ATTEMPT TO RE-DEFINE SWITCHBLADES COULD MAKE MANY POCKET KNIVES ILLEGAL

This just a heads up to Knife Rights members and supporters about a very critical and important development that jeopardizes your right to own and carry pocket knives. PLEASE DO NOT ACT YET! Word is reaching the street via forums and other means and we want to make sure the true facts are known as there are many inaccurate rumors circulating. Many of the emails we have received are inaccurate or full of hyperbole. Any knee jerk or inappropriate reaction will endanger our cause, not help it. Please wait until your organization has developed appropriate and effective responses in order that you be taken seriously by the relevant authorities. I cannot overemphasize how critical this is, DO NOT WRITE YET, PLEASE!

Now, on to the issue:

U.S. Customs just about a week ago proposed revoking earlier rulings and years of precedence that assisted opening knives are not switchblades. That, in and of itself is bad enough. However, the proposed new rule would not only outlaw assisted opening knives, its overly broad new interpretation of what is a switchblade (automatic) knife could also easily be interpreted to include all one-handed opening knives and even most other pocket knives. All knife owners could be impacted by this ill-conceived change to existing policy. We will have much more information on the historical issues and the like in coming days as we organize our response.

Please note that Customs' interpretation of the Federal Switchblade Act forms the basis for national, state and even local law and judicial rulings in many cases. The effect is NOT limited to just imports. This would be a devastating blow to our rights and to the entire knifemaking community. It has the potential to make criminals of millions of law-abiding citizens and put thousands of workers on the street. This is no joke, this is not just hype, this is the real thing.

Knife Rights, in cooperation with AKTI and the affected knife manufacturers, is formulating a well-reasoned and effective response. We will all be asking for an extension to the ridiculously short 30-day comment period. We anticipate that some extension will be granted, hopefully for a meaningful period. Part of the reason for the extension is to allow us to adequately inform and advise the millions of knife owners who might be affected. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND JUST YET. This would be extremely counterproductive. We still have plenty of time to do this right and stop this travesty, but we must proceed intelligently and at the correct time with the best possible arguments. DO NOT JUMP THE GUN!

Within the next week we will post a sample letter and talking points for your use. At that time we will ask you to write and MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD! Please, do not respond earlier, it will be extremely counterproductive.

In the meantime, we are making the full 63 page document available to you to read for yourself. Again, while we understand your frustration, please do not write just yet.

http://www.kniferights.org/U%20S%20Customs%20Proposed%20Ruling%20-%20Assisted%20Opening%20Knives.pdf
This is why we formed Knife Rights. We didn't know where or how the attack would come, but we knew it was only a matter of time. We are here to help and lead the defense. We will keep you informed.

That is crazy.

Thanks for giving us more info.

How often do you hear "he was killed by an AUTOMATIC knife" anyway? I carry a Gerber with F.A.S.T. technology, and I am often worried about what may happen if it's viewed by LE as a switchblade.

How often did you hear of anyone in the U.S. being attacked with a bayonet attached to an "assault rifle"?

"open automatically by operation of inertia, gravity, or both"

so now the Leatherman C-series are illegal switchblades, too? what a ****ing load of ****. what the **** happened to DEMOCRACY? this will affect the entire population of the country and should therefore be subject to a public vote by the citizens of this nation. and then there's always the tired, yet unresolved, issue of exactly WHY switchblades in particular are illegal while a loaded 9mm is perfectly alright. it's NOT apples and oranges, it's an insane lapse in judgment on the part of the law-makers.

wasn't aware that that was illegal, but i don't care about attaching a bayonet to a rifle barrel. fixed blades are legal, anything short of full-auto fire is legal, and i find my knives to be more useful in my hand than on the end of my gun. it'd just get in the way of "normal" use; if Armageddon comes noone's gonna care if your gun has a knife attached to it, and if it's just on display it's legal as far as i know. and how often has that been an issue, anyway?

The manufacture of rifles with bayonet lugs was banned for several years but the law's sunset clause allowed it to expire in 2004. It was just another example of how some of our laws lack any indication of common sense. Banning the capability to mount a knife on a semi-auto rifle... how stupid is that? (asked rhetorically)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_Weapons_Ban

yeah, that's truly asinine. if i wanted to attach a blade to the end of a rifle barrel the lack of designated attachment points wouldn't stop me; I'd just duct tape the thing on there and wrap it in paracord to make it look pretty.

LOL! If you have a problem a semi-auto rifle won't solve, fixing a bayonet sure as hell isn't going to save the day.

launches an ICARUS flare to get the thread's attention.
PEOPLE! Read Doug's post and his request to hold off until
a COORDINATED and REASONED reply may be made en mass ( that's french for everybody at once.)
Forums can be read by anybody, even those who vote on laws. Filling a post with #*@!!! and that's stupid,they banned full auto crossbows and nobody has ever robbed a bank with a full auto crossbow sets up a HOSTILE and ADVERSARIAL situation.
We need to present a MATURE counter argument.
Everybody behave like Walley Cleaver applying for his first job.