Well, here's a question that I have from reading the ruling. I'm not particularly a knife guy but the legal angle intrigues me. Legally, is there ever a difference between the design of a knife and the true condition of a knife?

Halfway down page 4, the court says that:
Quote:
...And, as I said, I inspected the knife myself and found that is true, it can be opened by the flip of the wrist. That makes it a switchblade.

From my reading, it seems that this judge or presiding administrator could flick this knife open purely with wrist action. And earlier in the ruling, there is mention that the set screw was "a little bit wobbly".

By extension, could I make a butterfly-style knife that has some sort of stud/potrusion and retention mechanism that you are supposed to use, but if it's loose, I can it flip open despite it having some retention mechansim?

Edit: Egads, just re-reading my post, makes me sound like some teenager who is itching to find a loophole to legally carry a butterfly knife! Certainly not my intention! Just wondering about this legal gray area--at least gray to me.


Edited by Arney (11/30/12 06:51 PM)