website sales of knives

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paniconthenet

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Oct 12, 2014
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I recently purchased a bench made infidel from a local pawn shop. I live in Georgia, which from what I've read, it is legal to carry and use this knife. But, if I wanted to have it sharpened by benchmade, I would have to prove I am a military/law enforcement officials.
I guess my question is, if I can't buy this knife from benchmade because I'm not a leo/mill, how and why can I buy it from bladehq without the credentials?

I tried to search, I get an error message each time I try...
Thanks
 
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Whether, or not you can buy the knife in Georgia is immaterial, Benchmade has to abide by the Laws in Oregon and with Federal law, which restricts the interstate sales/traffic of Automatic knives.

n2s
 
I have read many different places that an automatic knife is legal in GA as long as you have a GA Weapons Carry License. I would really like to know for a fact what the law says. http://weaponlaws.wikidot.com/us-switchblade-laws
I misunderstood the question. I thought the OP said it was illegal to carry the knife in GA. I have bought auto opening knives in the past via internet and they just had a box to check stating that it was legal to own the knife in the state where you lived. I don't know how they get away with it if it is illegal to sell across state lines.
 
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From what I've read, it isn't illegal to own and carry a switch blade, or otf knife in Georgia, I could be wrong. Would like more info on that subject as well.
 
paniconthenet said:
I recently purchased a bench made infidel from a local pawn shop. I live in Georgia, which from what I've read, it is legal to carry and use this knife. But, if I wanted to have it sharpened by benchmade, I would have to prove I am a military/law enforcement officials.
I guess my question is, if I can't buy this knife from benchmade because I'm not a leo/mill, how and why can I buy it from bladehq without the credentials?
Click to expand...

Ah, this is a topic that took me a long time to puzzle out, but one I know quite well. It's all about the federal law.

Title 15, Chapter 29 of the United States Code makes it illegal to introduce a switchblade knife into interstate commerce. This has no effect on buying from a seller in the same state as you, be it in person or online, nor does it affect your ability to transport property you own. But it does make it illegal for any company in another state to sell it to you (you as the buyer cannot actually violate this part of the law).

The real problem is that this law is rarely and very irregularly enforced, which has in turn lead to widespread and varied interpretations by different knife-makers and sellers, most of them frankly wrong. Companies such as Benchmade and Spyderco have been prosecuted in the past which led to them being very nervous about these laws. So they tend to be excessively strict about it, i.e. the law does not specify that sending a serviced knife back to its owner counts "interstate commerce," but Benchmade's legal department (or lack thereof) has chosen to interpret as such. Ironically, requiring the recipient to prove military or LEO status is not a defense under this statute, so it wouldn't save them from prosecution anyway. BladeHQ on the other hand has a completely opposite approach: They outright violate the law by selling to anyone. I cannot pretend to know what they actually are thinking, but information I gathered indicate they consider it a calculated risk: By law domestic mail cannot be inspected without a federal warrant, so it's nearly impossible for them to get caught without the feds pulling some kind of sting. And frankly the feds don't care enough, considering it's an old, stupid law that is almost completely obsolete with today's knife technology and the fact that firearms are perfectly legal.
 
Also yes in Georgia, switchblades are totally legal if the blade is under 5 inches long. Any length is legal if you have a concealed weapon permit.
 
Glistam summarized it quite accurately, I just wish to add that USPS regulations prohibit them from moving restricted knives except within the military/LE exceptions, much in the same way in which they will not transport firearms. However, using a "common carrier" like UPS or Fedex (hint hint), you step into a loophole in the FSA. Another grey area is the phrase "substantially involved in interstate commerce", case law varies on what this means.

Realistically, anyone who doesn't live in a state known for aggressively pursuing out of state sellers of things they don't like (NY) is unlikely to have any problem buying an auto online for their own use.

And yes, BladeHQ blatantly breaks the law, but they're far from the only ones.
 
Thank you john_0917. The only reason I mentioned bladehq was because it's the site I look at the most. I highly doubt they are the only ones who sell such items, and honestly, they seem much more responsible than most knife sales sites I've seen.
 
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