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What is the definition of “gravity knife?”

That (and the definition of “switchblade”) is the fundamental question at the center of a slow but ongoing lawsuit against the city of New York. The organization Knife Rights is embroiled in a lawsuit against New York County D.A. Cyrus Vance Jr. and the city itself for using unconstitutionally vague terms to target merchants and citizens who sell or use one-hand opening knives.

Although updates about the lawsuit have been few and far between, Knife Rights just announced that its suit has been bolstered by two new plaintiffs: Native Leather, Ltd. and Knife Rights Foundation, Inc.

Native Leather is another retailer accused by Vance of selling illegal knives. The company was forced to stop selling knives deemed “gravity knives” and “switchblades,” had to pay fines and gave up most of its inventory, according to Knife Rights. The kicker is that Native Leather is still unsure of what constitutes an illegal knife. That’s one of the many reasons they joined the lawsuit.

Here’s more from Chairman Doug Ritter:

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Former Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey is suing Kershaw Knives for making a knife that nearly severed his finger and forced him to quit the famed dog sled race last year, according to Anchorage Daily News (h/t BladeForums.com).

Seavey was using a Kershaw folding knife, which featured a gut hook, a common tool used by mushers to slice plastic ties, when it accidentally closed on his finger. The damage was severe enough for officials to make him bow out of the race.

Seavey accuses the knife company of being negligent because of what his attorney claims to be a serious design flaw. A lever that releases the blade from locking position is in the middle of the handle and can be accidentally depressed when using the gut hook.

As a result of his injury, he was forced to quit the Iditarod when he was in fourth place. Even worse, his finger was reattached at an awkward angle, so now it gets in the way. He wants at least $100,000 in damages and lost wages.

While this is a serious injury and debilitating injury, a lot of the burden falls on Seavey to prove that it’s Kershaw’s fault and that he would have won the race.

Here’s more from Greenwich Time:

The lawsuit centers on the most essential of tools in a dog musher’s sled. A knife offers security, said Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle, who carries at least three blades on the trail, including one clipped to her parka.

If a dog’s leg becomes wrapped in a line or the team tangles itself around a tree, the musher must quickly cut the animals loose, she said. At checkpoints, racers use blades to slash open food bags or pry ice from frozen sled runners.

Even though knives are common in sledding, severe knife injuries are not. Of the few that happen, four-time champion Lance Mackey attributes the slices to carelessness.

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In what Knife Rights is describing as “the single most important bill for knife owners and the knife industry to pass this year,” SB432 was signed into law by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, taking effect July 1.

According to Knife Rights, the new knife preemption law effectively repeals a host of draconian knife ordinances that vary from county to county. What makes this so important is that it gets rid of knife restrictions on knife ownership, sales and manufacturing in places like Atlanta, which hosts the annual BLADE Show.

Here’s part of why it’s so important:

These local ordinances banned the possession of all sorts of knives readily available and often carried at the BLADE Show including a prohibition against carry of any automatic or any knife with a blade longer than three-inches “readily available for use.” An attendee or exhibitor could easily have run afoul of these ordinances and faced fines and jail time. The potential existed to create terrible publicity that could have jeopardized the knife world’s most important annual show! With the signing of Knife Rights drafted Knife Law Preemption bill, those threats are now eliminated.

While many knife organizations view this as a step in the right direction, it’s important to note that the law doesn’t go into effect until July 1. This means BLADE Show attendees are still susceptible to these strict laws during the show in June.

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