An article in Saturday’s New York Times chronicled the recent success of knife lobbyists across the country to ease restrictions on possessing different kinds of knives.

At the centerpiece of the story was the decision by Arizona lawmakers to put all knife restrictions under control of the state legislature, who then proceeded to abolish the majority of prohibitions.

The burgeoning knife movement is championed by Knife Rights Inc., an advocacy group based in Arizona, which contends that the right to carry knives is protected by the Second amendment, alongside the right to bear arms.

The group also claims that the prohibitions against certain kinds of knives, such as switch blades and/or machetes, have no basis in the potential harm the knives could cause.

It’s ridiculous to talk about the size of the knife as if that makes a difference. If you carry a machete that’s three feet long, it’s no more dangerous than any knife. You can do just as much damage with an inch-long blade, even a box cutter,” said D’Alton Holder, a veteran knife maker who lives in Wickenberg, Ariz.

In addition to its success in Arizona, the group also aided in the overturning of a New Hampshire Law that banned switchblades.

Many of the current knife bans were passed in the 1950s as a result of movies like “West Side Story and “Rebel Without a Cause,” which featured menacing knife use.