axis lock gravity knife?

[carter13]

I was thinking since its pretty much a sliding button with a spring. and when you push it the blade can fall out or flicked. doesn't this fit most definitions? even if its not what people try to describe won't it fit most deffinitions to a T?

 

[zignal_zero]

when i first got my 710, i thought the same thing. in my opinion, YES it could EASILY be considered a gravity knife

 

[heavy_-j]

i've thought about this too....my BM grip has become loose enough now that the blade can just fall out when the axis is pulled back....with the way some law enforcement agencies define gravity knives, an axis lock could very easily be construed as a gravity knife.....really by anybody's standards its pretty much a gravity knife unless the pivot is tightened down!

I'm sure there are some people more familiar with knife laws and definitions than me on here, so hopefully they'll chime in.....

 

[zignal_zero]

i've thought about this too....my BM grip has become loose enough now that the blade can just fall out when the axis is pulled back....with the way some law enforcement agencies define gravity knives, an axis lock could very easily be construed as a gravity knife.....really by anybody's standards its pretty much a gravity knife unless the pivot is tightened down!

I'm sure there are some people more familiar with knife laws and definitions than me on here, so hopefully they'll chime in.....

unfortunately, being familiar with knife laws does NOT cut it if other states are like mine, the laws are VERY susceptible to interpretation. one would need to be familiar with CASE LAW in a given district

 

[glistam]

Only state I know of with a problematic definition of "gravity knife" is New York. There's is so loose that any locking folder can be interpreted as a "gravity knife" because their law was not only worded poorly, but the courts keep upholding this bad wording.

Many other states don't have "gravity knife" named in law, though their "switchblade" definition wording can be interpreted to include true gravity knives, though not necessarily folders. With how modern folders work, gravity knife is an almost defunct term. In a skilled hand, almost ANY knife can be flicked open very fast.

I've taken such a dull view of knife laws these days. Indiana has hardly any regulation of knives, and they didn't devolve into a stab-fest last time I checked.

 

[knerd]

It's open to interpretation, but I don't think it's a gravity knife. The axis lock is a spring lock and not a button, so technically you are just releasing the lock and flicking the blade out.

Honestly, if you aren't doing anything stupid with your knife there shouldn't be any problem with officials.

 

[tom19176]

I always remind people of the Federal LAw passed in 1958 that banned switchblades, and the definition that was given as some lower state and city courts have used it when there are no such definitions in their laws to define switchblades and gravity knives.....


(b) The term ''switchblade knife'' means any knife having a blade
which opens automatically -
(1) by hand pressure applied to a button or other device in the
handle of the knife, or
(2) by operation of inertia, gravity, or both

That includes so many knives, and unlike the NY law it does not even require that they lock open.......

 

[zignal_zero]

food for thought - i've heard horror stories (that i haven't confirmed) about suspected illegal firearms being seized by the atf. then they worked as hard as they could (soft primers, etc) to get it to slam fire JUST ONE extra round with a single pull of the trigger, so they could get their conviction. this same logic could apply to knives - a quarter turn of a torx screw could turn your locking knife into a gravity knife. don't assume your knife will be in EXACTLY the same condition, at your trial, as it was the day it was seized.

 

[Petros]

I've heard that Australian customs have been seizing BM axis lock knives on this basis. Last one I bought, I found a retailer who was willing to adjust the tension on the blade just in case, and it came though OK. I doubt that customs officers would have torx bits on hand. Bit of a lottery though...

On a previous shipment, some liner lock knives were siezed on the basis that if they were shaken vigorously enough, the blade could be made to open. The loss of the knives was annoying, but the letter threatening prosecution was worse :grumpy: