Customs Says "NO EXTENSION!" - They Want Your Pocket Knives NOW!

Critter · Jun 19, 2009

timcsaw said:
It's been over a week, and I've received nothing from any of those I've contacted (CBP, one Republican, two Democrats, and a ton of media outlets). Disappointing.

I've still not seen anything about this from the MSM. Disappointing.

<snip>

What more can we do?

First of, thanks for yourf support. Do not be too disappointed about not yet recieving a response. CBP will not respond. No agency responds individually to comments received. As to your Members of Congress, I'll quote from our Communicating with Congress page

Dont expect an immediate reply or a personal reply. Offices representing large population states regularly receive 4000 to 6000 emails a day when hot topic issues are in the news. Most offices try to respond in 2-3 weeks, but that time can vary immensely. If youre from Montana or South Dakota you might get a response in a couple of days, but these small population states are the exception. In almost all cases, you will receive a form letter response. Dont take offense; its all that can be expected given the volume of correspondence the Members staff must deal with.

As for what more you can do. We are now gearing up for the legislative part of the fight. We'll let you know when it's time to write again. Meanwhile, the very best thing you can do is to continue to spread the word as you are doing.

Critter · Jun 19, 2009

dan oliver said:
If you want to see a brilliantly drafted, cogent and persuasive letter to Customs, please take a look at the one Doug Ritter's group filed through their lawyer. If your Congressional delegation were to read and study it carefully, they would be forced to conclude that Customs is overreaching and improper in their attempt to redefine a "switchblade".

Thanks for your compliments and kind words and support. I have passed them along to Richard and Evan who did the heavy lifting in assembling that document.

Please know that the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of comment letters you submitted as individual citizens are an important element of our defense and my thanks to each and every one of you who took the time to prepare and mail your letters and to contact your Senators and Representatives.

Read our Comments letter here

Read the entire latest editon of our News Slice Newsletter here

dan oliver · Jun 19, 2009

I have received no reply from two Senators, two Governors, and one Congressman.

shadeone · Jun 19, 2009

no response here either... screw it, if there is no MSM coverage of this and the ONLY way i found out about this is thruogh a few internet forums, im just going to plead ignorant and keep using my damn knives! seriously, they are going to have to do better at announcing this if they plan on keeping folders out of the hands of the MILLIONS of people who carry one daily that DONT come to bladeforums!

saucycountrygirl · Jun 19, 2009

They would prefer it if you didn't know about it. If you don't know about it, you can't fight back. Various organizations are doing their best to get the word out, but they need everyones help in doing so. The more of us there are fighting the better the chance we have of possibly educating CBP and the rest of the government, or at least getting them to listen to us.

StephenP · Jun 19, 2009

shadeone said:
no response here either... screw it, if there is no MSM coverage of this and the ONLY way i found out about this is thruogh a few internet forums, im just going to plead ignorant and keep using my damn knives! seriously, they are going to have to do better at announcing this if they plan on keeping folders out of the hands of the MILLIONS of people who carry one daily that DONT come to bladeforums!

I'm not in the habit of quoting Ayn Rand, but

There's no way to rule innocent men.

flashlife · Jun 19, 2009

p_mcmanis said:
Hmm well maybe. But I just got out of public education 3 years ago (in florida, mass, and texas) and in none of those places did I notice that. I heard stories all the time (I used to be a rabid radio listener during the early part of high school), and while I can only speak for myself, I was never discouraged from being a boy. I played dodgeball and tag in earlier school and basketball and the like in high school.

Additionally, I think you are making a mistake by equating masculine with aggressive.

Maybe it more of a midwest or west coast thing? The word "soccer mom", whether this is fair or not, always brings to mind the mid west types. Well the nicest way I can put this is I greatly prefer the way things are done on the east coast.

While I am making assumptions about your background, I would be willing to be that solider is much tougher than you.

Soliders are unbelievably tough guys and gals.

"Dodgeball banned": just Google it.
And no, it's an east coast thing; Boston among others.
I'm not equating masculine with agressive, but apparently these schools are.

As for soldiers; I'm a Vietnam vet ('69-'70), with the scars, medals, and Agent Orange cancer to show for it.
I've seen Tough, but I've never met a VN vet with a fear of knives or weapons. Maybe it's and east coast thing.

Thanks, p_mc, for an interesting exchange...but...e'nuf said.
I gotta quit reading this thread, it's bad for my blood pressure.

Over and out...

flashlife · Jun 19, 2009

Josh K said:
The 2nd ammendment isn't about self defense. It's about making sure people are allowed to keep firearms. Thus the "Right to keep and bear arms."

Would you also advocate the availability of full auto guns, grenades, high explosives, etc? All which can be viewed as a method of self defense?

What SR_matt said...

A. G. Russell · Jun 19, 2009

all of the regents are meeting with their congress persons, Goldie and I have two of our three on board and are waiting to hear back from Ms Lincoln.

A. G. Russell · Jun 19, 2009

Josh K said:
The 2nd ammendment isn't about self defense. It's about making sure people are allowed to keep firearms. Thus the "Right to keep and bear arms."

Would you also advocate the availability of full auto guns, grenades, high explosives, etc? All which can be viewed as a method of self defense?

Sorry Josh, the 2nd item on our bill of rights is about the citizens being armed so that the government fears them enough not to become tryanical.

Not about huinting or self defence. Yes I think everything short of WMD with death for misuse.

A. G. Russell · Jun 19, 2009

flashlife said:
"Dodgeball banned": just Google it.
And no, it's an east coast thing; Boston among others.
I'm not equating masculine with agressive, but apparently these schools are.

As for soldiers; I'm a Vietnam vet ('69-'70), with the scars, medals, and Agent Orange cancer to show for it.
I've seen Tough, but I've never met a VN vet with a fear of knives or weapons. Maybe it's and east coast thing.

Thanks, p_mc, for an interesting exchange...but...e'nuf said.
I gotta quit reading this thread, it's bad for my blood pressure.

Over and out...

Universal Military Service might solve the problem. The problem is kids just out of Yale, Princton, Harvard, etc. They go right into Government, never hold a real job, never go hunting fishing walk in the woods so they do not have a clue. They have spent their entire life listening to progressive teachers and professors and they think they are perfectly suited to tell you how to live your life. NO ONE should be allowed to be any part of governemt until they have held a job of some sort and lived in the real world.

p_mcmanis · Jun 19, 2009

flashlife said:
"Dodgeball banned": just Google it.
And no, it's an east coast thing; Boston among others.
I'm not equating masculine with agressive, but apparently these schools are.

Weird. Like I said I went to school in the netwon area right outside of boston and we played dodgeball and basketball in gym all the time. I guess things change; although I would be suprised if the reason they did it was anything other than safety. Without a loser pays system people tend to be a little sue happy. Even against a school that provides them with free child support for 13 years.

As for soldiers; I'm a Vietnam vet ('69-'70), with the scars, medals, and Agent Orange cancer to show for it.
I've seen Tough, but I've never met a VN vet with a fear of knives or weapons. Maybe it's and east coast thing.

Well I hope you understand my point was that soliders are a very tough and elite group of society and there are a lot of internet tough guys who think they are special ops or something and they tend to trivialize the contributions of real soliders like yourself.

Thanks, p_mc, for an interesting exchange...but...e'nuf said.
I gotta quit reading this thread, it's bad for my blood pressure.

Over and out...

A. G. Russell said:
Universal Military Service might solve the problem. The problem is kids just out of Yale, Princton, Harvard, etc. They go right into Government, never hold a real job, never go hunting fishing walk in the woods so they do not have a clue. They have spent their entire life listening to progressive teachers and professors and they think they are perfectly suited to tell you how to live your life. NO ONE should be allowed to be any part of governemt until they have held a job of some sort and lived in the real world.

Id be cool with a universal military service (as long as you can delay it one time so you can finsih college) in that getting every citizen aquainted with how to safely use and respect a firearm would probably be benificial to our society as a whole.

BTW ivy league teaching staffs are very diverse. the people there are picked because they are the best in their fields, not for their political views.

berzerker · Jun 19, 2009

What started as an attempt to unify the knife community against a problem has slipped into trading ideological rants. The name-calling belongs in W&C.

SR_matt · Jun 19, 2009

berzerker said:
What started as an attempt to unify the knife community against a problem has slipped into trading ideological rants. The name-calling belongs in W&C.

this is child's play compared to what happened on another forum i was posting on about the exact same thing (with me being the "crazy left wing nut job"), ya it has gotten a bit off but im content with how civil it has stayed here

-matt

timcsaw · Jun 19, 2009

berzerker said:
What started as an attempt to unify the knife community against a problem has slipped into trading ideological rants. The name-calling belongs in W&C.

As others have pointed out, all of us need to come together to solve the problem. Discussing the obvious cause of the problem doesn't help.

saucycountrygirl · Jun 20, 2009

united we stand, divided we fall

timcsaw · Jun 20, 2009

saucycountrygirl said:
united we stand, divided we fall

Absolutly right. We (all) need to keep hammaring away at our reps and the media... pound them with email and paper, fax 'em if you got 'em!

We all know where the problem came from, but we must unite to figure out how to solve the problem.

If I'm correct, today is the day the new "interpretation" by CBP went into effect. So as of today, an AO is a "switchblade".

By the way saucycountrygirl... WELCOME to the forums!!!

:thumbup::thumbup:

flashlife · Jun 20, 2009

A. G. Russell said:
Universal Military Service might solve the problem. The problem is kids just out of Yale, Princton, Harvard, etc. They go right into Government, never hold a real job, never go hunting fishing walk in the woods so they do not have a clue. They have spent their entire life listening to progressive teachers and professors and they think they are perfectly suited to tell you how to live your life. NO ONE should be allowed to be any part of governemt until they have held a job of some sort and lived in the real world.

True, A.G.:
http://www.newu.uci.edu/main/article?slug=political_science:_fair_but193
Excerpt-
" Few things at UC Irvine are as homogeneous as the party identification of its political science faculty. According to the Orange County Registrar of Voters, 90 percent were registered Democrats. Of the few who were not, only one was a registered Republican.

Imbalance in party affiliation is common nationally. One study lead by Daniel Kline, an associate professor of economics at Santa Clara University, revealed that Democrats outnumber Republicans in humanities and social sciences seven to one. However, of the political science faculty registered in Orange County, the number is closer to 18 to one.

According to William Schonfeld, the former dean of the School of Social Sciences at UCI, the effects of political imbalance, if any, are subtle. One of those effects is in the realm of research where ideology can alter the variables or questions one uses to determine what constitutes superior research.

Only certain types of questions are considered acceptable, Schonfeld said."

OK, Now I'm done...sorry for the rants.
Just trying to figure out why the U.S. has turned somewhat wimp with regard to knives.

saucycountrygirl · Jun 20, 2009

Thanks for the welcome Tim

SR_matt · Jun 20, 2009

timcsaw said:
Absolutly right. We (all) need to keep hammaring away at our reps and the media... pound them with email and paper, fax 'em if you got 'em!

We all know where the problem came from, but we must unite to figure out how to solve the problem.

If I'm correct, today is the day the new "interpretation" by CBP went into effect. So as of today, an AO is a "switchblade".

By the way saucycountrygirl... WELCOME to the forums!!!:thumbup::thumbup:

as i understood it tomorrow is the drop dead date for public comments (now if that means 1200AM june 21 or 1159pm june 21 i dont know. also in my understanding there is no effect date, only lists when public comments will be taken.

-matt