The Dilemma of Knife Definitions (in Pending U.S. State Legislation)
AKTI monitoring at least 14 states considering knife legislation
that would impact "carry" rules for knife owners
You're breaking the law! Or you're about to break the law! If you're a hunter, fisherman, hiker, biker, outdoorsperson of any sort, or just a plain old garden-variety American who happens to carry a knife in his pocket or purse, you're in grave danger of being "illegal" in your state, a neighboring state, or the state you're bound for.
If you were to travel across America from Alaska to Maine by car, law enforcement personnel in the state you enter might have serious questions about the knife you legally carried in the state you just left. And that's only in 14 states that AKTI has been monitoring since January 2002. (More states could get on the "questionable-knife-law" bandwagon after we wrote this in early April 2002.) The reality is that every state has its own knife laws that are often vastly different from laws in surrounding states.
The American Knife & Tool Institute currently monitors pending legislation and regulations in the 50 U.S. states through a service called StateNet. Member users of the AKTI website (
www.akti.org) can access this service with a special password they can obtain by contacting Jan Billeb, AKTI Executive Director, at email:
akti@akti.org. Go to the site. Check out your state's knife-law activity. AKTI pays more than $10,000 each year to make this service available to you. That's why we need individual "Ambassador" members (at only $35 per year) to make sure we can continue to provide this service. When you join AKTI, you help us continue to help you!
In some cases, AKTI hires lobbyists to provide direct input to lawmakers on behalf of individual knife owners and the entire industry. For example, the fight to save one-handers in California in 2000 and 2001 cost AKTI $50,000. We're currently involved in Florida where our lobbyist fees could total $15,000 for 2002. The battle to protect knife rights is virtually endless and can be very costly. Join AKTI today so we can continue to try to influence legislation before it becomes law (when it's almost impossible to change).
StateNet uses AKTI search criteria to pre-screen bills they believe would affect knife owners. A review of legislation they have spotlighted for us since January 1, 2002 shows a broad range of potentially harmful definitions of knives that could be used against you.
Let's start our imaginary trip from America's far northwest corner
in Alaska and end in the far northeast corner in Maine. We'll list the state, the bill number (date of introduction in parenthesis), the troublesome language of interest to our potential knife-owning traveler, then a brief comment. Just imagine if you were stopped in every state and your knives scrutinized, measured, perhaps declared illegal, and you were charged with a crime, perhaps jailed until you could post bail, your knives confiscated. The direct costs and emotional distress would be immense. That's why AKTI continues to press forward to both urge and to help lawmakers accurately, clearly and fairly write knife laws that protect responsible, law-abiding citizens.
California - A1590 (2/23/01; amended 2/25/02).
Relates to filing serial numbers off personal property; furnishing acid to minors; or possessing acid used to commit vandalism or graffiti. Provides a long laundry list of outlawed knives including "ballistic knife, belt buckle knife, writing pen knife" and "lipstick case knife," among others. The potentially problematic language is contained under definitions of "dirk" or "dagger" where the focus of AKTI's lobbying efforts were directed during the 2000 and 2001 legislative sessions. AKTI successfully worked with law enforcement and the state district attorney's association to ensure that one-handers were exempt from the anti-switchblade statute (Section 653k of the CA Criminal Code). But this bill shows that California law enforcement is still trying to get even more clarity about knife definitions. Part of the definition of "dirk" or "dagger" talks about it being "capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon."
A1590 then says
"A nonlocking folding knife, a folding knife that is not prohibited by Section 653k, or a pocketknife is capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death only if the blade of the knife is exposed and locked into position."
The writer of A1590 also added this language
"Knives carried in sheaths which are worn openly suspended from the waist of the wearer are not concealed within the meaning of this section."
Comment: While this language may not be troubling to someone in California wearing a straight knife, folding knife or tool knife in a sheath, the rules may be different when he or she crosses into another state. Three new knife-related bills were introduced in California in early 2002, all of which use the same language found in A1590. These are:
S1689 (2/21/02). Prohibits manufacture, importation, sale, and possession of hard plastic knuckles. Amended and read second time, then sent back to Public Safety Committee on April 4.
A2222 (2/20/02). Adds to list of dangerous weapons; prohibits armor-piercing ammunition; regulates .50 caliber sniper weapons. Read second time and amended, then sent back to Public Safety Committee on April 10.
A2793 (2/25/02). Makes "non-substantive changes" to existing firearms laws.
