Military and Paramilitary gravity knife question

[JudasD]

Could you all just google "gravity knife"? Does any of the knives shown in the google result look any similar like a spyderco military or paramilitary? -No!!! A gravity knife is a complete different type of knife than a one hand folder. I can't believe that people still think they can change the type of knife by loosening or tightening the pivot. Tight pivot=legal, loose pivot= bad gravity knife WTF??? Come on...

Actually some states consider a knife that will not hold closed on its own a "gravity knife". For example, in my state of Ca, if you shave off the ball detent on a liner lock you have now created a gravity knife. Yes, it sucks, but that is how they play.

JD

 

[KrisOK]

Actually some states consider a knife that will not hold closed on its own a "gravity knife". For example, in my state of Ca, if you shave off the ball detent on a liner lock you have now created a gravity knife. Yes, it sucks, but that is how they play.

JD

LOL I wouldn't want to CARRY a knife that won't stay closed on it's own, legal or not!

 

[JudasD]

LOL I wouldn't want to CARRY a knife that won't stay closed on it's own, legal or not!

I agree 100%. i would not carry one either. I was told by some of my LEO buddies that the reason is that gang-bangers want to make the knife flick out fast like a switchblade. So they modify it to not hold closed. It will still lock open though. Might as well just carry an auto if the removed detent is just as illegal.

JD

 

[Dr Heelhook]

Could you all just google "gravity knife"? Does any of the knives shown in the google result look any similar like a spyderco military or paramilitary? -No!!! A gravity knife is a complete different type of knife than a one hand folder. I can't believe that people still think they can change the type of knife by loosening or tightening the pivot. Tight pivot=legal, loose pivot= bad gravity knife WTF??? Come on...

A gravity knife is by legal definition a knife which can be opened through gravity or inertia, with or without the push of a button. It doesn't matter whether it's intentionally built as a gravity knife or not in the eyes of the law. A knife with a lock like the compression lock works exactly like a gravity knife. People like Michael Janich even proclaims that kind of use.

The Benchmade Axis lock is an even better example. A gravity knife is more or less like an automatic without a spring and with the axis lock they even make "Axis released" automatic folding knives, which kinda leaves the regular, non auto Axis locking folder as just that: an auto folder without a spring = a gravity knife.

I'm not in any way against compression locks or Axis locks, they're both excellent, I'm just stating facts. I'm personally very much against the current more or less global ban on automatic knives and gravity knives. The laws are extremely badly founded, archaic and really should be taken away IMO. Can't be said enough times.

 

[RevDevil]

Could you all just google "gravity knife"? Does any of the knives shown in the google result look any similar like a spyderco military or paramilitary? -No!!! A gravity knife is a complete different type of knife than a one hand folder. I can't believe that people still think they can change the type of knife by loosening or tightening the pivot. Tight pivot=legal, loose pivot= bad gravity knife WTF??? Come on...

For those that didn't feeling like engaging common sense or simply reading, here it is again. Police officers can and do interpret the law differently from one person to the next. One officer might be alright with the knife, the next might think differently. Just because a person is a law enformcent officer does not make them an immediate expert on every single knife, it's design, intended use, or deployment action. That is one thing they don't cover much at the police academy.
LEO does not equal knifenut/expert. Some of them actually believe that assisted opening flippers are automatic switchblades...in the end, it doen't matter what how the law is written, the interpretation of such law is what will get you in trouble.

 

[KrisOK]

I've talked to several people who have tried to get clarifications of how their local DA's interperate their knife law. ONE guy got a straight answer, and in writing. All of the others couldn't get a clearly defined guideline as to what was legal. It's almost like the DA's WANT to leave the interpretation up to the LEO's.

 

[Dr Heelhook]

For those that didn't feeling like engaging common sense or simply reading, here it is again. Police officers can and do interpret the law differently from one person to the next. One officer might be alright with the knife, the next might think differently. Just because a person is a law enformcent officer does not make them an immediate expert on every single knife, it's design, intended use, or deployment action. That is one thing they don't cover much at the police academy.
LEO does not equal knifenut/expert. Some of them actually believe that assisted opening flippers are automatic switchblades...in the end, it doen't matter what how the law is written, the interpretation of such law is what will get you in trouble.

I don't know exactly how it works in the US, but where I come from, the police don't have any real right to make interpretations of the law (I believe that's even constitutional). They have the right to arrest a person and the right to confiscate a knife, but it's the lawyers' job to handle the legal aspects. In the real world this means that, if and when they confiscate your knife, you tell the police officer that you dispute their confiscation of the knife, noone has any right to send the knife to destruction and the case needs to be tested in court. If the court decides you haven't commited any crime, you'll get the knife back, regardless of what any police officer thinks about what you've done. This is good, because it means that if any police officer with a bad attitude has the habit of confiscating knives from civil people, that particular officer is likely to develop a bad reputation among district attorneys.