In some areas where these assisted openers are sold the local police and the law does indeed consider them in the same catagory as automatics. I live in such an area. I was told by a couple of my friends in my town that are both retired and active police officiers that these would be confiscated and a fine would be most likely written up for illegal carry of a controlled weapon or concealed carry of a deadly weapon or some such thing.
Even with this being the case many of the wal-mart employees carry the black out on their pocket while working and as EDC.
I have the Black Out, Scallion and the Chive. My favorite is the Scallion because of its size and the ease of getting to the liner lock as opposed to the Chive. The frame lock on the Chive is harder for my fat fingers to operate for some reason.
The Black Out is a wonderful knife but I like the blade locks the Scallion and Chive have and worry about the BO opening accidentally in my pocket. I do like the black finish and the feel of it though.
All are razor sharp as has already been noted.
Be prepared to replace the assisted opening springs. I've had to replace two so far both on the Scallion.
My brother said he used to chew his nails but not anymore. Now he sits and flicks his Scallion all day long. He has replaced 5 springs in his knife and keeps a stock of them in his knife cabinet for when he breaks the next one. Good thing Kershaw readily mails them out to you as you need them. When I called their customer service to get a new one they sent me five even though I asked for one. Kinda tells you they know they will break eventually if flicked alot.
One of my frequently carried knives is my modified Scallion that I took off the flipper or wing for opening it. I also took out the assisted opening spring and use it as a regular one hand opener and it has worked just fine for me and given me a sense of ease to carry in legally in my area. I can always go back to the assisted opening later if I like but for me it made more sense to make it so I couldn't be arrested or fined for carrying it and since I liked it so much I wanted to carry it every now and then without worry.
I'm licensed to carry a handgun here but if caught with this 'auto' folder I'd still be fined for concealed carry if I got caught with it by one obno by the book cop. Go figure. If that happened I'd lose my concealed carry license to carry my gun so I don't risk it. Sometimes these laws are just stupid!. You'd think if I am legal to carry a gun that anything less would be inconsequencial and of little concern but oh no! Not in Oklahoma. The law is clear. I have copies of it pasted in below for anyone that doesn't believe me.
Note in the revised Oklahoma statute they have now added 'Spring-type of knife, and 'knife opening automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device that is inside the handle of the knife". ( This can be interpretted a couple of ways as the spring is inside the handle of the knife on Ken Onion designed assisted openers and the mechanism is activated by a button that is pushed even though the button is on the blade. It is up to you to decide. It depends on who you ask about it in law enforcement as to the answer you'll get. Regardless it is a very gray area and by no means black and white with spring type of knives.)
I was told by my friends that this revision was done specifically to cover the new assisted openers showing up all over the state during routine traffic stops and at crime scenes.
I would suggest really checking into the laws in your state before a purchase of one of these assisted opening knives, or maybe at the least before you elect to make it your everyday carry knife. Since 9-11 the chances of the police being lenient have significantly dropped so the odds are they will follow the book.
It may be if you are risking a fine and possible jail time for having this on you as well as the loss of the knife that you may elect to just get a good Spyderco or some other easy opener. Or, go the for the full ball of wax and just get a fully automatic knife and carry that.
I have only copied the first paragraph here. It goes on to give exemptions for when carry of some of these mentioned weapons is allowed. IE: Re-enactments of historical events, for sporting purposes of hunting, or fishing but there is no exemptions for the carry of switch blades or knives as mentioned above. Autos, and spring type activated knives are illegal in Oklahoma period. Even for licensed concealed carry gun toters like myself. Your state may differ so my advice would be to study that some first. Here is a link to get you started.
http://www.amatecon.com/switchblade.html
Put Craftsman on the blade and you're gold.