied holding on to the boat). It is QUITE sharp. Are they trying to make this sort of knife illegal?
October 21, 2009, 4:22 amiKnifeCollector says:
If customs had been able to successfully change the definition of a switchblade to include all the one-handed and easy opening type knives, it would have been the final blow for America’s knife companies, many of which are struggling now as it is.
Great job to AKTI, KnifeRights, the knife companies and users!
Let’s not think the War is over, that was just another battle in protecting our knife rights.
October 21, 2009, 7:21 amSayUncle » Knife Stuff says:
[...] bill that clarifies the definition of switchblade has passed the [...]
October 21, 2009, 9:08 amGordo says:
It’s always edifying to see people celebrating a decision that will make it easier for someone to snuff my life out.
Stay classy, gun AND KNIFE rights absolutists!
October 21, 2009, 11:26 amThat Guy says:
Gordo, I think you’re missing the point here. The world is a dangerous place — it’s better for us to be prepared against a wayward and vicious steak.
Carrying a knife is a FUNDAMENTAL right. “They” are after us. And I’ll be damned if “those” bastards infringe on my right to conveniently slice an apple.
Let’s not think the War is over, that was just another battle in protecting our knife rights.
October 21, 2009, 11:41 amYankev says:
Not if he knows what he’s doing, although I suppose it depends what you mean by “large.” An automatically extending knife with a blade more than 5″ or 6″ or so is rare and I would think that the longer the blade, the greater the chance of failure to fully open, given the stress on the spring. A fixed blade knife with a blade of 5″ to 6″ can be concealed readily and comfortably, especially if you are wearing a coat or jacket. And it can do a lot more damage.
In my secular days pre-law school, I made the acquaintance of a few outlaw bikers and other socially marginal types. They uniformly sneered at the idea of switchblades, which they considered kid’s toys. They claimed that if you were going to use a knife (by and large they said either a gun or an club of some kind was a better weapon, depending on circumstances), a fixed knife– which they called a “straight knife” — was stronger, more reliable and more practical.
October 21, 2009, 12:13 pmYankev says:
More or less, yes. Customs was trying to ban the importation of one-handed knives on the theory that they were akin to switchblades. There was concern that the importation ban would lead to a ban on possession and in any event would raise prices and reduce availability. See the posts at knife rights.org.
October 21, 2009, 12:16 pmNomen Nescio says:
it’s folding knives with a spring (or something) that tries to keep the blade from opening when it is closed, such that you have to push against the blade somehow to overcome that self-closing mechanism before the blade will open.
for examples, look at darn near any folding knife currently manufactured in this country, with the handful of exceptions being mainly knives built to “classic” slipjoint patterns designed decades ago. (the typical “Swiss army knife” is such a slipjoint pattern.)
my own Benchmade Griptilian matches the description. it’s got a spring-loaded rod that pushes against a cam machined into the rear end of the blade. the shape of the cam is such that if the blade is opened only a few degrees from fully closed (unintentional partial openings, for instance), the springs tend to snap it back shut again. opening it completely involves either pushing on the blade’s thumb stud, or pulling back the spring-loaded rod so the blade can be flicked open.
October 21, 2009, 12:26 pmLarryA says:
In Britain, where the knife fight has been lost, the next step is the extremely deadly glass pint beer mug.
October 21, 2009, 2:14 pmDoc Merlin says:
A folding knife that has a spring that tries to keep it closed as far as I can tell. Think of what swiss army knives are like.
October 21, 2009, 5:26 pmluagha says:
Rescue workers also have a great need for good utility knives with one-handed-opening capability like the Kershaw above.
October 21, 2009, 8:16 pmDefender says:
A narrow squeak. If the Customs Bureau had been successful with its suggestion, the Border Patrol would have had yet another excuse to stop us and search us and our vehicles at its internal checkpoints. Oh, and the neighborhood cop on the beat, too. Some police departments have taken to “temporarily” disarming gun owners WITH CONCEALED CARRY PERMITS (meaning they have passed a rigorous and unconstitutional background check)”for officer safety” during routine interactions. When officer safety is considered more important than civilians’ rights, that’s called a police state.
October 22, 2009, 3:29 amWhen did “The People” come to be considered “The Problem”?
FrankInFL says:
From all of us who own and carry real honest-to-God switchblades: thanks for nothing.
October 22, 2009, 12:10 pmwrangler5 says:
I’ve read that the original switchblades (with a button on the side to allow one handed opening) were developed for commercial fishermen who could find themselves caught in a net and unable to get 2 hands on a “regular” knife to open it. Sad that what was developed as a life-saving tool got banned when movies put it in the hands of bad guys. (Same thing happened with firearm silencers, which reduce or eliminate hearing loss among shooters, but which early gangster movies made into tools of assassins. This in turn made them as dangerous to society in the US as machine guns, and brought the same regulation and restrictions. I’ve read that silencers are common, inexpensive, over the counter items in Europe, and that in some places it is either impolite or illegal to shoot without one.)
October 22, 2009, 1:08 pmTim says:
That’s pretty much what I was thinking. There is absolutely no rational purpose for banning knives that open automatically, yet we do have Federal laws against mailing them and such.
As far as I’m concerned, with laws like that on the books, this is a hollow victory.
October 23, 2009, 10:41 pm