Yep where will they stop. What about a 10 or 12 inch cooks knife?

Doug, the article on DNAInfo says the following:

"Through the investigation, authorities went to 41 retailers in the borough that sold knives. They were able to purchase 43 illegal knives from 14 stores, including 31 gravity knives and 12 switchblades, the DA said. Those types of knives are outlawed because the blades snap into place."

Read more: http://dnainfo.com/20100617/manhattan/ho...s#ixzz0rFs3jd4L

As far as I can tell this was the only account that differentiated between gravity knives and switchblades - other media accounts simply said 43 illegal knives were purchased. Apparently authorities were able to purchase 12 switchblade knives.

I think I know your feeling on gravity knives. Would you agree that the sale of switchblades is illegal? Or do you disagree with the authorities definition of some knives purchased (12) as switchblades (ex. is their definition inconsistent with the Federal Switchblade Act)? Does Knife Rights support or oppose laws against switchblades?

The sale of Switchblades to the general public is illegal in NY. The knives they are calling switchblades are not switchblades, they are assisted-opening knives and that is what we got passed last summer to clear up any question, at least at the federal level. In any case, they do not meet the definition of a switchblade, even using NY's standard definition. As for switchblades in general, Knife Rights is supportive of efforts to eliminate restrictions on switchblades, as you can see from our successful efforts in NH which removed such restrictions.

Thanks for the clarification Doug!

keep fighting the good fight Doug; we're behind you.
we knew some would try crap like this when the legislation was passed.

also.


(i wish it weren't but there's really no way this kind of topic remains unpolitical.)

Whenever politicians want to 'fight crime', they always go after the honest citizens first, because they're the easiest to deal with. I have yet to see the day that they actually go after criminals first on issues like these -- I guess that's more like work.

Sue

This is the drop of the other shoe in Mayor Bloomberg's quixotic campaign to totally disarm NYC residents, albeit only the law abiding ones. In a sane world, the FBI would arrest them both on RICO charges, and we would only see them with Rod Blagojevich on Donald Trump's next Apprentice show. Then we could change the channel or turn the TV off. Sigh...

What he said. Can't thank you enough for all the hard work Doug.

NYC has three basic long standing rules when it comes to pocket knives:

1. It can't lock open. (they seem to interpret the law as, any knife that locks open is a potential gravity knife)

2. It can't be longer than 4"

3. It can't be carried in the open (that means, no blades clipped to your pocket for example).

Of course, there are certain exceptions to these, but that is the general ruling on knives.

The whole gravity knife statute is, IMO, an outdated and vague law that should be modernized and clarified. One has to remember that, when it was written, one-handed opening blades weren't as common as they are now. For the most part, they've entirely replaced the traditional pen knife in American society.

See, at the time, you either had people carrying traditional pen knives for day to day activities or people carrying switch blades, gravity knives, daggers, ect so they could get them out fast in a fight; with little in between. The law was originally written to prevent the latter without taking into account changes in technology and public opinion over time. They never could have foreseen the advances in technology that went into something so simple as a pocket knife.

It would be like me trying to write a law about computers based on 1970's technology. At that point in time I couldn't have even imagined how ubiquitous and advanced computers have become. Things that are taken for granted today (like the internet) weren't even imaginable back then.

Navigating through the logic used to outlaw knives has always been a voyage into insanity.
I for one, don't comprehend why the cheapo Spanish and Italian switchblades, made notorious by West Side Story, are illegal yet a similar length kitchen knife, with a blade probably better suited to mayhem, remains legal.
Now that assisted opening knives have further muddied the waters, why is it that a collector's item, like a Luftwaffe gravity knife is illegal while a similar length assisted open knife is kosher? It never ceases to amaze me how horrified otherwise sane people can be when it comes to weapons or sharp tools.
Like Martin Luther King, I have a dream. That one day a man will be judged by his actions and deeds and not by the contents of his pockets.