Posted on 03/23/2023 5:07:45 AM PDT by marktwain
Knife Rights has launched a lawsuit against the state of California, claiming California law (Cal. Penal Code §§ 17235, 21510, and 21590), which bans the possession, carry, sale, loans, transfers and gifts of automatically opening knives with blades of two inches or more, violates the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
This correspondent has expected such lawsuits since the unanimous decision by the United States Supreme Court in Caetano. The decision, made an unequivocal statement:
PER CURIAM.
The Court has held that “the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding,” District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. 570, 582 (2008), and that this “Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States,” McDonald v.Chicago, 561 U. S. 742, 750 (2010). In this case, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upheld a Massachusetts law prohibiting the possession of stun guns after examining “whether a stun gun is the type of weapon contemplated by Congress in 1789 as being protected by the Second Amendment.” 470 Mass. 774, 777, 26 N. E. 3d 688, 691 (2015).
All arms clearly include automatically opening knives, such as “switchblades” or other common designs. From the complaint :
There can be no question that knives are “arms” protected under the plain text of the Second Amendment because the “Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Knife Rights say they are the second front in the war to restore the Second Amendment.
yes... i love a good switchblade dance number.
Switchblades are like the forbidden fruit...
they seem cool, awesome and mysterious.. Until you shell out way too much for one.
Then you realize a decent assisted opener is ($ for $ and overall) a LOT better piece of hardware, more practical, Less “killy” and “threatening to sheeple”.
And over all 1000% less of a PITA for day to day carry and use..
There is just far too much “west Side Story” and “Godfather” attached to them to (by and large) make them anything other than a novelty.
There are many stupid laws on the books around weapons, most dating from hyped-up fear about 1930s gangsters or later 1950s street gang nonsense. I think CA has a few ninja-fear laws specific to nunchaku etc., or they did.
As a result, in many places, people are left with the defensive escalation path of:
- strong words
- whatever unarmed power/technique they can muster
- straight to lethal force firearm use
or bluntly, ‘please’ or ‘die’ for most people.
A knife is potentially lethal and potentially more risky for a carrier if that individual isn’t willing to use it, but can be used non-lethally too. Even more so for blunt objects whether sticks, canes, even martial-arts stuff like nunchaku, tonfa (good old PR-24, not only for cops!) or jutte (Japanese police used to carry these, it’s like a baton with a guard on it).
No need to worry about teenage ninja vigilantes or whatever; a boatload of law and case law surrounds boxers, karate dudes, or whatever if they overdo defensive force. If you have capability X, you’re liable for its misuse. Long settled.
A stick isn’t what you want against roid-rage 300lb career criminal of course but choices are good, and 2A means all of that.
These semi automatic assault knives should be banned. /s
FUNNY ... and memorable
A stick isn’t what you want against roid-rage 300lb career criminal of course but choices are good, and 2A means all of that.
like they say about racing cars run what you brung...something is better than nothing
I have two.
A cheap Chinese one with a 3” blade and a Stiletto made in Italy.
The former is just a pocket knife with a clip on it no different than any other locking blade knife. Except it has a button to open it. Which makes it much easier because you can open it with one hand.
I have four assisted opening knives.
Very nice to have.
I also have a stiletto that sits in my tool box and is never used.
They are expensive.
“A stick isn’t what you want against roid-rage 300lb career criminal of course”
While recovering from a surgery one otherwise fine Tennessee May day, I saw a fight between two bikers and some kids with a pair of nunchakus. I happened to watch the rather nice looking ladies myself when I noticed the kids were “pestering” the biker’s girlfriends while they were swimming. Said women grew tired of them pulling at their bathing suits and got out of the water only to return with two lanky but strong stringy hair gents with their club colors vests.
The biker’s begining walking along the shore, confronting any male that looked like a potential threat(they started in on me before their girlfriends waved them off)
When they found the little pervs, one of them got a pair nunchakus from their ice chest and started doing that swinging routine that looks impressive... For a while.
The perv swung and got a solid hit on one of the biker’s but with the second swing the biker caught it, tore it apart and went to pommeling the pervs the old fashion way with their fists til the girlfriends pulled them away.
Don’t know if the biker was high or just used to getting pommeled, but any trust in those fighting sticks went out the window that day at the beach.
Here in Illinois, of all places, we can have switchblades, BUT, we have to have a FOID card to do so…
The same for stun guns.
Undoubtedly true, but the Second Amendment still protects the right of anyone who wants to own one anyway.
I have been carrying a knife for over 30 years. I have never needed it for self defense, but I have used it for a variety of other reasons. It’s a tool.
My current carry is a ZT 0350. Great knife. Not cheap, but not super expensive, either.
LESSON OF THE DAY…don’t mess with biker chicks.
I have a number of assisted opening knives and carry one most of the time. The problem is that many states wrote their knife laws before assisted opening knives were often seen and the switchblade definition is too broad. Out-the-front switchblades are very dangerous especially if both edges are sharpened.
Most states need their laws updated and assisted opening should be allowed always. I have some nerve damage from chemo and assisted opening is much easier for me to use.
I had an Emerson wave knockoff made by Kershaw. I no longer carry it as it is prone to opening slightly in my pocket and inflicted some undesirable cuts.
My favorite is a Ken Onion “Leek” with a carbon fiber body and pocket clip.
Those interested in the law should check out Knife Up which has laws by state and you can find the variation, uncertainty and problems in many states.
https://knifeup.com/knife-laws/
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