Kershaw Speedsafes illegal in Ontario?

C

chrisbrogden

Joined
Apr 8, 2003
Messages
209
As far as I understand, Kershaw Speedsafes like the Boa, Chive, etc. are legal under the Criminal Code of Canada (http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/c-46/40651.html), which states that a 'prohibited weapon' is:

"(a) a knife that has a blade that opens automatically by gravity or centrifugal force or by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife, or

(b) any weapon, other than a firearm, that is prescribed to be a prohibited weapon"

When I asked the HOK about pricing, their Merchandise Manager wrote to me, saying,

"The Criminal Code have been modified in January 2003. A section b) was added under "prohibited weapons" means:

b) any weapon, other than firearm, that is precribed to be prohibited
weapon.

To be more specific, a judge from an Ontario court, in the GTA area, have "precribed" these knives prothibited. (FEB 2003)

Any retailers/individuals that are still selling these products could be charged under the Crimial Code of Canada.

As responsible retailer we will not infringe the law."



Has anyone heard the specifics about this Ontario case? Would this actually change the Criminal Code, or just set a precedent at the provincial level?

Thanks,

Chris Brogden
Winnipeg, Manitoba
 
Speedsafe knives are not illegal, the Toronto Police Dept. deemed them to be legal in a press release last summer. If that doesn't matter... A normal judge can not prescribe a prohibited weapon, only the Supreme court and the Federal Government can. Thirdly they can't prohibit something just because they feel like it, there has to be a definition. The current definition of a prohibited weapon (regarding a knife anyways):

(a) a knife that has a "blade" that opens automatically by gravity or centrifugal force or by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife

A spring assisted opening knife has to be manualy open 5% of the way, therefore centrifugal force is applied directly to the blade not through the handle. Typical Bull shitt :rolleyes: Kershaw spent lots of time making sure they were legit, inform them of this.
 
Kershaw, in January of this year, got a decision reversed (or maybe it was just an opinion) in Wisconsin. They had had a bunch of their knives pulled from retail shelves.

There was a kid busted with a Boa and the case was dropped. The Prosecuting atty went to DA and got an opinion/ruling on the knife, even though the case had been dropped. That opinion went out to the sheboygin police department that all the kershaw knives were illegal.

Kershaw hired an atty. Sat down with the opinion writer (who had never seen the knives in question in person...)and got him to reconsider his opinion.

Kershaw had gotten a notice that Michigan ruled that the knives were not illegal. They were going to send that info to Wisconsin

Our last AKTI board meeting was in Feb, just after the SHOT show so I have not heard any updates since but if you contact Kershaw they might know more.
 
Originally posted by chrisbrogden
As far as I understand, Kershaw Speedsafes like the Boa, Chive, etc. are legal under the Criminal Code of Canada (http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/c-46/40651.html), which states that a 'prohibited weapon' is:

"(a) a knife that has a blade that opens automatically by gravity or centrifugal force or by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife, or

(b) any weapon, other than a firearm, that is prescribed to be a prohibited weapon"

When I asked the HOK about pricing, their Merchandise Manager wrote to me, saying,

"The Criminal Code have been modified in January 2003. A section b) was added under "prohibited weapons" means:

b) any weapon, other than firearm, that is precribed to be prohibited
weapon.

To be more specific, a judge from an Ontario court, in the GTA area, have "precribed" these knives prothibited. (FEB 2003)

Any retailers/individuals that are still selling these products could be charged under the Crimial Code of Canada.

As responsible retailer we will not infringe the law."



Has anyone heard the specifics about this Ontario case? Would this actually change the Criminal Code, or just set a precedent at the provincial level?

Thanks,

Chris Brogden
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Click to expand...


When were in the HOK store? I don't know exactly what that guy was thinking or how reliable his info is, but HOK in BC sell them. The only problem with that is, the stores in BC are seperatly run then the other HOK in Canada.

Apparently HOK outside of BC will no longer accept returns as well but the BC ones will...gets kinda confusing...

As far as I know Kershaw speed safes are still legal and will remain so for a while hopefully.
 
You may have better luck if you post this question, or get it moved to the Canadian part of BF.
 
Leeks for sale at the 'Metropolis' mall HOK in Vancouver, BC a week ago...so they are for sale 'up there', but at $159 CD for a Rainbow, I passed... 'Ouch!'

Mel
 
No they are not illegal in Ontario. If they are they have just become very recently and I mean like yesterday cause they where legal and they still are legal.

If I was you I would not make an effort to open it infront of a cop but they can still be purchased.
 
When I talked to Kershaw about this, they informed me that they had some legal problems in eastern Canada, and that the odds were about 50/50 that I could have legal problems if I carried one. My main cause for concern from a legal perspective is the "centrifugal force" stipulation. Kershaw Speedsafes don't open by a button on the handle or by gravity, but after a week or so of casual use, I was able to open my Boa by centrifugal force via a quick snap of the wrist. So, unless I feel like tightening it every week, my Boa is technically illegal, since I can flip it open without touching any buttons or studs at all. I'm sure new Speedsafe knives are perfectly legal.

I still carry the Boa as an EDC, so I'm not particularly worried about it, but the next knife I buy for everyday use will probably not have an assisted-opening of any sort.

chris
 
Have you tried locktite on the pivot screw? My BM943 kept loosening up and I didn't want to risk it so I gave it a good dollop and it hasn't loosened up any in the last few months.
 
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