It was reportedly a switchblade knife. Legal to own but illegal to carry.
My issue is about the description of the common way of carrying a pocket knife.
Ghetto men don’t get switchblades much these days, although many in the ancient past of my childhood would bring them to places like New Yuk from places like Italy or Puerto Rico.
But big city employees relatively rich with government cash flow probably do. I reckon switchblades can still be obtained around the fringes of fancy tourist corrals down south.
Switchblades are crap anyway. Very few American blue collar men—even criminals—have attention spans so short as to carry something so fragile for the purpose of using it as a weapon.
If a group wanted to break a criminal’s neck, though, a switchblade would be good for planting at the scene. That’s been done many times in the past, especially during riots, with cheap, stolen pistols.