CRKT

MAURICE

MAURICE

Joined
Jul 14, 2000
Messages
3,278
i dont want to start rumors,but i just went to a.g. russel and one of the women there told me that the crkt vs. customs issue has been solved.she said that she just heard that.so hopefully everything is back to normal.

moderators-if you dont think this is appropriate please go ahead and delete it.like i said,i dont want to spread any rumors.but i thnk its all good now
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Maurice,
I just got a call from Paul Gillespie. It has been resolved and the knives are being returned. Customs DID NOT find CRKT in violation of the 1958 Switchblade Act.
CRKT will be posting a press release as soon as they can. It will explain everything.
 
GREAT NEWS!!! Thanks for sharing with us, Kit. I am really happy for Rod, Paul, and the rest of the CRKT gang. I talked to Rod a few days ago about all this mess and you can sense the stress and frustration in his voice. I bet you now they are celebrating and breathing a big sigh of relief. This not only is a victory for CRKT, but for the knife industry and knife enthusiasts as well. Great news on a Friday night too
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Congratulations CRKT!

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AKTI Member # A000005
NC Knife Knuts Member
Living life "on the edge"

In memory of James K. Mattis
 
This is great news. Thanks for letting us know, Kit.
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Cheers,
Brian

He who finishes with the most toys wins.
 
What a Relief it is! I was just going to get my Alka Seltzer after reading the Political thread about CRKT which turned into some weird battle with knife knuts fighting with each other (or maybe agent provocateurs, not a knife nut at all, if Jim is right) over proper Knife Political Correctness.

I hope we can all put this thing behind us now. I'm not sure all the letters to Congress referring them to a BFC thread gone bad was necessarily of good thing. But who would have forseen Any of this nonsense?

Paracelsus, missing James' cool head turning the heat down a notch on the pressure cooker
 
And thank you Maurice, too. You started the thread.
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Good news indeed.

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~Greg Mete~
Kodiak Alaska
JKM-Chai
 
:
Wonderful!!!!
I can't magine the relief that CRKT must be feeling now, let alone all the industry that makes similar tools. And with the fact that US Customs were wrong all along!!
It has to be much greater than mine and my relief is awesome.
.
Yvsa.
 
The nightmare is over, for now.

In response to those who asked "what's the big deal, it's just imports?":

You're sorta right...if it was JUST about imports, it would be a simple matter to tell Spyderco, CRKT, Al Mar and others to change their business practices
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.

The real kicker was that the Feds use the same definition to sort out whether or not a dealer sold a "switchblade" to a private citizen.

In other words, Customs in Portland had decided that Mike Turber committed a FELONY when he sold me a SIFU last year.

Not good.

Worse, pretty much every retail gun dealer also sells some knives...and more than any administration in history, Clinton's gang have been trying to kill off the gun dealers and manufacturers. It doesn't take a political mind on the level of Kissinger to figure out who they were after next...but the "knife only" dealers were by no means safe.

Last, some states that ban "switchblades" don't define the term - they leave that to the Feds. Therefore literally millions of people with modest cutlery on pocket-clips were threatened with heavy misdemeanor or even felony busts.

It was worth getting worked up over.

Jim
 
Jim,
I do not share your concern. It would be impossible to distinguish a "gravity knife" (short of the german WWII push button drop blade type) from a common folder. I am sure that someone will try from time to time, but I am also sure that the either common sense or the courts will restore order in the end.

Keep in mind that unlike guns knives are a truely common commodity. Every household has knives, and with few exceptions these knives will include a folder of some kind, and most of these can be open with one hand in their original factory condition, and all can be easily modified to do so with basic common tools. Even the Buck 110 can easily be flicked open if you just hold it by the blade, and virtually everyone has this or one of its many knockoffs.

There are other more dangerous ways to attack our hobby, but I wouldn't worry about the 1958 switchblade act, unless I were actually playing with a spingloaded, button operated traditional switch blade.

 
Hey, Maurice! Must have just missed you. I was at A.G. Russell today (technically I guess it was yesterday-I didn't realize how late it was
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) as well. Just doing my part to help CRKT's defense fund by picking up a Lightfoot Urban Shark. (Very solid little knife by the way, much better lock up than what I found on my KFF) I was talking to the ladies there myself about the CRKT situation. They told me that they had just heard that it was over. I consider myself fortunate to have a place like A.G. Russell so close by. I read the horror stories of others here on the forums about visiting knife stores where the employees don't know a thing about knives. I just love the fact that the ladies (thats right guys LADIES) who work at A.G. take the time to learn about what they sell. I love dropping by every so often and letting them show me what new models have come out.

Later,
Flinx

[This message has been edited by Flinx (edited 10-21-2000).]
 
(Big sigh of relief!)

Looks like the biggest contributor to Taiwan's now good reputation in the knife industry is safe! Southern Taiwan is again safe, and has once again risen! Just for a special occasion (the flag of Southern Taiwan):

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-Chang and the Rebels of the East!
 
Hi gentlemen -

congratulations ! the fight is over !

you have won !! CRKT is free !!!!

government is defeated !!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Äh - ohhhhh ---------

see you all next time they`l try it .

till tomorrow - good night.
 
While I am happy that this has been resolved in CRKT's favour, it still brings home the point that the laws that led to this situation do need to be updated and clarified in a common sense manner. Until this is done, knife aficionados in the US will live with the threat that this can and will happen again.

The question now is, are you willing to stand up and fight for enlightened knife laws or lose your liberty as a responsible citizen to own a useful tool? There is no middle ground in this.

Knife knuts in other countries would do well to follow this as it may help their cause in their home countries.

Harry
 
I must second what Jim March has said. You have to keep a watchful eye on the government at all times it wont be long before they are trying to take our knives and guns. Can't give them the chance. We are loseing our freedoms one at a time every time a new law goes into effect. the law makers think they have to make 1000 new laws a year whether we need them or not. People are beyound useing common sense they need a law to tell them where to turn next. Then you have the people who don't obey the laws we have now simple one like speed limits and stop signs. I guess I should turn off the rant mode now.
 
Actually, I would like 1 new law added...

I believe the govenment should be held accountable for its actions. To the extent that the harassment inflicted on CRKT, results in damage to their income or goodwill, the government should be made to make good on their mistake.

To the extent that they want to hire and empower bureaucrats, those officials should be held responsible under criminal and civil law. These guys have deprived a legitimate business of time, capital, and product without due cause. CRKT should be compensated and the official who made the bad call should be reprimanded or fired.

 
Anytime you choose to import something into the US, there is an understood risk that there will be delays in customs. You can not hold customs responsible for doing their job. The inspectors in question had a concern. They were mistaken, it turns out, but it was a concern. This matter was resolved fairly quickly. Again, this is just an understood part of the import business.

Some time ago, customs stopped a shipment of electrical assemblies bound for my then employeer. They feared that these assemblies were weapons components, bomb timers. They were, in fact, labeled as "timing assemblies," but had nothing to do with bombs or explosives of any sort. I do have to admit that circuit boards with wires hanging off 'em do look like every bomb you've ever seen on TV or in a movie. It took a bit of explaining and customs released the materials promptly. I would rather have customs stop a suspecious package and insist on that explaination rather then have them pass a shipment of unauthorized bomb components, for example. You can't fault them for doing their job.

The big concern that I have in this case is that as I understand it, these knives were confiscated out of CRKT's warehouse after they had already been passed by customs once.


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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
Not2sharp:

It's possible to get busted for felony drug smuggling for bringing in a single bottle of over-the-counter cold medication purchased in Europe, South Africa or elsewhere for personal use into the US.

When the issue involves gun dealers (who almost always sell knives too) the problems multiply astronomically. Ordinary machine washers have been described by BATF as "silencer parts". One gunsmith had a brand new semi-auto rifle (Marlin Camp9 if I recall, nothing unusual) that had a tendency to accidently do "bursts" of fire - the sear was malfunctioning. He sent the gun back to the factory with an RMA number asking them to FIX this problem, and BATF intercepted the package and tried to bust him for "interstate transport of a machine gun" - the BATF had him under investigation and a wiretap.

I mean, I could go on for PAGES here. The BATF has been caught falsifying evidence dozens of times just to shut down gun dealers they don't like.

Imagine one of those fools going in to a dealer to buy, say, a Sebenza, and filing Federal felony switchblade sales charges 5 minutes later.

If you don't think that could happen, you're not paying attention.

Jim
 
There was NO victory, and nobody WON at all! As I understand the reporting here, Customs dropped it before ever going to court with a case that was a loser. Therefore, there is no precedent, and absolutely NOTHING to prevent them from doing the same thing again -- a thousand times over! What did it cost CRKT? What will it cost many other companies when it happens to them? It cost Customs NOTHING! They are getting paid dollars that were taken from us at gunpoint (make no mistake about taxes; when government says "you will pay," it's armed robbery -- try resisting and you WILL see the guns), and they get paid whether they succeed in an honest case, or back off from what is obvious harassment. And they know WE do not have their endless source of funding.

If there had been a court ruling that established that CRKT's folders and others of that type were NOT prohibited knives (there's a concept to make every supporter of the second amendment puke), it would be useful precedent. No such happened.

Welcome to the Police State. I am glad CRKT is back in business, and I want order some of their commemorative "K.I.S.S. my A$$" knives, when they make them. But I'm not such a pollyanna to be celebrating any sort of victory.

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Lane
 
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