Knifves and guns...

[Corona]

The last thread led me to a question I always wanted to ask Americans:
I'm not American and I always wondered why in the US guns are legal and automatic (or even spring assisted) knives aren't
I don't want to start a flame about fire arm laws! But I can imagine that a fire arm can do much more damage in shorter time as any knife... although a knife is more suitable as a stealth weapon.

Can you tell me a reason why there's so much fuss about automatic / spring assisted / big knives in the US?

 

[manowar669]

Politicians are idiots, that's the reason. I can legally carry a loaded .45 automatic pistol into a knife shop, but they can not even let me handle automatic knives since I'm not in Law Enforcement or the Military. It's annoying, since there are some really cool autos that I would like to own, but I legally can't.

 

[Roadrunner]

manofwar pretty much summed it up. Apparently, back in the 1950's, italian autos were considered the hallmark of the gang culture, so a bunch of politicians decided to demonize and outlaw autos in the name of public safety. There is no good reason for the law and it does nothing to prevent crime, but it's still in effect so we just have to live with it.