I know this is a gun forum, but why are knife laws so tough?

[Logical]

It seems odd to me that I can carry a semi-auto .45 1911 concealed but cannot, in Kansas, carry a switch blade or a 4.5 inch knife.

Are knife laws just not keeping up with the gun law changes?

[provis99]

1. The National Knife Association is a pretty weak lobby.

It all comes down to lobbying power, basically.

[Logical]

2. Makes sense. n-t

[gejohnston]

3. in addition to weak lobbying

there is also the media created hysteria factor. The federal switch blade law was passed after movies like "High School Confidential" and "Rebel Without a Cause" came out in the 1950s. Certain knives, like switch blades, became the weapon of choice of high school drug dealers and biker and street gangs. Think West Side Story, and Cross and the Switchblade.
The AWB and plastic gun were simply history repeating its self. Then there is the "hell if I know, because the bill writers don't either"
Before I decided to "see the world", I was surprised and found it ironic to learn, while buying a box of .357 rounds, that Wyoming did not allow civilians to have mace.

[AtheistCrusader]

4. You'll squirt your eye out.

[eqfan592]

5. I had a similar experience in Wisconsin...

...where I was able to buy a shotgun with no problem, but a stun gun was off the table! Makes no sense in any way, shape or form IMHO.

[RSillsbee]

6. I've never seen a well made switchblade

Not saying there aren't any I've just never seen one. I have a CRKT Ignitor that is an "Assisted Opening" knife that is well made but it isn't a switchblade per se. even though it opens just as fast

[spin]

12. A good quality out the front switchblade can set you back $400 ...

and while they look cool and are fun to play with many other folding knives equipped with thumb studs on the blade or the assisted opening feature can be opened quickly.

My son in law carries an inexpensive out the front automatic which is a clone of a Microtech switchblade. He has used and abused this knife for years for all sorts of tasks and outside of a broken tip (which he reground) the knife has withstood the mistreatment. I offered to buy him a Microtech Scarab but he said he would never carry or use a knife that expensive.


source: http://www.arizonacustomknives.com/artists/index.php?id=179

[PavePusher]

18. My personal favorite:

http://www.benchmade.com/products/3550

[benEzra]

7. A confluence of two factors.

(1) Racism, xenophobia, and class prejudice. Knife laws in the USA over the past 150 years have largely been driven by media-whipped hysteria over blades in the hands of various ethnic or cultural groups. I saw a good article on this some years ago:

http://www.knife-expert.com/st-opp.txt

THE LAWS ON THE BOOKS

Nearly every state has knife laws. So does the federal government.
So also do countless cities and towns -- except where the state
legislature has pre-empted this sort of ordinance, retaining a monopoly
for itself.

These knife laws are artifacts of fear -- of prejudice and
uncertainty. If you know a little American history, you can look at a
knife law's wording, and tell when it was first enacted.

* If it speaks of bowie knives and Arkansas toothpicks, it dates back to
the second quarter of the 19th century, to the rapid and sometimes
lawless expansion of settlement in the Mississippi River basin.

* If it speaks of concealed dirks and daggers, it dates to the wave of
anarchist and pro-German terror bombings around 1915-1918, which
frightened an entire generation of Americans into surrendering their
liberty.

* If it speaks of switchblades and gravity knives, it dates to the "West
Side Story" era of the late 1950s, when the mass media drummed up fear
of teen-age gangs, and of violence by immigrant refugees with too many
vowels in their names.

* And if it speaks of school grounds, and "dangerous" weapons, it most
likely dates to the convulsive expansion of puritanical prior restraint
of our own politically correct era.

FWIW, the link above, and its discussion of the original dichotomy between the (often secular) individualists and the (often religious) oppressionists in U.S. history, is a pretty good read, and applies to the gun issue just as much as it applies to edged weapons.

(2) Lack of organized pushback by knife owners. I suspect knife owners tried UK-style accomodation for a long time until a lot of the laws in question were too firmly entrenched to repeal (the ban on self-opening knives being a good example). Knife owners in the U.S. are now starting to get organized and push back, though, and the defeat of the proposed ban on assisted-opening knives a couple of years ago is IMO an early success.

A lot of states do allow carry of a knife on a CCW license, and it seems to me that this would be an easy change to pass in most states.

[Logical]

10. Thanks for that! n-t

[ileus]

8. Everyone knows only guns kill people. Edged weapons are safe...

[spin]

9. Florida has what is call a concealed weapons permit ...

If you have one you can carry (in Florida) a firearm, a stun gun, a knife or a billy club as long as they are concealed. With the license you can carry a concealed switchblade if you want.

[Logical]

11. Wow, that makes a lot of sense. I need to ask our Senate about that. n-t

[burrfoot]

13. Florida's plan does seem to be pretty sensible-

I've got my CCW and, as spin noted, it covers all kinds of things. My EDC knife is a Benchmade mini-reflex, which I love.

A switchblade isn't really any faster than many thumb stud or cutout blades, but it has a "gadget factor" that I enjoy for now :evilgrin:

[spin]

14. Switchblades are fun to play with ...

I own one but I don't carry it. I edc a Spyderco Endura with a fully serrated edge for tough cutting jobs and a Bark River Classic Lite Hunter fixed blade for food prep and normal daily tasks.


Spyderco Endura


BRKT Classic Lite Hunter

[slackmaster]

15. Oddly, California has some of the most reasonable knife laws among the states

There is no statewide limit on blade length for fixed-blade knives carried openly, or folding knives carried folded and concealed.

It's perfectly legal to walk around wearing a sheathed sword in most of California.

[Logical]

16. Wow, never would have guessed that. n-t

[Hoyt]

19. Fortunately, most people consider other people and don't tote swords in public.

Why are gun toters so oblivious to others?

[PavePusher]

17. Start here:

http://www.kniferights.org/

Don't let the front-page picture of Nugent throw you off, they appear to be a pretty reasonable organisation.