If you collect or enjoy knives, you’ve likely heard of the knife advocacy group started by knife designer Doug Ritter called Knife Rights.
Well, thanks to an article published in The Washington Post on September 15, people all over the country had the joy of learning all about the group’s effort to repeal restrictive knife laws in the United States.
I highly recommend reading the whole thing here.
An image of Todd Rathner of Knife Rights by Bridget Bennett for The Washington Post
Reporter Todd C. Frankel did a pretty good job presenting both sides of the argument and portraying the organization in a fairly positive light.
Here is a nice excerpt from the piece:
Ritter, 65, said that knives, like guns, should be considered arms protected by the Second Amendment. He doesn’t support any restriction on knives — not on switchblades or push daggers or even the ballistic knives that shoot like spears from a handle. Todd Rathner, director of legislative affairs for Knife Rights, holds a one-handed open knife during the Usual Suspect Gathering.
That’s become a winning argument. Twenty-one states have repealed or weakened their knife laws since 2010, many of them with bipartisan support, including Colorado, Michigan and Illinois. New York came close to doing the same last year. Ohio could be next. Texas passed its bill last year despite a high-profile stabbing death just days before lawmakers voted. And Knife Rights, with little financial backing, has been working behind the scenes to help make it happen.
“A lot of people said it would be impossible to repeal a switchblade law in any state. Insane. Tilting at windmills,” Ritter said. “Turns out they were wrong.”
The story was not without its faults though.
