Federal Switchblade Act

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Jun 14, 2023
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Not that I am against it. But how are all the Knive companies getting away with shipping Autos/OTFs across state lines? The form you must sign when buying them would not hold up in court. I know the FEDs are not enforcing the laws. Has the Federal Switchblade Act been changed
 
That would mean allocating a lot of resources towards pursuing a case with little payout, zero improvement for public safety, and no opportunity for political sway with the public. Even they know it's a dumb law, and they can barely handle the important cases they have as it is.
 
Not that I am against it. But how are all the Knive companies getting away with shipping Autos/OTFs across state lines?

A better question would be "How is the federal government getting away with infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms?". 🤷‍♂️ I'm not a legal expert but it's guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and yet it gets violated all the time.
 
I suspect the conversation would go like this -
Feds - We said it was illegal.
State Govt - Yes we see that but we say otherwise.
Feds - OK, then you deal with it, we have other things to do.
 
As long as the USPS is not used and provided it's legal in the buyer's state the buyer is not at risk. For the seller, (I am talking commerce not some guy selling his used knife that he is tired of to someone he knows) it is a different story however. This is pertaining to inside the US.

Ordering these from another country is a different can of worms that I won't discuss because I know very little of those laws but will leave you with the tidbit that Customs has broad powers and can probably snag buyers if they wish to (If they want to bother) so I would advise against it.

From what I read the Federal Switchblade Act applies to interstate commerce. It does not apply to individuals buying them or personal transactions. It's meant to restrict the manufacturers, wholesalers, dealers, etc... from introducing these products across state lines for business, profits, sales distribution, etc... It does not matter what couriers the offenders use.

Any business that routinely sells switchblades or a dealer (wholesalers, stores, etc... you get the picture) that orders them to sell to non exempt people across state lines is the one taking a risk not individual retail buyers (people who buy it for themselves.) These businesses know the laws if they want to take the risk there are people that obviously will buy them.

I personally would not want to talk about these specific businesses who make obtaining these fun gadgets easier on an open forum.

There are separate laws that prohibit using the USPS for shipping these things and it applies to both Sellers and the people who order and accept them (that's buyers) so if you are a buyer just insist on Fedex or UPS anything but the US postal service and don't forget to know your local and state laws because that is what buyers have to worry about the most.

And as usual I am not a lawyer. The laws are filled with lurking surprises and technicalities. Sometimes the laws don't make logical and I mean logical sense and that fact does not protect those being prosecuted.

An entity (business etc..) in a State can manufacture and sell all the switchblades they want within that State as long as they don't ship them over state lines to people/entities that do not meet (Federal) exception criteria concerning the interstate commerce laws. It's really nice that a whole lot of States in the US have legalized switchblades.

It's not illegal under federal law to possess, make, and sell switchblades within a state so that marijuana analogy does not apply.
 
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A better question would be "How is the federal government getting away with infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms?". 🤷‍♂️ I'm not a legal expert but it's guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and yet it gets violated all the time.
It's going to take someone to sue the government to get back our rights. Bruen should invalidate all the switchblade laws, but there are bigger fish to fry with lawsuits, namely guns.
 
I know Wisconsin has some of the most permissive knife laws. One of the core foundations within WI knife laws is: "If anything shall be called a 'dangerous weapon', it shall not be a knife." But there are exceptions: "If a defendant has/had been adjudicated to a state asylum for the legally insane, he may not carry a knife or dangerous weapon during the commission of a serious crime, or be found roaming about in possession of the same.

If anyone is disqualified from obtaining a permit to carry a concealed weapon by his local law enforcement agency, for reason of 'officially documented' mental defect ***(I think this means that local law enforcement personnel may deem a person to have a mental defect, but that determination alone is not legally binding as having a mental defect)***, he may not roam about in possession of a knife or dangerous weapons.

Then there a few other exceptions, such as carrying machetes, swords, and knives designed for no other use than mayhem or homicide. ***(The lawyer commentary noted 'it is difficult to imagine such a knife', but there is presently no case law precedent)***

Switchblades are not considered distinct from manual opening folders. All this was accomplished in one of the most restrictive states on knife rights when the State Assembly was addressed several times by historical knife-law experts who convinced enough legislators that knives are the most ancient and most useful 'tool'. Only recently have laws ignored that fact. Also, in 98% of all homicides, only hands and feet are used to effect the crime. Also, up until 1964, New York City 7th graders on up carried their rifles to school, for marsmanship class. And, until 1981, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts carried folding knives in elementary school.


Neither of those practices had even one documented case of violence associated with it. However, it is still illegal to sell or supply (except parents and/or guardians) edged knives to minors, or for minors to roam about unsupervised in possession of a knife.


When I'm visiting my relatives in northern WI, who mostly live on farms, I carry a 10-inch knife with 7-inch fixed blade on my belt, even in town at the taverns. No one even takes notice. It's pretty common to carry fixed-blade edcs in that area. But on Sunday, no one has anything but a small folder with him.

And, up there, no one pulls a knife in a bar fight. One day the state legislature voted, and the following day anyone could carry a switchblade.
 
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