AKTI Meeting at SHOT Show

The American Knife & Tool Institute hosted a special meeting during the SHOT Show to update knife professionals on a new pro-knife bill that reportedly will be introduced in the January Texas legislative session.

The pro-knife bill will focus on the effort to protect the right in Texas to possess and carry one-hand-opening knives. According to an AKTI news release, the AKTI was considering possible changes to the proposed legislation at press time as the new AKTI lobbyist, Mark Seale, was beginning a series of meetings with Texas law enforcement on the matter.

Based on preliminary discussions with staffers of key lawmakers, Seale was reluctant to predict that AKTI could successfully introduce “intent” into the Texas knife statute because prosecutors would like to place that burden on the defendant. However, while he indicated that intent language may not be properly inserted in the main body of the Texas definition of “illegal knives,” he conceded that discussions with key law enforcement groups might open the door to add owner intent to one of several exemption clauses in the statute.

AKTI board members stressed the key provision of the statute that must be presented to lawmakers was a clarification of the switchblade definition, in particular section 11(B). AKTI’s proposed change to 11(B) is a reiteration of its switchblade definition adopted on Aug. 31, 2005 by a vote of the AKTI executive committee and published in “AKTI Approved Knife Definitions.” It mirrors the California exemption language that AKTI achieved in 2000 in the 653k statute.

The 2007 Texas appellate decision in Thomas v. State (see following story, “Court Says Assisted Openers Are Switchblades”) effectively puts assisted openers and all one-hand openers in jeopardy in the 4th Appellate District, and ultimately the entire state. The three-judge appellate panel ignored the very clear “button-on-the-handle” language of the current statute and focused instead on a thumb stud on the blade of a knife owned by the defendant, as well as the concept of centrifugal force.

In other matters, the AKTI said it was developing a growing list of defense attorneys who will consult with a defendant’s attorney on knife cases. It also was in the process of developing a list of  “knife experts” who may be qualified to testify, including the solicitation of additional knife industry figures who may be available locally or regionally—for a fee—to appear on behalf of clients.

“Go to our website and sign up today for special e-mail updates and calls to action. It’s free,” noted David Kowalski, AKTI communications coordinator. “Encourage your knife-owning friends to join. Get your co-workers on board. Urge your employees to join.”

For more information call Kowalski at 715.209.7389 (cell) or visit the AKTI website at www.akti.org.

Court Says Assisted Openers Are Switchblades

A most disturbing Texas appeals court decision basically means that all Texans who own assisted openers could be in violation of the state’s switchblade/automatic ban.
According to “How To Turn a Bombshell Into an Opportunity” on page 10 of the August 2008 BLADE®, the decision “might start a wildfire of similar rulings that could spread throughout the country.”

In a nutshell, the Texas court ruled in 2007 in Thomas v. State that a student carrying an assisted-opening knife on the premises of an educational institution was not only guilty of carrying a prohibited weapon, but, on appeal, the court sustained the conviction and also ruled that the “prohibited weapon” in question is a switchblade.

What makes the ruling especially puzzling is that the Texas switchblade definition requires that the knife must open by gravity or centrifugal force, or automatically by pressure applied to a button or other device on the handle. Assisted openers do neither.

At press time, the American Knife & Tool Institute reportedly was working on a pro-knife bill that ostensibly would be introduced in the Texas legislative session in January. (See the previous story, “AKTI Meeting At SHOT Show.”)

Court OKs Using Pocket Clip to Justify Search

In a shocking ruling, a Kansas federal court condoned police searches of an individual based on whether a pocket clip is visible on the individual’s pocket.
According to “Your Knife Rights” in the March BLADE®, the knife need not even be illegal for the search to be justified.

As noted the author of the story, BLADE field editor Lowell Bray, “At bottom, an individual carrying a legal knife in a legal manner—someone who had done nothing to justify suspicion that he had committed, was committing or would commit a crime—was searched with no justification other than the knife clipped in his pocket. By that standard, a large percentage of the male population of this country is subject to search on any given day.

“Probably, to the judge and to most Americans, the defendant, who turned out to be an illegal alien carrying a gun and a drug pipe, is not a very sympathetic figure. However, that is not relevant to the issue of the legality of the search. If the search of the defendant was legal, the search of any citizen under like circumstances would be permissible.

“If there is any good news about the ruling,” Bray continued, “it is that a trial court made it, not an appellate court. This means that it is not binding on any other judge. It can, however, be used for its persuasive authority.”

Knives Under Worldwide Attack

In addition to the anti-knife rulings and sentiment that are epidemic in the United States, anti-knife fever also is running rampant in England, Japan and Germany, among others.

The anti-knife plague in England has been well documented. In London, police are using “screening arches” and handheld wands in the street, at transport hubs and at public events to search young people for knives, and conducting covert operations to target knife stores that sell knives to those under age 16. From May to October 2008, they had conducted 48,869 stops and searches, made over 2,000 arrests and confiscated 1,445 knives.

The Japanese government approved a bill in October banning the possession of “highly lethal double-edged knives” of a certain length in response to a series of violent crimes involving such knives.

The revised firearms and swords possession control law would ban the possession of daggers and other double-edged knives with blades 2.2 inches or longer, and swords and spears with blades 6 inches or longer. (Editor’s note: Since we’ve never heard of a sword with such a short blade, it sounds as if all swords are being targeted.) At press time, people in Japan were prohibited from owning swords, knives and spears whose blades are 6 inches or longer.

It would be the first time in 46 years that the definition of knives under the 1958 Japanese law would be revised.

Finally, this past March the Federal Republic of Germany banned the carrying in public of all one-hand-opening locking folders and all straight knives with blade lengths over 4.7 inches.

The possession, production and sale of these knives is still legal. The law applies only to the use of the knives in the public. As a source close to the German scene noted, “It is a pretty stupid law which has been created under scandalous circumstances by people who don’t know anything about knives. It caused [uncertainty] everywhere, because there are a lot of exemptions to the law—for hunters and others—but nobody knows exactly what [those exemptions are]. It is hard to tell how the law will affect the market, but it is clear that it will have some effects on knife sales in Germany.”

New Digs for Chris Reeve

Chris Reeve Knives moved into a brand new knifemaking facility in 2008. The company’s new address: 2949 S. Victory View Way, attn: A. Reeve, Dept. BT9, Boise, ID 83709 208.375.0367 www.chrisreeve.com.

CRKT Address Change

In case you missed it this past summer, Columbia River Knife & Tool has a new physical address: 18348 SW 126th Pl., attn: D. Flagg, Dept. BT9, Tualatin, OR 97062 503.685.5015, 800.891.3100 fax 503.682.9680 info@crkt.com, www.crkt.com.
 
MGE Has New Facility

Midwest Gun Exchange, a cutlery distributor that also serves multiple knife markets, moved into a new 22,000-square-foot location this past November.
For more information contact MGE, attn: Brad Foster, Dept. BT09, 3415 Grape Rd., Mishawaka, IN 46545 574.257.0020 www.midwestgunexchange.com.