Kershaw/Ken Onion Knives

M

Man At Arms

Joined
Jan 14, 2003
Messages
4
FYI

I am an LEO in Wisconsin. Last month, my department received an Officer Safety alert from the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Dept. It seems that a member of the Sheboygan County District Attorney's office decided that the Kershaw/Ken Onion knives fit the description of a switch-blade under Wisconsin statute, and sent that message to pretty much everyone in the state.
Walmart was selling these in various models but are voluntarily pulling them off of the shelf.

If anyone has a contact at Kershaw, please let them know about this.

Personally, I think is a bunch of crap. My girlfriend has had one of these knives for about 8 months. I think it's a great little knife.
'Course I've never seen a problem with auto knives anyway. How does the manner in which a folding (or retracting) knife open make it more dangerous? Legally, you may as well just carry a fixed blade.

I hope this isn't old news here already. This is my first post, but I looked around a little and didn't see anything on this.

Regards!
 
Welcome to the forums. Thanks for the info. I was afraid this would happen. I would like to see a definitive court decision saying these are not switchblades.
 
The problem is overzealous prosecutors who do not understand the difference. You could pronbably beat it in court, but who wants to go through getting arrested, hiring a lawyer, and going through all the court dates.

Not to mention the fact that stores are pulling them from the shelves.

All because someone hasn't been eductaed in the difference.

Very sad. :(
 
Thanks for the welcome, Shootist16.

This was probably some young ADA that doesn't know the first thing about knives, made this call.
What gets me is supervisors in my department took it upon themselves to inform the local stores about this. Without my counties' DA even making any decision on it.

Wisconsin has some pretty restrictive laws. A butterfly knife is considered to be a switchblade under Wisconsin law. Pretty much anything that takes less than 3 hands and an adjustable wrench is considered a switchblade.
I've never read the definition of a switchblade under Federal law, to see if it's any different.
 
How can a butterfly knife be referred to as a switchblade :confused:?
Butterfly is opened using gravity and switchblade uses a button.
Kershaws speedsafe knives, or whatever you want to call them are in no way a switchblade. There is no button that you push. If you look careful you can see that you are pushing the blade itself.

Out of curiosity are the CRKT M-16's considered prohibited in Wisconsin? I know in Canada the serr. version is for some stupid reason.
 
Cho,

I don't remember the wording, but Wisconsin statute lists "gravity" as one of the ways a switchblade opens. That's how they can call it a switchblade.
I believe "gravity" was added to the definition of switchblade to include the "gravity knife". The only example I can think of was a paratrooper knife, that when you pushed the button and held the open-end down, the knife would "fall" into place.
Since the politicians didn't like the butterfly knives, they interpretted the statute to mean how a butterfly knife opens.
If all it took to open a butterfly knife was gravity, I wouldn't have these scars:)

About the CRKT M-16: As far as I know it's not considered a switchblade. I'm not going to ask around about it, though. If I start asking for legal opinions about something like that, it brings it to the attention of some of these goofs. When that happens, they may decide they don't like it and try to make it fit the definition. I don't know how local government works in Canada, but in Wisconsin the County Sheriff and District Attorney are elected offices. They have to do something to make themselves memorable for reelection time. What better way then getting another "killer" knife off the streets.
If you were asking because you come to Wisconsin occasionally, I wouldn't worry about it unless you were doing something dumb with it.

I agree with you about the Kershaw, I don't see the problem with them.
 
Originally posted by Man At Arms
Cho,

I don't remember the wording, but Wisconsin statute lists "gravity" as one of the ways a switchblade opens. That's how they can call it a switchblade.
I believe "gravity" was added to the definition of switchblade to include the "gravity knife". The only example I can think of was a paratrooper knife, that when you pushed the button and held the open-end down, the knife would "fall" into place.
Since the politicians didn't like the butterfly knives, they interpretted the statute to mean how a butterfly knife opens.
If all it took to open a butterfly knife was gravity, I wouldn't have these scars:)

About the CRKT M-16: As far as I know it's not considered a switchblade. I'm not going to ask around about it, though. If I start asking for legal opinions about something like that, it brings it to the attention of some of these goofs. When that happens, they may decide they don't like it and try to make it fit the definition. I don't know how local government works in Canada, but in Wisconsin the County Sheriff and District Attorney are elected offices. They have to do something to make themselves memorable for reelection time. What better way then getting another "killer" knife off the streets.
If you were asking because you come to Wisconsin occasionally, I wouldn't worry about it unless you were doing something dumb with it.

I agree with you about the Kershaw, I don't see the problem with them.
Click to expand...


Ok I could see why they would list it as a switchblade...but I don't agree. But nothing I can do haha.

I've never been to Wisconsin and the truth is I can't even spell it nor can I find it on a map. However that doesn't mean I won't ever go there :D.

I don't own a CRKT M-16 but I was just wondering cause I work at a knife store and we had it pulled off our display, but only the serr. version of it. :D
 
Cho, it's because the idiots in power think that a Balisong is a gravity knife. A year or two back there was a customs appeal making Balisongs legal in Canada for about 6 months as long as they had a latch... but then that was overturned. But the Ontario supreme court deemed them legal in Ontario before the Federal re-ban, so provincally there legal but federally there illegal. So if a RCMP officer arrests you in Ontario for carrying a Balisong your screwed, if an OPP does you might get off. There hasn't been any cases yet and I don't want to make an example.
 
I just got a reply from another thread I have posted in this section from someone here in Australia who ordered one of these knives and had it confiscated by customs. SOG Flash also deemed automatic knife here recently, a whole shipment had to be returned to the manufacturer.

P.S. You and me look at it like.....Automatic knives are no more dangerous than folders so why are they illegal. But goverment (particularely here) looks at it like......Folders are just as dangerous as Automatic knives so why aren't they banned aswell!
 
Because if they ever banned manual folders it would catch EVERYONES attetion and maybe even international attetion. And most people (knifenut or not) would think its pointless (with the expection of socialist leaders).
 
Originally posted by J-man_the_jet
Because if they ever banned manual folders it would catch EVERYONES attetion and maybe even international attetion. And most people (knifenut or not) would think its pointless (with the expection of socialist leaders).
Click to expand...

let's hope so
 
Man At Arms

As a fellow resident of WI I have a question: I just picked up an Emerson Mini-Commander. I was wondering if that knife also falls under the "gravity" clause of the state regs.? Also what is the leagal lenght in WI for a folder?

As for the Kershaw, that really sucks! I just bought one for my wife for her birthday this summer.:grumpy:

Thanks
 
i looked through some of the states knife laws today. I really don't get it, almost every folding knife can be opened with a up or downward thrust, therefore making almost every pocket knife a deadly switchblade. Also, does anyone know the current status of axis lock benchmades? I know that in Portland, Maine, the chief of police has nixed them in the city. I havn't heard of that happening anywhere else though.
-mike
 
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