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.
Georgia - H1060 (1/17/02).
Enacts the Transportation Safety Act of 2002. While this bill is directed primarily at airports, it is clearly intended to apply to any "public gathering." It states, in part, "
a person is guilty of a misdemeanor when he or she carries to or while at a public gathering, possesses, or has under his or her control any explosive compound, destructive device, or hoax device as defined in Code Section 16-7-80; firearm, or knife; hazardous substance as defined by Code Section 12-8-92; or knife or other device designed or modified for the purpose of offense or defense.
Comment: How many people have to be congregated for it to be a "public gathering?" If you go to a restaurant or the grocery store, are you at a public gathering?
S-330 (1/15/02). This is essentially the Senate version of the above House bill. It applies to airports and landing strips and also "provides that it shall be unlawful to carry certain items to a public gathering." Contains the same language referred to in H1050 (above). But there is the following very explicit language elevating the same "crime" to a felony. "Any person who boards or attempts to board an aircraft, bus, or rail vehicle with
[firearms, destructive devices, hazardous materials]
or knife or other device designed or modified for the purpose of offense and defense concealed on or about his or her person or property which is or could be accessible to such person while on the aircraft, bus or rail vehicle shall be guilty of a felony." If our traveler was convicted under this proposed law, he would do 1-10 years in prison.
Comment: The bill also has additional language about declaring knives in checked baggage that appears to go beyond what the FAA requires when traveling by air. My contact at the FAA says you do not currently have to declare knives in checked baggage and he even privately wonders whether it is smart to let baggage handlers know a suitcase has knives in them. But the sponsor of S330 clearly wants new and different rules to apply. The above prohibitions do not apply to checked baggage "
which is not accessible to passengers if the presence of such weapons has been declared to the transportation company and such weapons have been secured in a manner prescribed by state or federal law or regulation for the purpose of transportation or shipment."
What if our traveler decided to leave his car in Lexington, Kentucky, and for a little change-of-pace, take a short weekend flight to Atlanta for the Blade Show? What would happen to him if he forgot to pack his knife in his suitcase and accidentally walked up to airport security check-in? Would he simply have his knife confiscated or would he be arrested as a potential felon? What if he didn't realize Georgia now wants knives in checked baggage declared?
