It’s been a long time in the making, but 2017 may be the year the increasingly irrelevant 1958 Federal Switchblade Act finally gets repealed.
We’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves, though.
The Knife Owners’ Protection Act of 2017 — originally conceived and authored by the great Knife Rights in 2010 — has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Andy Biggs. The act, known by its acronym KOPA, now includes language that repeals the federal switchblade ban.
“The Federal Switchblade Act was an asinine idea when it was passed in 1958 in a wave of Hollywood-inspired politically motivated hysteria and has only become more irrelevant as time has passed,” said Knife Rights Chairman Doug Ritter in a statement. “The majority of states have always allowed switchblade possession and with Knife Rights’ repeal of switchblade bans in 11 states in the past seven years, fully four-fifths of the states now allow switchblade possession to one degree or another.”
James Dean wielding a switchblade in “Rebel Without a Cause.” The film was part of the inspiration for the original switchblade ban.
I’ve written on this very blog countless times why it’s time for the switchblade ban to be repealed. Not only has it affected the business of companies like Knife Depot (which can’t sell automatic knives except to government, law enforcement, or military personnel) but it makes traveling from state to state with different regulations extremely complicated.
Parts of KOPA will protect knife owners who travel through jurisdiction with laws against automatic knives.
“KOPA will simply provide safe harbor to someone traveling with knives where they can legally be possessed at the points of origin and ultimate destination,” Ritter emphasized, “the bill requires they be locked up during travel in states where they would be illegal. It eliminates the constant jeopardy of criminal prosecution for simply passing through an area. It offers no protection to anyone engaged in criminal activity.”
The introduction to the House doesn’t make the KOPA a done deal, however. Not only will the 115th United States Congress have its hands full with a salvo of legislation, including the repeal and the replacement of the Affordable Care Act, but politicians are subject to whims and reversals.
Knife Rights is encouraging all of you who supports the KOPA to contact your House representative and urge them to become a co-sponsor of the bill.
January 17, 2017 at 12:35 pm
This is LONG overdue! In my state, the open carry of automatic knives hasn’t caused ANY increase in crime whatsoever. I enjoy carrying several autos and find them convenient in emergency situations.
Any law restricting their possession/use is a simple violation of the Bill Of Rights’ 2nd amendment. It’s simple, really.
In the immortal words of the late Senator Barry Goldwater, “Extremism in the pursuit of liberty, is no vice.”