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.
Missouri - H1587 (1/23/02).
Creates the felony of mass transportation terrorism. Also defines "dangerous weapon" as "a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious physical injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than two and one-half inches in length;
" So if your car breaks down in Missouri, and you decide to hop on a bus to visit a friend while the mechanic is fixing your vehicle, if you carry a knife with a blade of 2 1/2 inches or longer, leave it in the car.
For those of you troubled by the ambiguous wording of many statutes, here's a question. If you have a knife with two blades, one 2 inches and one 3 inches, is your knife legal on the bus? You could argue that because it does have one blade less than 2 1/2 inches, it is legal. After you were arrested, the prosecutor would counter that the law clearly was intended to mean that your knife should have "only one blade less than 2 1/2 inches."
Four other laws introduced in Missouri relate to carrying concealed weapons. These are: H1344 (1/9/02); H1729 (1/31/02, amended 4/08/02 and sent to House Special Committee on Sportsmanship, Safety, and Firearms); S1122 (2/6/02); and H2212 (3/15/02). All four bills would authorize carrying concealed weapons if you were properly licensed. Language in all four that is pertinent to knife owners says
"Carries concealed upon or about his or her person a knife, a firearm, a blackjack or any other weapon readily capable of lethal use;
"
The assumption is that "weapon readily capable of lethal use" uses the same definitions as "dangerous weapon" in H1587 (above). If that's the case, then you will need to be licensed in Missouri to carry a knife with a blade that is 2 1/2 inches or longer.
However, another Missouri bill
S969 (1/17/02, amended 4/03/02)
does contain language more clearly identifying "Deadly weapon" as "
any firearm, loaded or unloaded, or any weapon from which a shot, readily capable of producing death or serious physical injury, may be discharged, or a switchblade knife, dagger, billy, blackjack or metal knuckles;
"
