Outrage: NYC DA Shakes Down Knife Retailers

[Karda]

They rightfully should be concerned about their exposure.
I also understand why knife companies would want to limit their liability to being prosecuted/persecuted by DA Vance. However i think that their choice to refuse all NYS residents access to their product is a pretty poor one and only serves to give Vance more ammunition to declare that he is doing a good and just service to his public. It is nothing more than a stop-gap measure that may well prove do nothing other than alienate good customers whom happen to live in NYS. If vance wants to go after you, he will, wether you sell here or not.

 

[tom19176]

I agree that what has happened in reaction to Vance's actions is a mixed bag, one often not based in any facts ( his or others). The companies that have stopped shipping to NY, have made a total ban on sending any knife to NY ( except kitchen knives in one case). Vance has stated he is going after" illegal knves" which he claims to be his defintion of switchblades ( including AOs) and gravity knives ( any knife that locks and can be flicked open). Of course he is wrong in his identification of these knives, but no one has yet to defend themselves against this action. Instead of the knife dealers stateing no AOs or locking folders sold to NY, they have posted a total stop shipping policy to NY. That I do understand makes any customer mad.

I had hoped for many years, that when the dealers / makers of folding knives came under the microscope of NYC Law, they would fight back as Walmart did in a small city in Ill. Instead, they immediately caved in and made payments to avoid being formally charged for selling "illegal" knives. The one point I think many have missed is that for many years NYC has deemed untold numbers of legal folding knives to be illegal gravity knives. Thousands of people have been charged with CPW based on this, and no one in the knife industry seemed to care. I had hoped that when the day the dealers /makers had been handled in a similar way, that they would fight back. It seems that except for the one VidKnight posted about, no one has.

Is it true that the NY Knife show has moved to NJ because of this!?!?!?

 

[GingivitisKahn]

Ok first off, let's stop pretending that these companies are paying 'fees'. They are doing no such thing. They are paying protection money - they have acceded to the corrupt DA's demand for extortion money.

NYC has a problem with a corrupt DA but I don't see the people of NYC being able to solve that problem short of dragging the guy out of his office and inflicting vigilantism on him. The legal solution *seems* to be that the state AG needs to step in and do his/her job. Is that correct?

Accordingly (assuming that's right), it seems to me that boycotting the state, rather than the city is the most appropriate response from the involved companies and the rest of us.

 

[suedeface]

Is it true that the NY Knife show has moved to NJ because of this!?!?!?[/QUOTE]

New York doesn't deserve to have the knife show there. If there was any justice in the world, and the majority of new yorkers didn't have their head up their A$$es, this piece of garbage Vance character would be in an orange jumpsuit.

 

[pchambers]

This is unbelievable but at the same time not really. These corrupt Ivy League pricks can find absolutely nothing to do but go after pocket knives and box cutters? New York is riddled with poverty, pollution, crime, terrorism and corruption and they want to label the Husky a gravity knife... omfg. Thankfully I live in Wyoming, the last of the REAL America. I can carry a .50 on my hip with no permit, right next to my ginormous pocket knife and the cop says- "Oh cool, can I take a look at that?" Best plan if you don't have millions to fight the system - MOVE OUT OF NEW YORK! (Just steer clear of Utah...)

 

[Esav Benyamin]

This is unbelievable but at the same time not really. These corrupt Ivy League pricks can find absolutely nothing to do but go after pocket knives and box cutters? New York is riddled with poverty, pollution, crime, terrorism and corruption and they want to label the Husky a gravity knife... omfg. Thankfully I live in Wyoming, the last of the REAL America. I can carry a .50 on my hip with no permit, right next to my ginormous pocket knife and the cop says- "Oh cool, can I take a look at that?" Best plan if you don't have millions to fight the system - MOVE OUT OF NEW YORK! (Just steer clear of Utah...)

Stick your ignorant ranting in the Political Arena. This forum is for discussing knife laws, not your misplaced commentary on matters beyond your personal knowledge.

Not the place for cheap vulgarity, either.

 

[khagler]

NYC has a problem with a corrupt DA but I don't see the people of NYC being able to solve that problem short of dragging the guy out of his office and inflicting vigilantism on him. The legal solution *seems* to be that the state AG needs to step in and do his/her job. Is that correct?

This isn't the first notably corrupt lawyer to come out of New York City. If Vance follows the example set by Giuliani and Spitzer, he'll eventually parlay his illegal prosecutions into higher office. The good news (if you can call it that) is that his predecessors didn't have much luck expanding their political careers outside of New York.

 

[tyr_shadowblade]

New York doesn't deserve to have the knife show there. If there was any justice in the world, and the majority of new yorkers didn't have their head up their A$$es, this piece of garbage Vance character would be in an orange jumpsuit.

I was a New York resident for over 25 years. Even on the rare occasions when an incumbent is voted out of office and a Republican or Conservative is voted in, there never seems to be any difference in how the laws are interpreted or enforced. Over the past 20 years it appears as if the NYS Penal Law has doubled in size, and the list of things prohibited as weapons has increased as has the penalties. Simple possession of a weapon, even if the court acknowledges that there was no criminal intent and the perpetrator may've not even realized he was in violation of the law not only will likely result in a conviction under "zero tolerance" mandates, but simple possession is adjudicated as a "violent" offense which means harsher sentencing with mandatory minimums. Voting changes nothing. Right or Left, the New York political machine has a vested interest in keeping things exactly as they are, while continually chipping away at individual rights until nothing remains. NY legislature conducts most of its meetings in secret, there is virtually no oversight, and while it is fairly easy to get new bills turned into law, it is VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE to have a law overturned or even modified.

What is of greatest concern in this case is that Vance's interpretation of what constitutes a "gravity knife", "switchblade", "dagger", or "dangerous knife" could very easily set a precedent that can be enforced throughout the state, with other NorthEastern Yankee states (MA, DE, MD, CT) following suit.

Potentially, any folding knife that can be grasped by the blade and swung open could be deemed a "gravity knife", any assisted opener could be deemed a "switchblade", and any lockblade or fixed blade could be deemed a "dagger". They do not even need to amend definitions within the Penal Law as it now exists, due to the "of any like kind" clause or the undefined "dangerous knife."

 

[pchambers]

Stick your ignorant ranting in the Political Arena. This forum is for discussing knife laws, not your misplaced commentary on matters beyond your personal knowledge.

Not the place for cheap vulgarity, either.

Yeah ok, perhaps this is not the thread to talk about what the thread is about.

But who are you to call me ignorant and what do you know of my personal knowledge?

These are not the droids you're looking for...

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Good start to this thread on an important topic. Discussion has now deteriorated, become repetitious, and is drawing in remarks way out of line with any reasonable action to correct a bad situation.

In good part to protect members who cannot seem to protect themselves, I am closing the thread. I am sure we will see a new thread when real action becomes possible.