CBSA has banned Flippers

Danke42 said:
A fixed knife is expected to be more visible than a folder.

So the idea that the knife can be hidden on your person and then opened with one hand from concealment is the fear.
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I can understand their fear, however, anyone with a clever mind and a desire to do so could carry a fixed blade and have it be readily concealed and available at a moments notice which makes their point moot. But in the end the restricting of foreign commerce in Canada for the benefit of Canadian cutlers is not the likely end goal. If I remember correctly the USA did something similar with "switchblades" in the 1930's or there about in an effort to remove them from society in general. With the volume of knife crime reported in the UK in the past several years along with recent declarations of the wisdom of cutting the tips off everyone's knives looks like the same strategy used in getting the Brits to give up their firearms. When governments do not trust their citizens with items that can be utilized to inflict bodily harm to an attacker a state of tyranny exists against it's own people.
 
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dirc said:
which is honestly fine, otherwise, so many knife enthusiasts would be missing out on fixed blade edc luv ; )
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It just didn't jive with me all that well, I feel a fixed blade is more aggro than a folder that disappears in a pocket. I don't need or want that attention that a knife sheath would bring, and I am not going to start weirdly concealed carrying a fixed blade just because. I relegated myself to carrying legal slipjoints in public and use my locking folders at work.
 
b00n said:
It just didn't jive with me all that well, I feel a fixed blade is more aggro than a folder that disappears in a pocket. I don't need or want that attention that a knife sheath would bring, and I am not going to start weirdly concealed carrying a fixed blade just because. I relegated myself to carrying legal slipjoints in public and use my locking folders at work.
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If the need arises that a person would draw their weapon to defend themselves against an aggressor, be it a knife, a firearm, baseball bat or pitchfork, et. al. the element of surprise is always worth having on your side.
 
we need some of @Horsewright 's horizontal (slight slant) fixed belt sheath with artistic flare as a more common sight imho
(but I know what you mean, I don't want to try to conceal a fixed either)

...taken from one of his posts: (the really nice thing about them is they're not concealed, but neither do they draw attn the way a normal vertical sheath would)
ORGd1U2.jpg
 
Im sure most people are aware there is a go fund me to fight this legally. I believe its our best shot at a change. I think we need to see a change in government before any progress could be potentially made. For what its worth i just had a socom elite get sent for inspection and it made it through after being examined for 2 weeks. That being said I did have 2 civivi flippers confiscated last year. Best advice for now is buy from good dealers. Some will work with you and they deserve our support (in my opinion).
 
Mrs_Esterhouse said:
What is the reason behind banning flippers other than to control people and criminalize their harmless behavior? Was there a rash of flipper stabbings or something?
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"Flick" knives have been illegal for many, many decades.
A couple of years ago, the CBSA decided they could redefine what "flick" meant.
The tribunal that upheld their new redefinition is a CBSA tribunal; it is NOT a regular court.

The laws of the country remain unchanged.
You can own and carry the same things in the country as always.
It's only when crossing the Border (or more often when importing from across the Border) that it becomes an issue.

The Border folks can rip your car apart in the name of safety and security.
They can also keep you from getting that cool knife you bought at a bargain.

Just buy knives from dealers in the country for more money, and the Border folks become irrelevant. ;)
 
Hairy Clipper said:
I can understand their fear, however, anyone with a clever mind and a desire to do so could carry a fixed blade and have it be readily concealed and available at a moments notice which makes their point moot. But in the end the restricting of foreign commerce in Canada for the benefit of Canadian cutlers is not the likely end goal. If I remember correctly the USA did something similar with "switchblades" in the 1930's or there about in an effort to remove them from society in general. With the volume of knife crime reported in the UK in the past several years along with recent declarations of the wisdom of cutting the tips off everyone's knives looks like the same strategy used in getting the Brits to give up their firearms. When governments do not trust their citizens with items that can be utilized to inflict bodily harm to an attacker a state of tyranny exists against it's own people.
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For sure I don't agree with that logic or approach. It's more of an aggressive attempt at social engineering than an enforcement of the law.

But in Canada anything that fits in the category of a weapon is going to be subject to more attention than the average. So being able to understand the system and move within it is my first line of defense.

All that said I would like to know what the actual retail store or otherwise that had that seizure and then doubled down over under $200 of Kershaw knives and jammed up every single other knife user in Canada. They deserve to be on the no fly list.
 
Danke42 said:
A fixed knife is expected to be more visible than a folder.

So the idea that the knife can be hidden on your person and then opened with one hand from concealment is the fear.
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Yes the fear is that a person could walk up to a LEO, stealthily deploy the knife and stab the LEO without them being aware you have a knife. The point of hilarity is that to deploy the knife the CBSA go to huge lengths to get the blade to deploy, what with over exaggerated arm flapping and so on to get the blade to come out.

I envisage a Monty Python sketch of some cop watching in confusion an attacker come toward them, madly flapping their arms to get the blade to deploy, before the attacker stabs them.
 
Mrs_Esterhouse said:
What is the reason behind banning flippers other than to control people and criminalize their harmless behavior? Was there a rash of flipper stabbings or something?
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There is no reason, our government does not value freedom like many left wing governments its about control and taxation this one falls mostly under control and its wrong.
 
Hairy Clipper said:
When governments do not trust their citizens with items that can be utilized to inflict bodily harm to an attacker a state of tyranny exists against it's own people.
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clearkevin said:
There is no reason, our government does not value freedom like many left wing governments its about control and taxation this one falls mostly under control and its wrong.
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A bureaucratic nightmare of lunacy and irrationality. I have heard that in NYC, LE would take hold of the blade and flip the handle to qualify the knife as "gravity" and confiscate it. It is all fear of the population by the "elite", that they are not fully submissive and under control.

There is some progress; some moderation in knife insanity in the US with archaic laws being rolled back, which I am very thankful for. Hopefully some of that will come for Canada.
 
I hate to keep seeing these threads ... but the only way it may ever change is if knife enthusiasts start organizing and fighting it ...

We are lucky to have Doug Ritter taking up the lead here and go at the silly laws completely ...

and you can believe if they keep going this way it won't stop at just "those" knives ... and probably go into firearms also ... it's been seen time and time again ...

We are lucky knife rights are being improved in many states ... but we have to support and fight for them ... and we have a big fight coming for our firearms everytime an election approaches ... so we can't ever sleep and just think voting is all we need to do ...

Support the organizations that do the day to day fighting and get involved writing letters ... making phone calls ... and visiting your politicians and being a PITA to them so they know how important it is to you.

I hope you get organized and fight and get this stopped before it goes any farther.
 
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Never rely on the government to care about your rights. You either defend your rights or you allow things like this to happen

I do sympathize with you. The law seems to be clear that they are legal, yet, the government will always try to push those boundaries.
 
slyraven said:
Never rely on the government to care about your rights. You either defend your rights or you allow things like this to happen

I do sympathize with you. The law seems to be clear that they are legal, yet, the government will always try to push those boundaries.
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I think the CBSA saw A/O knives and flippers as a work-around to the switchblade laws and took it upon themselves to reword the legal definitions to prevent citizens from importing them.
Much easier to change the customs rules than to change the criminal code.
 
Any Canadian knife lover needs to vote Trudeau out of office this October.

Back in the 90's my friend got caught with a switch blade. The cops literally removed the spring and gave it back as it was now legal to own. Just shows how twisted the law has become in this country when the powers that be, simply ignore the law.
 
I was intimately involved with a woman from Toronto throughout the 90s. Her family were a wonderful clan of academics who were typically very very politically liberal. In addition to a Toronto townhouse, they owned a 100 acre apple farm on Lake Ontario. When long gun registration occurred her father hid his farm guns.

Even die hard liberals have their limits.
 
These threads always upset me, even though I’m one of your southern neighbors.

A few years ago when I made a crossing it was the US agents that were painful. I got mostly a smile & wave from the CBSA. Seems like they’ve become buttholes since then.

Also, I’m about to move a stone’s throw south of the 49th parallel and periodic border crossings will be part of life. So, I get that I probably should pull my SOG assisted from my truck, but what about a Benchmade 940, a ZT 0450, or a Delica?
 
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4mer_FMF said:
These threads always upset me, even though I’m one of your southern neighbors.

A few years ago when I made a crossing it was the US agents that were painful. I got mostly a smile & wave from the CBSA. Seems like they’ve become buttholes since then.

Also, I’m about to move a stone’s throw south of the 49th parallel and periodic border crossings will be part of life. So, I get that I probably should pull my SOG assisted from my truck, but what about a Benchmade 940, a ZT 0450, or a Delica?
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If I"m going across for the day I'll have no knife or a slipjoint. If I'm going for a week something like a Delica with a back lock is the deal.

Coming from Canada to the USA for years the US agents would just wave me by and Canadian ones would grill me. I suspect that due to the climate of the time no one was trying to smuggle too much into the USA from the North but coming back to Canada everyone wanted to have smokes and booze. That all changed of course and the US agents got super harsh super fast. I've found they've sort of come back to the way they used to be.

When I go to the US they want to know where I'm going and what I'm doing. They may ask if I"m working. Then they'll ask about random stuff like fruit, sausages, weapons, and if I have gifts for friends. The added pot smoking to the list around when WA legalized it. When I come back to Canada they'll ask how long I've been gone, how much I"m bringing back and if I have weapons. Either way if I get an agent who is really aggressive I just roll with it like I don't even notice. I know that for some of them that's a tactic they're using to get a read on people. It's not personal.

I think some people loose sight that crossing an international boundary or importing/exporting goods is a big deal. There's no human right that says you can just do as you please.
 
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