Emerson keeps the tolerances very tight on purpose, per his statements. He wants a tight lock up. I had a SPECWAR and understand your comment. It loosened up somewhat but never became like a Benchmade. I sold it mostly because it was an inefficient design ... blade length divided by handle length was too small a number.
If you love the knife, and feel bold, you could disassemble and very carefully sandpaper down the titanium liner lock a thousandth of an inch or so. Go slow. You may void the warranty. There may be a way to play with the stop bar if they made them oval shaped.
You may have just gotten one a bit out of his normal tolerances, but you bet he intends them to be this way.
Call them. Maybe they'll replace it and you'll get one a bit looser in tolerances by luck of the draw.
Mine got stuck such that I had to use a screwdriver only when I "slung" it open with a wrist snap.
"Doc, it hurts when I move my shoulder this way".
"Well, don't move your shoulder that way... next."
