Here's a draft. It could be personalized with mention of a single pocketknife, or two, that you carry that could be impacted. The most persuasive argument is that average Americans are affected, 99% of them unknowingly -- not knife enthusiasts.

The most effective letters are one page or less and clearly state the situation and desired action. And are polite. I underline the most salient portions to catch the eye of the staffer buried under a mountain of mail.

REI is mentioned because every young congressional staffer who will read these letters knows REI -- a politically-correct, non-controversial retailer.

It is essential that your name and return address be readable. The offices will want to write you back, if only to be polite and build their mailing list.

A few letters on an issue this obscure will get the attention of the staffer who covers this issue area (typically the Legislative Assistant or correspondent responsible for Judiciary issues). This will be an interesting new issue to a lot of staff, and their bosses. And it lends itself to swift action. The CBP action could be permanently blocked by simple language in the forthcoming Commerce-Justice-State FY2010 appropriations bill. If I were working for the knife industry that would be my ultimate goal so that regulators in the future would have a statutory hurdle to overcome.


Mr/Ms. _______________
address
city/state/zip

June __, 2009


Dear Senator ___________ (or Representative _________):

I am writing to urge that you take action to delay, or block, the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) agency's proposal relating to knives with spring-assisted opening mechanisms. The agency's hasty action (encompassing 63 pages of highly technical explanations and exhibits) could make criminals of a significant portion of your otherwise law-abiding constituents who carry pocket knives. The public is being allowed only the minimum 30-day comment period (expires on June 21), the first 11 days of which occurred while Congress was in recess and millions of knife-owning Americans were on vacation! At the least, the public should have a few more months to comment.

On the eve of the Congressional Memorial Day recess (May 21), U.S. Customs & Border Protection proposed revoking earlier rulings that assisted opening knives are not switchblades, thus greatly expanding the scope of federal switchblade law that dates back to 1958. These actions would not only outlaw assisted-opening knives but could outlaw most other pocket knives. At this point, one-hand opening and assisted-opening knives are 80% of U.S. knife sales. An estimated 40 million law-abiding Americans own and carry pocket knives.

These are knives that you can buy at REI, among many other mainstream American retailers.

The impact of this CBP action revoking longstanding ruling letters and treatment of assisted opening mechanisms would go far beyond just imported knives because this "agency determination" will be used by domestic courts and law enforcement to determine what is a "switchblade" under federal and state laws. Many states do not define switchblades and rely on the federal definition and interpretation, which is only found in rulings by CBP. Since interstate commerce in switchblades is prohibited, except under very limited conditions, simply driving across a state line with a pocket knife in their possession could make one of your law-abiding constituents a federal felon.

This CBP action imperils the right of tens of millions of law-abiding Americans to carry their pocketknives and affects a knife industry that employs 24,000 Americans.

Thank you for your consideration. I hope that you will look into this and take the appropriate steps to protect your constituents from this gross overreaching that could make them criminals for carrying your average pocketknife.

Sincerely,




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