Legal to ship butterfly knives to Illinois?

M

Mike Zombie

Joined
Feb 5, 2015
Messages
5
Hey guys I was looking on Blade HQ for a 51 and I found one (in custom Blade HQ blue G10) that I really like. I am 99% sure that balisongs are legal in Illinois except for Chicago, and I do not live in Chicago. I have seen cheap butterfly knives for sale at local flea markets all of the time, and the only real knife shops by me are shops like bass pro shops, and they don't carry them. The law for Illinois basically states that all knives except for ballistic knives, throwing stars, and automatic knives are legal to own and carry, as long as you do not have the intent of using your knife as a weapon or in an "unlawful manner". I am just curious if it is legal to ship balisongs to Illinois from Blade HQ because at check out, it gives me something where you have to select to either being part of municipalities, a civilian (also in this category are federal agents), and two other options I can't quite remember at this moment. Will I be alright and will it be legal if I select the civilian option? Thanks so much any feedback is appreciated.

Also, I do know automatic knives are illegal 100% over here sadly, and I'm pretty sure the same thing at checkout comes up. This is another reason why I am curious. I am not going to but if you ordered an automatic knife would they just not proceed with your order or would they ship it and notify authorities or something? Like I said I am not going to, i'm just curious because I am really confused.
 
Option 4 states "to manufacturers of such knives or bona fide dealers therein in connection with any shipment made pursuant of an order from any person designated in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3)." while option 1 states "to civilian or Armed Forces supply or procurement officers and employees of the Federal Government ordering, procuring, or purchasing such knives in connection with the activities of the Federal Government;" Are you sure I should not choose option 1? Because option one lists "to civilian" which I am, and option 4 lists about manufacturers and dealers which I am not.
 
You can't separate the words like that - to split "civilian" from the rest properly, it would have to read ".....to civilian supply/procurement officers and employees.... or... Armed Forces supply or procurement officers...." The wording is referring to the people who's JOB it is is to buy quantities of item "X" for the government/military organization for which they work, not for private purchase, even for their own use.
 
They use that wording to show they made a good faith effort to comply with the federal law. Many dealers use the same or similar wording. Basically they can say you the buyer lied and told them you could legally buy the knife over state lines. There is not too much concern for the seller about your state laws. Yes a few states have given the large dealers trouble over sending illegal knives to their state, but it is rare. You can choose to provide false information to them or not, and they can choose to sell to you or not.

Here is the Federal laws that apply....You must decide your actions:
http://www.knife-expert.com/fedswitch.txt
 
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