- Joined
- Dec 8, 2000
- Messages
- 18
The Dilemma of Knife Definitions (in Pending U.S. State Legislation)
AKTI monitoring at least 14 states considering knife legislation
that would impact "carry" rules for knife owners
You're breaking the law! Or you're about to break the law! If you're a hunter, fisherman, hiker, biker, outdoorsperson of any sort, or just a plain old garden-variety American who happens to carry a knife in his pocket or purse, you're in grave danger of being "illegal" in your state, a neighboring state, or the state you're bound for.
If you were to travel across America from Alaska to Maine by car, law enforcement personnel in the state you enter might have serious questions about the knife you legally carried in the state you just left. And that's only in 14 states that AKTI has been monitoring since January 2002. (More states could get on the "questionable-knife-law" bandwagon after we wrote this in early April 2002.) The reality is that every state has its own knife laws that are often vastly different from laws in surrounding states.
The American Knife & Tool Institute currently monitors pending legislation and regulations in the 50 U.S. states through a service called StateNet. Member users of the AKTI website (www.akti.org) can access this service with a special password they can obtain by contacting Jan Billeb, AKTI Executive Director, at email: akti@akti.org. Go to the site. Check out your state's knife-law activity. AKTI pays more than $10,000 each year to make this service available to you. That's why we need individual "Ambassador" members (at only $35 per year) to make sure we can continue to provide this service. When you join AKTI, you help us continue to help you!
In some cases, AKTI hires lobbyists to provide direct input to lawmakers on behalf of individual knife owners and the entire industry. For example, the fight to save one-handers in California in 2000 and 2001 cost AKTI $50,000. We're currently involved in Florida where our lobbyist fees could total $15,000 for 2002. The battle to protect knife rights is virtually endless and can be very costly. Join AKTI today so we can continue to try to influence legislation before it becomes law (when it's almost impossible to change).
StateNet uses AKTI search criteria to pre-screen bills they believe would affect knife owners. A review of legislation they have spotlighted for us since January 1, 2002 shows a broad range of potentially harmful definitions of knives that could be used against you.
Let's start our imaginary trip from America's far northwest corner in Alaska and end in the far northeast corner in Maine. We'll list the state, the bill number (date of introduction in parenthesis), the troublesome language of interest to our potential knife-owning traveler, then a brief comment. Just imagine if you were stopped in every state and your knives scrutinized, measured, perhaps declared illegal, and you were charged with a crime, perhaps jailed until you could post bail, your knives confiscated. The direct costs and emotional distress would be immense. That's why AKTI continues to press forward to both urge and to help lawmakers accurately, clearly and fairly write knife laws that protect responsible, law-abiding citizens.
Alaska - H417 (2/13/02).
Relates to adult day services or crimes occurring near them. Provides penalties for someone who "possesses or transports a switchblade or gravity knife." Also penalties for possessing a concealed deadly weapon "other than an ordinary pocket knife or a defensive weapon." Comment: What is "ordinary" and what goes beyond the ordinary? If an officer looked at the knife owned by our traveler, could he tell if it was "offensive" or "defensive" in nature?
California - A1590 (2/23/01; amended 2/25/02).
Relates to filing serial numbers off personal property; furnishing acid to minors; or possessing acid used to commit vandalism or graffiti. Provides a long laundry list of outlawed knives including "ballistic knife, belt buckle knife, writing pen knife" and "lipstick case knife," among others. The potentially problematic language is contained under definitions of "dirk" or "dagger" where the focus of AKTI's lobbying efforts were directed during the 2000 and 2001 legislative sessions. AKTI successfully worked with law enforcement and the state district attorney's association to ensure that one-handers were exempt from the anti-switchblade statute (Section 653k of the CA Criminal Code). But this bill shows that California law enforcement is still trying to get even more clarity about knife definitions. Part of the definition of "dirk" or "dagger" talks about it being "capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon."
A1590 then says "A nonlocking folding knife, a folding knife that is not prohibited by Section 653k, or a pocketknife is capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death only if the blade of the knife is exposed and locked into position."
The writer of A1590 also added this language "Knives carried in sheaths which are worn openly suspended from the waist of the wearer are not concealed within the meaning of this section."
Comment: While this language may not be troubling to someone in California wearing a straight knife, folding knife or tool knife in a sheath, the rules may be different when he or she crosses into another state. Three new knife-related bills were introduced in California in early 2002, all of which use the same language found in A1590. These are:
S1689 (2/21/02). Prohibits manufacture, importation, sale, and possession of hard plastic knuckles. Amended and read second time, then sent back to Public Safety Committee on April 4.
A2222 (2/20/02). Adds to list of dangerous weapons; prohibits armor-piercing ammunition; regulates .50 caliber sniper weapons. Read second time and amended, then sent back to Public Safety Committee on April 10.
A2793 (2/25/02). Makes "non-substantive changes" to existing firearms laws.
Kansas - H2669 (1/23/02).
Concerns school safety; revises the definition of weapon. Outlaws "a switch-blade, which has a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife,..." This is standard language from the Federal Switchblade Act. The language that could be problematic for a broad range of one-hand openers in that state is the remainder of the preceding sentence (8): " or any knife having a blade that opens or falls or is ejected into position by the force of gravity or by an outward, downward or centrifugal thrust or movement; "
Comment: As we will see when we discuss our traveler going to Maine, a Wal-Mart in that state in February 2002 took several one-handers from its shelves because they could be opened by "an outward, downward or centrifugal thrust or movement."
AKTI is currently following a March 2002 court case in New York where more than 150 knives representing about 30 models of one-handers from at least six well-known knife manufacturers were seized from a retailer in business more than 10 years. When the retailer and his knives were taken to the police station, he reportedly watched as police officers argued about the legality of various knife models based on how easily they opened with exaggerated arm motions, with "an outward, downward or centrifugal thrust or movement."
H2796 (2/7/02). Relates to criminal use of weapons. Contains same "outward, downward or centrifugal thrust or movement" language as H2669. However, H2796 uses additional language that makes blade length a determiner of whether the knife is dangerous or not. This, in itself, is not novel. Virtually every state has some knife length reference in its weapons' laws. Our unlucky or uninformed traveler may be "legal" one minute, then "illegal" the next when he drives into a state where 3 1/2 inches, 3 inches or 2 1/2 inches are part of the definition of "dangerous" weapons.
H2796 states that you cannot carry a concealed " dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument of like character, except that an ordinary pocket knife with no blade more than four inches in length shall not be construed to be a dangerous knife, or a dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument; "
Comment: Here we again see the "ordinary pocket knife" referred to. Also note that a blade "more than four inches" is illegal. But some states measure the length of the "cutting edge" while others measure the entire blade. Even with the four-inch standard, some states use "more than" while other states say "four inches or more." Woe to our traveler if the arresting officer measures his knife with one of those wooden rulers used by his first grader who has chewed off the first 1/4 inch, or perhaps with a tape measure so worn from weekend carpentry projects that the slot in the end hook has gotten 1/8 inch wider than when the tape was new.
H2643 (1/16/02). Relates to criminal use of weapons. Contains same language and length standard as H2796.
S602 (2/14/02). Relates to schools. Defines "weapon" but creates an exception that truly confuses the length standard. It says a weapon " does not include a pocket knife with a blade less than 2 1/2 inches in length." Comment: Most states have a zero-tolerance policy regarding knives in or near schools. But with knife-length language in H2796 and H2643 different from that found in S602, we must doubly warn our traveler not to go anywhere near a school in Kansas if he is carrying a knife that is 2 1/2 inches or longer. Because the "weapon" definitions in these laws do not agree on blade length, a current Kansan or Kansas visitor is probably smart to carry only knives less than 2 1/2 inches in blade length.
Missouri - H1587 (1/23/02).
Creates the felony of mass transportation terrorism. Also defines "dangerous weapon" as "a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious physical injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than two and one-half inches in length; " So if your car breaks down in Missouri, and you decide to hop on a bus to visit a friend while the mechanic is fixing your vehicle, if you carry a knife with a blade of 2 1/2 inches or longer, leave it in the car.
For those of you troubled by the ambiguous wording of many statutes, here's a question. If you have a knife with two blades, one 2 inches and one 3 inches, is your knife legal on the bus? You could argue that because it does have one blade less than 2 1/2 inches, it is legal. After you were arrested, the prosecutor would counter that the law clearly was intended to mean that your knife should have "only one blade less than 2 1/2 inches."
Four other laws introduced in Missouri relate to carrying concealed weapons. These are: H1344 (1/9/02); H1729 (1/31/02, amended 4/08/02 and sent to House Special Committee on Sportsmanship, Safety, and Firearms); S1122 (2/6/02); and H2212 (3/15/02). All four bills would authorize carrying concealed weapons if you were properly licensed. Language in all four that is pertinent to knife owners says "Carries concealed upon or about his or her person a knife, a firearm, a blackjack or any other weapon readily capable of lethal use; "
The assumption is that "weapon readily capable of lethal use" uses the same definitions as "dangerous weapon" in H1587 (above). If that's the case, then you will need to be licensed in Missouri to carry a knife with a blade that is 2 1/2 inches or longer.
However, another Missouri bill S969 (1/17/02, amended 4/03/02) does contain language more clearly identifying "Deadly weapon" as " any firearm, loaded or unloaded, or any weapon from which a shot, readily capable of producing death or serious physical injury, may be discharged, or a switchblade knife, dagger, billy, blackjack or metal knuckles; "
Go to second part of "Journey" beginning with Minnesota ...
David Kowalski
AKTI Communications Coordinator
AKTI monitoring at least 14 states considering knife legislation
that would impact "carry" rules for knife owners
You're breaking the law! Or you're about to break the law! If you're a hunter, fisherman, hiker, biker, outdoorsperson of any sort, or just a plain old garden-variety American who happens to carry a knife in his pocket or purse, you're in grave danger of being "illegal" in your state, a neighboring state, or the state you're bound for.
If you were to travel across America from Alaska to Maine by car, law enforcement personnel in the state you enter might have serious questions about the knife you legally carried in the state you just left. And that's only in 14 states that AKTI has been monitoring since January 2002. (More states could get on the "questionable-knife-law" bandwagon after we wrote this in early April 2002.) The reality is that every state has its own knife laws that are often vastly different from laws in surrounding states.
The American Knife & Tool Institute currently monitors pending legislation and regulations in the 50 U.S. states through a service called StateNet. Member users of the AKTI website (www.akti.org) can access this service with a special password they can obtain by contacting Jan Billeb, AKTI Executive Director, at email: akti@akti.org. Go to the site. Check out your state's knife-law activity. AKTI pays more than $10,000 each year to make this service available to you. That's why we need individual "Ambassador" members (at only $35 per year) to make sure we can continue to provide this service. When you join AKTI, you help us continue to help you!
In some cases, AKTI hires lobbyists to provide direct input to lawmakers on behalf of individual knife owners and the entire industry. For example, the fight to save one-handers in California in 2000 and 2001 cost AKTI $50,000. We're currently involved in Florida where our lobbyist fees could total $15,000 for 2002. The battle to protect knife rights is virtually endless and can be very costly. Join AKTI today so we can continue to try to influence legislation before it becomes law (when it's almost impossible to change).
StateNet uses AKTI search criteria to pre-screen bills they believe would affect knife owners. A review of legislation they have spotlighted for us since January 1, 2002 shows a broad range of potentially harmful definitions of knives that could be used against you.
Let's start our imaginary trip from America's far northwest corner in Alaska and end in the far northeast corner in Maine. We'll list the state, the bill number (date of introduction in parenthesis), the troublesome language of interest to our potential knife-owning traveler, then a brief comment. Just imagine if you were stopped in every state and your knives scrutinized, measured, perhaps declared illegal, and you were charged with a crime, perhaps jailed until you could post bail, your knives confiscated. The direct costs and emotional distress would be immense. That's why AKTI continues to press forward to both urge and to help lawmakers accurately, clearly and fairly write knife laws that protect responsible, law-abiding citizens.
Alaska - H417 (2/13/02).
Relates to adult day services or crimes occurring near them. Provides penalties for someone who "possesses or transports a switchblade or gravity knife." Also penalties for possessing a concealed deadly weapon "other than an ordinary pocket knife or a defensive weapon." Comment: What is "ordinary" and what goes beyond the ordinary? If an officer looked at the knife owned by our traveler, could he tell if it was "offensive" or "defensive" in nature?
California - A1590 (2/23/01; amended 2/25/02).
Relates to filing serial numbers off personal property; furnishing acid to minors; or possessing acid used to commit vandalism or graffiti. Provides a long laundry list of outlawed knives including "ballistic knife, belt buckle knife, writing pen knife" and "lipstick case knife," among others. The potentially problematic language is contained under definitions of "dirk" or "dagger" where the focus of AKTI's lobbying efforts were directed during the 2000 and 2001 legislative sessions. AKTI successfully worked with law enforcement and the state district attorney's association to ensure that one-handers were exempt from the anti-switchblade statute (Section 653k of the CA Criminal Code). But this bill shows that California law enforcement is still trying to get even more clarity about knife definitions. Part of the definition of "dirk" or "dagger" talks about it being "capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon."
A1590 then says "A nonlocking folding knife, a folding knife that is not prohibited by Section 653k, or a pocketknife is capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death only if the blade of the knife is exposed and locked into position."
The writer of A1590 also added this language "Knives carried in sheaths which are worn openly suspended from the waist of the wearer are not concealed within the meaning of this section."
Comment: While this language may not be troubling to someone in California wearing a straight knife, folding knife or tool knife in a sheath, the rules may be different when he or she crosses into another state. Three new knife-related bills were introduced in California in early 2002, all of which use the same language found in A1590. These are:
S1689 (2/21/02). Prohibits manufacture, importation, sale, and possession of hard plastic knuckles. Amended and read second time, then sent back to Public Safety Committee on April 4.
A2222 (2/20/02). Adds to list of dangerous weapons; prohibits armor-piercing ammunition; regulates .50 caliber sniper weapons. Read second time and amended, then sent back to Public Safety Committee on April 10.
A2793 (2/25/02). Makes "non-substantive changes" to existing firearms laws.
Kansas - H2669 (1/23/02).
Concerns school safety; revises the definition of weapon. Outlaws "a switch-blade, which has a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife,..." This is standard language from the Federal Switchblade Act. The language that could be problematic for a broad range of one-hand openers in that state is the remainder of the preceding sentence (8): " or any knife having a blade that opens or falls or is ejected into position by the force of gravity or by an outward, downward or centrifugal thrust or movement; "
Comment: As we will see when we discuss our traveler going to Maine, a Wal-Mart in that state in February 2002 took several one-handers from its shelves because they could be opened by "an outward, downward or centrifugal thrust or movement."
AKTI is currently following a March 2002 court case in New York where more than 150 knives representing about 30 models of one-handers from at least six well-known knife manufacturers were seized from a retailer in business more than 10 years. When the retailer and his knives were taken to the police station, he reportedly watched as police officers argued about the legality of various knife models based on how easily they opened with exaggerated arm motions, with "an outward, downward or centrifugal thrust or movement."
H2796 (2/7/02). Relates to criminal use of weapons. Contains same "outward, downward or centrifugal thrust or movement" language as H2669. However, H2796 uses additional language that makes blade length a determiner of whether the knife is dangerous or not. This, in itself, is not novel. Virtually every state has some knife length reference in its weapons' laws. Our unlucky or uninformed traveler may be "legal" one minute, then "illegal" the next when he drives into a state where 3 1/2 inches, 3 inches or 2 1/2 inches are part of the definition of "dangerous" weapons.
H2796 states that you cannot carry a concealed " dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument of like character, except that an ordinary pocket knife with no blade more than four inches in length shall not be construed to be a dangerous knife, or a dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument; "
Comment: Here we again see the "ordinary pocket knife" referred to. Also note that a blade "more than four inches" is illegal. But some states measure the length of the "cutting edge" while others measure the entire blade. Even with the four-inch standard, some states use "more than" while other states say "four inches or more." Woe to our traveler if the arresting officer measures his knife with one of those wooden rulers used by his first grader who has chewed off the first 1/4 inch, or perhaps with a tape measure so worn from weekend carpentry projects that the slot in the end hook has gotten 1/8 inch wider than when the tape was new.
H2643 (1/16/02). Relates to criminal use of weapons. Contains same language and length standard as H2796.
S602 (2/14/02). Relates to schools. Defines "weapon" but creates an exception that truly confuses the length standard. It says a weapon " does not include a pocket knife with a blade less than 2 1/2 inches in length." Comment: Most states have a zero-tolerance policy regarding knives in or near schools. But with knife-length language in H2796 and H2643 different from that found in S602, we must doubly warn our traveler not to go anywhere near a school in Kansas if he is carrying a knife that is 2 1/2 inches or longer. Because the "weapon" definitions in these laws do not agree on blade length, a current Kansan or Kansas visitor is probably smart to carry only knives less than 2 1/2 inches in blade length.
Missouri - H1587 (1/23/02).
Creates the felony of mass transportation terrorism. Also defines "dangerous weapon" as "a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious physical injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than two and one-half inches in length; " So if your car breaks down in Missouri, and you decide to hop on a bus to visit a friend while the mechanic is fixing your vehicle, if you carry a knife with a blade of 2 1/2 inches or longer, leave it in the car.
For those of you troubled by the ambiguous wording of many statutes, here's a question. If you have a knife with two blades, one 2 inches and one 3 inches, is your knife legal on the bus? You could argue that because it does have one blade less than 2 1/2 inches, it is legal. After you were arrested, the prosecutor would counter that the law clearly was intended to mean that your knife should have "only one blade less than 2 1/2 inches."
Four other laws introduced in Missouri relate to carrying concealed weapons. These are: H1344 (1/9/02); H1729 (1/31/02, amended 4/08/02 and sent to House Special Committee on Sportsmanship, Safety, and Firearms); S1122 (2/6/02); and H2212 (3/15/02). All four bills would authorize carrying concealed weapons if you were properly licensed. Language in all four that is pertinent to knife owners says "Carries concealed upon or about his or her person a knife, a firearm, a blackjack or any other weapon readily capable of lethal use; "
The assumption is that "weapon readily capable of lethal use" uses the same definitions as "dangerous weapon" in H1587 (above). If that's the case, then you will need to be licensed in Missouri to carry a knife with a blade that is 2 1/2 inches or longer.
However, another Missouri bill S969 (1/17/02, amended 4/03/02) does contain language more clearly identifying "Deadly weapon" as " any firearm, loaded or unloaded, or any weapon from which a shot, readily capable of producing death or serious physical injury, may be discharged, or a switchblade knife, dagger, billy, blackjack or metal knuckles; "
Go to second part of "Journey" beginning with Minnesota ...
David Kowalski
AKTI Communications Coordinator