New Yorker Gives Thanks to Knife Rights Foundation

Critter

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On this Thanksgiving, one New York citizen is giving thanks to Knife Rights Foundation for a holiday without the threat of a year in jail hanging over his head.

The New Yorker, whose name is being withheld to prevent possible harassment, said, "words cannot express my thanks to Knife Rights Foundation for coming to my aid and helping me gain a measure of justice when things looked pretty bleak for me."

"Knife Rights is pleased that our legal team's first foray against New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is resulting in dismissal of charges against a wrongly accused citizen," said Knife Rights Foundation chairman Doug Ritter.

Charges against the defendant, who was carrying a Gerber one-hand opening pocketknife used daily in his work, were resolved with an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal (ACD) in the first case in which Knife Rights Foundation lent its assistance. This citizen originally faced up to one year in jail and a criminal record which could have jeopardized his professional license and livelihood. Until the Knife Rights legal team became involved in his defense, an ACD had not been offered, even though it had been sought. After Knife Rights' research and legal arguments were stated in an extensive brief, the DA offered the ACD rather than proceed with prosecution of the case. A typical ACD results in dismissal of a case after passage of a brief period of time and satisfaction of certain conditions (often a brief period of community service), and that was the result in this first case.

Knife Rights Foundation denounces the DA's continuing expenditure of scarce time and taxpayer dollars to prosecute innocent citizens carrying perfectly legal pocketknives. "Police and prosecutors ought to be focused on real criminals who threaten the safety and livelihood of hardworking taxpayers," said Ritter.

Due to their practicality and added safety, one-hand opening pocketknives represent 80% of the pocketknives sold in America today and were specifically excluded from being considered a gravity knife or switchblade by a bipartisan act of Congress in 2009. Ritter also noted that "New York's statutes prohibiting gravity knives and switchblades clearly do not cover these popular tools." A recent ruling by a Federal District Court in New York made this clear and pointed out that arrests for mere possession of such knives would have the unintended consequence of "transform[ing] thousands of honest mechanics into criminals, subject to arrest at the whim of any police officer" (United States v Irizzary).

"At least through the efforts of Knife Rights, this honest citizen will not have a criminal record to besmirch his good name and can enjoy a truly thankful Thanksgiving with his friends and family."

"Clearly, we'd prefer to take a case to trial where we feel confident we will win on merit. Just as clearly, the DA doesn't want to us to establish clear legal precedent and the ACD was tantamount to an admission that he had no real case against the defendant, just as he hasn't a case against the thousands of honest citizens that the police are wrongfully arresting for carrying lawful pocketknives," said Ritter.

Sooner or later, however, the legal issue is going to be heard by a court and the DA's perversion of New York law and persecution of innocent citizens, along with his waste of taxpayers' funds, will end. Knife Rights Foundation is expanding its efforts to aid law-abiding citizens and businesses caught up in the DA Vance's unfortunate persecution of these lawful tools.

Knife Rights Foundation is available to assist honest citizens or businesses targeted in DA Vance's illegitimate effort to proscribe perfectly legal pocketknives. Those arrested for possession of a so-called "illegal knife" in New York can contact Knife Rights at nycity@KnifeRights.org or 866-889-6268.

Knife Rights Foundation has launched the Sharper Future Legal Defense Fund™ to fight these civil rights violations by DA Vance. Tax-deductible donations are accepted at www.KnifeRights.org that others may be helped.

Knife Rights Foundation is a grassroots non-profit foundation working towards a Sharper Future™ for all Americans. The Foundation encourages safe and responsible use of knives as tools, provides educational resources and defends and advances knife owner civil rights through litigation when necessary.

Download Knife Rights Press Release:
www.KnifeRights.org/Knife Rights Press Release 11242010.pdf

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ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!

If you are a retailer or individual who finds yourself targeted for the sale or possession of so-called illegal knives (one-hand opening and assisted opening knives), we urge you to immediately contact Knife Rights at: nycity@KnifeRights.org or toll-free: 1-866-889-6268. You have a constitutional right to seek help and counsel.

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Make a Contribution to our fight against the DA's assault on our pocket knives: http://bit.ly/fj9fxE

Join or Renew your Knife Rights membership today! http://bit.ly/2QEVMP

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Congrats Doug! Great to hear. My only issue is what I predicted in an earlier post this is a win for one defendant and not us all, but more to come I am sure.....
 
Congrats Doug! Great to hear. My only issue is what I predicted in an earlier post this is a win for one defendant and not us all, but more to come I am sure.....

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." There are no easy or quick solutions. We have a strategy and this is one element of that strategy.
 
'Nobody wins but the lawyers.'

While I am a professional cynic, I have to disagree, strongly. While it is more than a little frustrating to be forced to fight this attack by DA Vance, if we don't fight, we lose--big time. The stakes are high.

Despite the very high cost of defending our civil rights on this issue, none of our attorneys are getting rich off us. If they didn't care, they wouldn't be working so hard on this for so little, relatively speaking. We have some of the very best lawyers in the country.

As long as the other side has lawyers, we must have our own. Don't sell them short; they deserve our thanks and gratitude for busting their butt on our behalf. I'm thrilled to have them on our side. You should be too.
 
'Nobody wins but the lawyers.'

I have to admit that I'm strongly offended by this person and his attitude. Knife Rights has won an important first victory in the battle against the travesty going on in New York, and should be congratulated. This sort of attitude only helps contribute to the problem, not the solution.
 
Mr. Doug Ritter,

I, as a New Yorker, am extremely grateful for your organization's support for our fellow knife hobbyists, enthusiats, hunters, and collectors!!!

I predicted in an earlier post that Vance was a coward (like all bullies). When faced with solids facts, and opposition, he folded. Also, I whole-heartedly agree with you that while this is a small step, it is one of many important steps. Therefore, I deeply hope, support, and pray for the growth of your organization.

Please help support KnifeRights.org fellow brothers and sisters!:thumbup::thumbup:

P.S.
Do you think it would be possible to somehow affiliate KnifeRights with the NRA (in order to consolidate even more lega/lobbying power)?
 
Mr. Doug Ritter,

I, as a New Yorker, am extremely grateful for your organization's support for our fellow knife hobbyists, enthusiats, hunters, and collectors!!!

I predicted in an earlier post that Vance was a coward (like all bullies). When faced with solids facts, and opposition, he folded. Also, I whole-heartedly agree with you that while this is a small step, it is one of many important steps. Therefore, I deeply hope, support, and pray for the growth of your organization.

Please help support KnifeRights.org fellow brothers and sisters!:thumbup::thumbup:

P.S.
Do you think it would be possible to somehow affiliate KnifeRights with the NRA (in order to consolidate even more lega/lobbying power)?

Thanks for your kind words and support. We work closely with the NRA, as well as a number of other organizations that share our views, on a variety of issues. Our chief lobbyist is an NRA Board member and we count a former President among our close advisers. However, it is very important to maintain our autonomy in order to assure that our focus remains on knives.
 
I hope you guys nail this f****r to the wall I want to ship knives to my house again! Excellent job gentlemen.
 
Thanks for your kind words and support. We work closely with the NRA, as well as a number of other organizations that share our views, on a variety of issues. Our chief lobbyist is an NRA Board member and we count a former President among our close advisers. However, it is very important to maintain our autonomy in order to assure that our focus remains on knives.

Ah that is very great to know! :thumbup::thumbup:

Once again, thank you so very much for your organization!:thumbup::thumbup:
 
I hope you guys nail this f****r to the wall I want to ship knives to my house again! Excellent job gentlemen.

We hope to, but freedom isn't free. We still need everyone's financial support. Have you made a contribution? Have you gotten your friends and family to contribute?

Help us stop this insanity. Make a tax-deductible contribution: http://bit.ly/fj9fxE
 
Congrats Doug! Great to hear. My only issue is what I predicted in an earlier post this is a win for one defendant and not us all, but more to come I am sure.....
Tom, is the arrest still going to remain on the books in NYC in the case of this guy? Here in MA, all arrests remain on the CORI (Criminal Offender Records Information) system forever, even if the charges are dismissed or the defendant is found not guilty in a court of law. If the arrest remains on the books, it is still discoverable during a background check for a government job, professional license, etc.
 
Congrats Doug! Great to hear. My only issue is what I predicted in an earlier post this is a win for one defendant and not us all, but more to come I am sure.....
I look at it this way.... It may have been a win only for the defendant in this case, but this case starts to set a precedence when it comes to this D.A's arrests for this type of thing. And every individual that wins this type of case will make it that much easier to prove the D.A. is wrongfully prosecuting people in a court of law. In the end it would be nice to see him ousted from his position and prosecuted himself.
 
I look at it this way.... It may have been a win only for the defendant in this case, but this case starts to set a precedence when it comes to this D.A's arrests for this type of thing. And every individual that wins this type of case will make it that much easier to prove the D.A. is wrongfully prosecuting people in a court of law. In the end it would be nice to see him ousted from his position and prosecuted himself.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this DA has earned an award of punishment.
 
joe-bob this is an arrest for a class A misd, so there are some records that show that arrest till the day you no longer walk the earth and then some. No matter what they tell you. An ACD is an interesting conclusion to a case. Is was used all the time in the past and it is still often the result of a charge that is a high misd and most other lower charges if the subject has no past record. When you arrest someone for this level of charges it is assumed that the officer will not be needed in court for the first two or three hearings. If the subject of the arrest had a clean back round, and has a private lawyer representing him, then an ACD is often the result in and around the third court appearence. There are reasons for this, but understanding minds will get it.....

Please don't take that to mean that this was not a win as it was, but I know the local court system well enough to understand what moves they make when. Remember the DA can only go so far with the presentation of charges before the judge has control. Once the judge has control of the case, he can request the DA to work towards certain methods of closing the case as outlined in the NYS CPL. I do believe most judges still have a high degree of understanding about what is and is not a weapon. I hope the day comes soon that a judge can make the determination on this issue. The case in Queens was won by a jury understanding the legal difference between an assisted opener and a switchblade, so I expect a judge will do even better with these issues of law.
 
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Tom,

I think you may have misunderstood my post. I said that the DA deserves to be punished. He has certainly earned it. I was agreeing with Karda.
 
joe bob my mistake. I was answer Tom1960 when he said this: "Tom, is the arrest still going to remain on the books in NYC in the case of this guy? "
 
I dont know why people are down playing this.

This is HUGE!!!!!!

It shows that the case law has validity (United States v Irizzary) in NYC Courts.

This will help defense in the future
 
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