cenrrifugal opening and the law in texas

S

SIFU1A

Joined
May 12, 2001
Messages
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hi - would put this in the legal section, but i was so suprised that i thought it would certainly be of interest to all forumites - i really think you should be aware of this if you live in texas - i am thinking of getting a balisong and was wondering if it might be legal/illegal in tx - so i went to my '00-'01 edition of "Texas Criminal Laws" issued by the texas department of public safety , austin, texas - i went to the weapons section, on page 61 -

PC ch 46 : weapons defines what constitutes a prohibited weapon in texas. under "illegal knives" (PC46-01 6, A-F) prohibits knives w/blades over 5.5", throwing knives,daggers swords, spears - no real suprises here - then i got to the definition of switchblade knife ( PC46-01 11 a+b) it defines switchblades as and i quote "any knife that has a blade that folds, closes or retracts into the handle, or sheath and that a) opens automatically by pressure applied to a button, or other device located on the handle, or b) (and check this out) opens or releases a blade from the handle or sheath by the force of gravity or by the application of centrifugal force"

what the heck??? almost every one of my liner/rolling/compression/axis/lock back lock knives will open by "centrifugal force" - does this mean that all these knives are switchblades by law? and therefore illegal? it sure seams to say that doesnt it? now i'm not a lawyer, but i do have a degree in criminal justice, and do work for the tx dept of criminal justice, so i deal w/the law every day - i thought i new the law in tx about knives- but anyway have never read this particular statute that closely before, and was shocked to read this - the offense is a class A misdameanor, a pretty darned serious offense -

what do ya guys (and gals) think of this? i mean everyone i know (well almost lol) carries a knife which, if the pivot pin is loose, would fall under this criteria - i just dont know what to think. hell the way it reads the bali isnt any worse than the others, or my GT autos . and this is, like i said, right out of the texas penal code.


i guess ya could tighten all pivot pins, but some of my knives (ie spydie Lum Ti tanto comes to mind) cant be tightened enought to pass - i dont know what to think about this- am i reading something wrong, or..........WTF!!!!!!

sifu
 
oh and spark feel free to move it if ya think its in an inappropriate place - i put it here because i think it affects a lot of formites, any who live in tx or plan to travel here i would think, and also would draw more attention, i never went to the legal forum, i thought i knew the laws in my state - but i dont think this has been adressed before, i did a search and didnt come up w/anything - but imho should be of interest to many.....


sifu
 
SIFU,

If the law is to be taken literally then almost EVERY folding knife is illegal. NY law reads the same way but case law has proven it wrong. In one instance, a butterfly knife was found to NOT fall under the "gravity knife" law as it was not imediately ready to open by centrifugal force due to the fact that you first had to undo a latch. Bernard Levine had mentioned a while back that he had worked on many cases on this topic and there is no way a regular folder is a gravity knife. He said that it is not designed to be opened by the use of centrifugal force. I guess it will all come down to your day in court, the problem is, do you want it to even go that far?
 
Here's my $.02 on this as a cop in Texas. What you put in the post is correct if you take the law as it is written then yes just about every folding knife falls under the definition of switchblade.
I think an important part of being a police officer is using common sense and arresting everyone carrying a folding knife because it technically falls under the definition of switchblade would be far from common sense ( I also thing you would lose in court). But as customs proved when dealing with CRKT not everyone likes to use common sense and holding out to prove your case in court can cost alot of your time and money. I'd like to see a group like the AKTI take this up and lobby to get the definition narrowed. I would really like to see the switchblade knives made legal but I really don't think that is a realistic goal:(
 
As some one who just went through having a knife cinfiscated under the NY centrifugal statute, I have to agree with brad. The statutes were written at a time when the vast majority of folding blades were two handers. And were hampered by stiff springs and lots of friction. One hand knives are the norm now and I dought that there is a single manufacturer that doesn't make them. We should encourage legislation changes that reflect the current state of the art.

Every one here is probably guilty of carrying a gravity knife if these laws are teken litterally.
 
Originally posted by brad1407
Here's my $.02 on this as a cop in Texas. What you put in the post is correct if you take the law as it is written then yes just about every folding knife falls under the definition of switchblade.
I think an important part of being a police officer is using common sense and arresting everyone carrying a folding knife because it technically falls under the definition of switchblade would be far from common sense ( I also thing you would lose in court). But as customs proved when dealing with CRKT not everyone likes to use common sense and holding out to prove your case in court can cost alot of your time and money. I'd like to see a group like the AKTI take this up and lobby to get the definition narrowed. I would really like to see the switchblade knives made legal but I really don't think that is a realistic goal:(
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Most officers that I am around and work with go by what the knife is "designed" to be used for.
 
Originally posted by SIFU1A
what do i say my SIFU is designed for lol???? cutting carpet?

sifu
Click to expand...
Perhaps I worded the post wrong. I should have said designed "as" instead of "for".
 
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