Poor outlook for Canadian knife enthusiasts

Until the underlying social issues are resolved, I don't see any knife/gun laws getting lenient any time soon.
 
I definitely feel for our neighbors to the north. Here’s to hoping this gets overturned in a timely manner.
 
Out of all the things in the world to worry about...a pocket knife??? What's next, BB gun (maybe already illegal), sharpened pencil, etc.
 
I live in Ottawa (Canada's capital) . For the longest time one of the most listened to morning radio hosts was referring to the one of the major tourist destinations in the city, the "Byward Market" as the "Stabward Market" due to a few violent events involving knives. I was thinking this could have some affect with the Politicians and major Federal departments located here if the topic of knives came up for debate.

Another things that occurs to me is I do not think the younger generations view knives the same way as some of us over 50 crowd do. I have had a pocket knife on me daily since sometime in elementary school. Carrying a pocket knife in a public school could never happen today so the seeds are planted to perceive knives as weapons so much more than tools and the apprehension levels go up when any sort of knife appears.

Hopefully folks will see some charm and history when I pull out one of my new GEC 78 American jack knives to trim a thread or slice an apple.

Unless Apple puts a pen knife in one of their next generation phones carrying pocket knives in general could be on a decline.

,,,Mike in Canada
 
Just change "gun" to "knife" in the pic below and this is our literal situation.

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Technically, any folding knife that has a blade that revolves around a pivot will meet this criteria of gravity/centripetal knife if you loosened screws and/or pivot points. So they will rate and classify the knife based on the action of the blade when they inspect it at the border or in customs? When ordering a knife from a retailer outside Canada, just put a note on your order to the effect, "Please make sure the pivot screws comes nice and tight. Best Regards."
 
danbot said:
I can just picture the tribunal members sitting around their huge table flipping all these knives and gasping at the horrors that will befall the unsuspecting Canadian population!:eek:
Sad.
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This made me chuckle.. I wonder how they feel towards one piece steak knives that are permanently open? No tabs/nicks/centifugal force/torsion bars/thumb studs.. etc needed?! Gasp!
 
marcus52AR said:
This made me chuckle.. I wonder how they feel towards one piece steak knives that are permanently open? No tabs/nicks/centifugal force/torsion bars/thumb studs.. etc needed?! Gasp!
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One piece steak knife?

Sounds a lot like a D.H. Russell #1 to me, eh? ;)
 
HST said:
It will cost more in shipping, however, if one is really inclined...

Send the knife in parts. Those beaurocrats didn’t think of that.
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They’ll prolly serialize the blades and force you to register them now
 
Having US vendors Duct taping my imported switchblades and flippers open from now on.

Kinda like a Red Green fixed blade.

Even the worst Canadian Border clown respects the DT. It’s part of our heritage. It’s part of who we are.
 
Sosa said:
They’ll prolly serialize the blades and force you to register them now
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“Prolly” is not how law works. Serialize? How? By who or whom? What regulates that serialization?

They’re legal to posses, but not import, so parts it is.

Think of ghost guns...
 
HST said:
“Prolly” is not how law works. Serialize? How? By who or whom? What regulates that serialization?

They’re legal to posses, but not import, so parts it is.

Think of ghost guns...
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"Flipper kits dot com"!!:thumbsup: All the big companies can use them to ship their Canadian orders! Don't need to worry about voiding the warranty because we can't get 'em back if we send 'em in anyway! :D:mad:
 
Provided this is just some Mickey-Mouse import control then I can see this as a potential door opening for more Canadian manufacturers.
 
Wallace Mutt said:
http://www.citt-tcce.gc.ca/en/node/8176

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks to me like they based this decision off of the blade being slightly ajar. Point 2.

Whether the Goods in Issue Open Automatically by Centrifugal Force
  1. The Tribunal closely examined and tested the goods in issue at the file hearing of this matter. This included reviewing their packaging material and instructions, as well as opening and closing the knives repeatedly. When fully closed, the knives have a tendency to stay closed and do not open automatically with a mere flick of the wrist. However, they do open automatically when a flick of the wrist is accompanied with minimal manipulation by the thumb of either the flipper or other non-edged parts of the blade, such as the nail nick, to overcome the initial resistance. In fact, the instructions include directions on opening the blade without using the flipper, requiring only that the user “push gently outwards on the thumbstud”, referring to a part of the blade directly under the thumb when held in the closed position.[27]
  2. Once the blade is barely ajar, it easily, swiftly and readily swings into a fully opened and locked position with a simple, “slight flip of the wrist” as the instructions themselves confirm.[28] All of this can be accomplished in one simultaneous, single-handed movement with the wrist, thumb and forefinger.
  3. The Tribunal has ruled in prior cases that a knife may still open automatically by centrifugal force even if it requires some preliminary or simultaneous manipulation of a flipper or part of the blade.[29] In recent cases, it has also ruled that a knife may be a prohibited weapon if the flipper works in combination with a device, such as a torsion bar, to enable the knife to open automatically.[30] As found above, there is no such device (in the form of caged ball bearings) in these knives. However, the Tribunal has never ruled, and subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code does not provide, that a knife only opens automatically by centrifugal force when no manipulation is required of any part of the knife. The swiftness and ease with which the goods in issue open is in no way inferior to that of other knives that do not start in a locked position. The Tribunal does not believe that Parliament would have intended, or that the text of the statute commands, that the former be treated any differently than the latter.
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Unfortunately point 2 only describes the function of the flipper as it pertains to the operation of the kife. As part of my job training, I've read and analyzed several CITT decisions, as I could be called to act in a CITT case under certain circumstances (luckily I haven't had to yet, you can imagine how fun that would be)...

This sentence is very important:

"3. The Tribunal has ruled in prior cases that a knife may still open automatically by centrifugal force even if it requires some preliminary or simultaneous manipulation of a flipper or part of the blade."

Which means that they consider the knife as an "automatic" (thus prohibited) even if a slight manipulation of a flipper or thumb stud is required to deploy the blade. So it's not that the law only applies to knifes that are "ajar", it's that knives that require slight manipulation (so as to partially open them) before a flick of the wrist fully deploys the blade are considered to be automatic in the ruling.

It gets worse:

"In recent cases, it has also ruled that a knife may be a prohibited weapon if the flipper works in combination with a device, such as a torsion bar, to enable the knife to open automatically."

This means that an assisted-opening (benchmade axis or kershaw speedsafe for example) are considered "prohibited weapons" (just like automatic knives by the way).

Their definition of "automatic" now includes any knife that can be deployed from the flick of a wrist, whether you have to help the blade out or not as you're opening it, or any assisted knife.

Complete and utter nanny-statism bullshit. Luckily for us, the CITT's jurisdiction is limited to matters of international trade, and it has no jurisdiction in our criminal justice system within Canada.

With the current government in place however, I wouldn't be surprised if a similar ruling would occur within Canada.

EDIT:

The decision appears to contradict the following decision:

http://www.citt.gc.ca/en/node/8051 - This decision concludes that an assisted knife with thumbs studs only is not considered to be a prohibited weapon.

http://www.citt.gc.ca/en/node/7917 - This decision concludes that an assisted knife with a flipper is considered to be a prohibited weapon. This is the decision referred to in the decision that is the subject of this thread.

Different decisions, different verdicts.

So, in short:

Assisted knife with thumb studs only: Not a prohibited weapon and allowed to be imported.

Flipper, assisted or manual: Classified as a prohibited weapon and will be seized at the border if intercepted by an agent.

That all makes sense...
 
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I hate to see any of this type laws get inacted anywhere ... I hate our brothers and sisters to the north are going to be limited in what and where they can buy knives ...

hopefully you can get together and maybe form some sort of group such as some of our Knife Rights Associations here ... maybe even contacting them and see if they would be willing to help branch out and fight for your knife rights in Canada as they do for states here in the USA. ???

Hopefully common sense prevails in the end ... you'll have lots of support from us here.
 
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