For those who have been following this issue, Knife Rights has filed our Comments with Customs. It has been a difficult task to put together a coherent brief on their proposal in the ridiculously short time they allowed. But, of course, that's what CBP was counting on in providing only the minimum comment period and denying any extension.

My special thanks to Evan Nappen and Richard Gilbert, and the rest of Evan's law firm, who managed to make time for us in an already full schedule and who worked long hours and late into the night because they care about this issue personally.

Please know that the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of comment letters you submitted as individual citizens are an important element of our defense and my thanks to each and every one of you who took the time to prepare and mail your letters and to contact your Senators and Representatives.

Read our Comments letter here

Read the entire latest editon of our News Slice Newsletter here

Nicely written. I cannot see how they can dispute the facts and the logic presented.

Thank you Doug. I took the liberty of forwarding the KNIFE RIGHTS CBP COMMENTS.pdf file to my congressman so his staff wouldn't need to go looking for it. It's a great response and deserves to be read on the Hill.

Nice job. Unfortunately the fact that the brief makes eminently good sense doesn't mean the customs people will pay it much attention.

There - fixed it for you

Which is just another reason to have it read by good folks in Congress -- there are a few.

It would appear to me that your core argument is that Customs is:

1) Abrogating to itself the power to make law.
2) Exceeding the power's granted to it by Congress to make regulations.
3) Usurping the power of Congress to make law.
4) Endangering life.

Have I understood your argument correctly?

Doug, even though I believe this will have a BIG effect on foreigners like me who want to visit the US on occassion, I think that any email or communication from a foreigner will be tossed in the waste basket faster than you can say Jack Rabbit! In fact, foreigners will likely be more affected than Americans will be. In my experience, foreign opinions mean nothing to the bureaucrats. Therefore I have chosen not to submit any communication to Customs at this time.

I will however do plenty of walking with my feet! If during my next visit to your country (visiting relatives or vacationing), I get any flak from your Customs agents for having an American designed and constructed Spyderco pocketknife, I will simply turn right around and deny any of your hard working merchants my hard earned money.

Best of luck with your appeal to the common sense that somebody in Customs might actually have.