Please stop acting like you have limited intelligence.
The RoadsideImprots lawsuit was thrown in as an analogy.
It was done to demonstrate how ludicrous it is that someone thinks a "random lawsuit" like US v. NELSON carries no meaning in regards to law and whether a law is relevant.
Why do simple analogies confuse people?
I'll simplify: US went after Nelson for violating the switchblade law. Nelson lost. Benchmade went after Roadside for violating patents and trademarks. Roadside lost.
To say US v. Nelson has no meaning but Benchamde v. Roadside HAS meaning would be one of the dumbest statement one could possibly make.
To say US v. Nelson is just some "random lawsuit" is an equally dub statement.
To say the sales of switchblades is illegal under Federal Law is an accurate statement.
To say Kevin Schlossberg's company sells switchblades is an accurate statement.
If A=B and B=C, then A=C. It's really NOT that difficult.
Stating the truth is neither slanderous nor libelous (which I'm sure you don't belive, so look it up in a law library).
I have no knowledge of the "whackjob" fromn Roadside and don't care to. The FACT is that he LOST the lawsuit becasue he was breaking the law (regardless of his "whack" status. The FACT is that Nelson lost the lawsuit because he too was breaking the law.
Do you see any similarities there?
You don't lose a lawsuit and get a punishment when you are not breaking the law.
If the Federal Switchblade Act were not a law, Nelson could not have LOST the lawsuit as there would BE no lawsuit, no trial, no decision, no convictions.
But, he LOST said lawsuit, and there were convictions, AND his appeal of those convictions was lost:
JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.
Douglas John Nelsen appeals from his convictions of violating the Switchblade Knife Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1242
(1982), as well as related convictions for the fraudulent importation of prohibited goods, *1319 18 U.S.C. § 545
(1982). He argues that the Switchblade Knife Act, which forms either the direct basis or the foundation for all
the charges, is unconstitutional. We are not persuaded by these arguments, and we affirm the convictions.
You have been given much proof of all this, yet still deny it is accurate.
Well, now is the time to put up or shut up. After being given proof, you don't just get to say "you're wrong and your proofs are stupid".
If you insist you are correct, put together the proofs and facts that refute the existence of the Federal Act, the additions made to the Act in 2009, the lawsuit that was lost by Nelson, and all of the state laws that make switchblades illegal.
Without offering those proofs, your argument carries as much weight as, well, NOTHING.
RoadsideImports was sued by Benchmade, lost, rightfully so, and that is relevant to the discussion at hand.
The interwebs are filled with blog rants, youtube rants, forum rants, etc about Benchmade being the bully for suing him for selling counterfeit goods, breaking patents, etc. So in attempted retaliation, he tried reporting them to US Customs. His claim was that Benchmade was selling automatic knives made in China.
[youtube]VQyBgzLgKUk[/youtube]
Further reading.
The knife in question is the Benchmite (ironically, the knife Benchmade sued him for selling counterfeits of). Model 310 was indeed made in Taiwan (not China). But the AUTO Benchmite model 3100 was made entirely in the USA.
Benchmade still manufacturers automatic knives (and balisongs) despite being investigated by US Customs. How can that be? Because they are not breaking the law.
John Benson, however, did and still continues to sell knock-offs, counterfeits, and illegally imported automatics and balisongs. Wanna smear someone's name on a public forum? Waste your time on him.
Spyderco several years ago was epically bitchslaped by US Customs because they were making their Spyderfly balisong (and maybe the Szabofly too, I forget) with imported parts. I had one myself with a VG-10 blade, which is Japanese manufactured. Huge fine, and many many thousands of dollars lost in confiscated inventory and materials.
Spyderco continued to manufacture balisongs and later, automatic knives, with materials from the USA. Now, why and how could they do that, after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars if it were illegal to do so? Because it's not.
Benchmade, Microtech, and Spyderco aren't huge companies, not like Wal-Mart or Microsoft, but they're pretty big, certainly not mom-and-pop brick & mortar operations. Benchmade (previously Bali-Song Inc, and Pacific Cutlery) used to be in California, where state laws actually prohibited them from doing what they did, so they moved to Oregon where it was legal. Spyderco got the afore mentioned bitchslapping. Microtech has always operated where it was legal to. The point being that these are not companies that have been flying under the radar, slipping through the cracks, or whatever idiom you want to use. If they were breaking the law, they'd be investigated and had legal action taken against them by the federal government. It happened to Spyderco. And operating under the confines of the law, they still made automatics and balisongs.
You keep mentioning Nelson. He was importing them. That's illegal. That doesn't mean that autos (or balis) made within the USA are illegal, because they are not.
Read the Switchblade Act again. Nowhere does it say anything about them being illegal. It's the interstate commerce that's illegal (with some exceptions), a point which you seem completely blind to. And importation, which I think we can both agree on.
