SC subcommittee passes bill - 5/8/08 - Letters needed

[AKTICommunication]

SC House Subcommittee Passes AKTI Bill – 5/8/08

S 968, introduced by AKTI, passed out of the Criminal Law subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee today.

This was a significant hurdle. The full Judiciary committee will likely vote on the bill on Tuesday, May 13.

Your letters and emails are powerful. If you have not yet sent a letter to House members, please use the following as a model. At least send a letter to Chairman Harrison. But I have also listed the email addresses of all 25 committee members. Let Judiciary Committee members know if you are a hunter, fisherman, potential visitor for other recreation, resident or a business owner with links to South Carolina.

May 8, 2008

South Carolina House of Representatives Judiciary Committee
James H. Harrison, Chairman
512 Blatt Bldg.
Columbia, SC 29201
HJU@schouse.org

RE: Support for S 968

Dear Chairman Harrison and Committee Members:

The American Knife & Tool Institute, the organization that represents all segments of the sporting knife industry and all responsible knife owners, supports passage of S 968.

More than 95 percent of the knives used by sportsmen, gardeners, recreational users and the construction industry have blades longer than two inches. Virtually every hunter and fisherman carries a knife and it would be rare to find one that has a blade less than two inches.

Recent studies by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation show that hunters and fishermen provide a huge impact on the South Carolina economy.
1) An estimated 595,000 hunters and fishermen spend more than $1.8 billion per year in your state.
2) They support 32,700 state jobs that produce a payroll of $839,000 million.
3) Outdoor activities generate $182 million in state and local taxes annually.

Your current knife law makes virtually every hunter and fisherman subject to arrest for knife carry. South Carolina should welcome these law-abiding people into your state. And we should not make de-facto criminals of the estimated 2,000,000 state residents and other visitors who carry knives for their jobs or a broad range of recreational purposes.

Please support S 968.

Sincerely,

David D. Kowalski
AKTI Communications Coordinator

CC: Walton J. McLeod, 1st Vice Chairman, WJM@schouse.org
William G. “Bill” Herbkersman, 2nd Vice Chairman, HerbkersmanB@schouse.org
Karl B. Allen, KBA@schouse.org
Bruce W. Bannister, BannisterB@schouse.org
Alan D. Clemmons, ClemmonsA@schouse.org
Creighton B. Coleman, cbc@schouse.org
Kristopher R. Crawford, CrawfordK@schouse.org
F. Gregory Delleney, Jr., fgd@schouse.org
Ben A. Hagood, Jr., HagoodB@schouse.org
Gloria Arias Haskins, GAH@schouse.org
Douglas Jennings, Jr., DJ@schouse.org
R. Keith Kelly, KellyK@schouse.org
J. Michael Mulvaney, MulvaneyM@schouse.org
J. Todd Rutherford, JTR@schouse.org
John L. Scott, Jr., JLS@schouse.org
Fletcher N. Smith, FNS@schouse.org
G. Murrell Smith, Jr., GMS@schouse.org
Garry R. Smith, SmithG@schouse.org
James E. Smith, Jr., RepSmith@JamesSmith.org
Leonidas E. Stavrinakis, StavL@schouse.org
Scott F. Talley, SFT@schouse.org
Thad T. Viers, ViersT@schouse.org
J. David Weeks, JDW@schouse.org
J. Seth Whipper, JSW@schouse.org


P.S. If you send a letter, please email me a copy so I can forward to our lobbyist. Email to communications@akti.org

 

[Grey Mullet]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what exactly is the law? Could you quote it or link to it?

 

[Larry S.]

"ARTICLE 5.​

MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES​

SECTION 16-23-405. Definition of "weapon"; confiscation and disposition of weapons used in commission or in furtherance of crime.
(1) Except for the provisions relating to rifles and shotguns in Section 16-23-460, as used in this chapter, 'weapon' means firearm (rifle, shotgun, pistol, or similar device that propels a projectile through the energy of an explosive), a knife with a blade over two inches long, a blackjack, a metal pipe or pole, or any other type of device or object which may be used to inflict bodily injury or death. (2) A person convicted of a crime, in addition to a penalty, shall have a weapon used in the commission or in furtherance of the crime confiscated. Each weapon must be delivered to the chief of police of the municipality or to the sheriff of the county if the violation occurred outside the corporate limits of a municipality. The law enforcement agency that receives the confiscated weapon may use it within the agency, transfer it to another law enforcement agency for the lawful use of that agency, trade it with a retail dealer licensed to sell pistols in this State for a pistol or other equipment approved by the agency, or destroy it. A weapon must not be disposed of in any manner until the results of any legal proceeding in which it may be involved are finally determined. A firearm seized by the State Law Enforcement Division may be kept by the division for use by its forensic laboratory."

Hope this helps.....

Here's a link to the AKTI's proposed changes.....

http://www.akti.org/legislation/sc-1-08notice.html

 

[Grey Mullet]

That's much better. The original way they were classifying knifes as weapons just because they could potentially be used as weapons. Imagine if they did that with other things, they would have to confiscate all the cars and all the little league baseball bats.

 

[CJ Buck]

AKTI was successful in Arkansas and will soon be in South Carolina. These states were chosen because hunting was such a strong economic motivator. As we continue to go state by state it will be more difficult with states that do not depend on hunting tourism.

 

[phillo_betto]

Your current knife law makes virtually every hunter and fisherman subject to arrest for knife carry.

um, I don't believe so.
from: http://www.scstatehouse.net/CODE/t16c023.htm

SECTION 16-23-460.
Any person carrying a deadly weapon usually used for the infliction of personal injury concealed about his person is guilty of a misdemeanor, must forfeit to the county, or, if convicted in a municipal court, to the municipality the concealed weapon, and must be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more than ninety days. Nothing herein contained may be construed to apply to (1) persons carrying concealed weapons upon their own premises or pursuant to and in compliance with Article 4 of Chapter 31 of Title 23, or (2) peace officers in the actual discharge of their duties. The provisions of this section do not apply to rifles, shotguns, dirks, slingshots, metal knuckles, or razors unless they are used with the intent to commit a crime or in furtherance of a crime.

I sent an email to your "lobbyist" at communications@akti.org over a week ago, and asked if somebody would please reply and explain to me exactly what this "S 968" is proposing... I still haven't gotten a reply, so I thought I'd ask you here... and because, quite honestly, "S 968" doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

I've lived in SC all my life and have never, ever even heard of anyone being arrested for simply carrying a knife (of any size or type).... I've personally asked (at least 4 that I can recall) Law Enforcement Officers (one was the Chief of Police) and I've also asked a couple of attorneys, "exactly what is legal/illegal regarding the carry/posession of knives..." their answer every time was "don't pull a knife on anybody, or threaten anybody with one, and certainly, don't hurt/cut anybody with one, and you'll have nothing to worry about." I've been searched/shook down by LEO more times than I have fingers, and had a knife (usually an automatic )on me every single time... I've even been arrested and gone to jail with an OTF in my pocket (I wasn't arrested because of the knife) and it was in the brown paper bag with all my other stuff when I got out the next day... the only thing any of the cops said about it was, "you be careful, that thing could open up in your pocket." ..lol... :jerkit:

Could you please explain exactly why/how SC needs AKTI's help with our present knife laws? or should I just keep on thinking your whole orginization is a sham, i.e. "using" other people's money to "lobby" politicians in states where the knife laws are basicly non-existent, and not even in jeopardy?

 

[Nukemkb]

Old ways of doing business here in SC can change with the politicians. I am very pleased to have the rules changed now before politicians change either locally or nationally.

 

[Grey Mullet]

People are moving from New York to South Carolina in record numbers. It's just a matter of time before they decide to "civilize" the place. If they don't make typical pocket knifes officially legal, how long will it be before they decide to make gun racks illegal? The line stops here. This far, and no further.