No lock = "safety feature"

[akjon]

I thought everyone would get a kick out of this testimony from a 1986 Florida burglary trial. At issue in the case was whether the 3-inch "buck knife" lockback in the defendant's pocket was a "common pocketknife" exempt from Florida's definition of a dangerous weapon:

The officer said that the blade, which folded into the handle, was about two-and-one-half to three inches long. The officer testified further that Bunkley's knife blade locked in the open position. The officer explained how this feature distinguished it from a common pocketknife:
"It's a locked blade, which makes it a dangerous weapon for the simple fact that an average pocketknife, if you stick something with it and you're not very good at what you do, the blade will close. The pocketknife has that safety feature, that it will close. This blade will not close unless you push down very hard on this spring."

And here we all thought that a lock was a safety feature!

Suffice to say that Florida court's have since interpreted the law to make it clear that the above described knife is a common pocketknife exempt from the dangerous weapon law. Bunkley's 1986 conviction was recently back in the courts on the much less interesting issue of retroactivity of that later interpretation. If anyone cares, Bunkley lost and remains in jail for life for his "dangerous weapon" offense (don't cry too hard, he had 14 prior burglary convictions).

 

[Diamond Cut II]

1986, huh? The cop was probably stoned .

 

[m_calingo]

So the State of Florida threw this guy in jail for life for having a locking blade knife?!?

That's way harsher than Great Britain giving you a measly automatic two years in jail for having a knife where the blade can lock open (liner lock, lock back, frame lock, axis lock, etc.).

There had to be some extenuating circumstances. Did he assault somebody with his knife?

 

[Bastid]

He was committing a crime - burglary. If a person is carrying anything that can be construed to be a weapon during a crime, I would imagine that they would be considered (or at least charged with) an "armed crime". Personally I do not have a problem with that unless they want to start prosecuting without the basis of a more serious infraction than toting a pen knife.

 

[FivePointOhh]

Some states have Draconian laws. That's why the new SpyderFly balisong's latch only locks in the closed position.

 

[Mad Hatter]

"The pocketknife has that safety feature, that it will close."

Its only a safety feature if you've grown tired of having fingers

 

[SANDI9958]

i need information from knife manafactures as to why there is locking blades on their pocket knifes , bunkley is my brother. and i know everyone has their on oppinions , this is wrong to incarcerate someone for their natural life for this pocket knife. his prior conviction had nothing to do with this charge ! there is no other case laws other than the 1997 LB VS FL in the fl supreme court, that is a case where the person never had the pocket knife out of the pocket and in a closed position, all other cases had their knife out, FL over turned LB , because they went back to the 1951 oppinion of attorney general saying blade of 4 inches or less and closes and fit in ones pocket is a legal pocket knife. bunkleys was 2 3/4 inches, my brother case was in 1987 convicted of life sentence, LB was convicted in 1997, please read BUNKLEY VS FLORIDA SCO1-297 FL SUPREME ct. he has served 19 years now for this ,most murderers dont get this long ! i guess it is easy to blow this guy off to say just leave him locked up , the fact is somethings wrong with our justice system and this can effect many people that carry knifes please post this to as many as possible that can help me with this information on locking blades thank you

 

[Little claw]

So the State of Florida threw this guy in jail for life for having a locking blade knife?!?

That's way harsher than Great Britain giving you a measly automatic two years in jail for having a knife where the blade can lock open (liner lock, lock back, frame lock, axis lock, etc.).

There had to be some extenuating circumstances. Did he assault somebody with his knife?

Where'd you get your info?

Last time I checked it was maximum sentence of 6 months and/or £5000. May have changed to max. 2 years but definitely not automatically 2 years.

 

[DeadManWalking]

WHY do people think that dull blades and inferior mechanisms make for safety?

A knife should be sharp and have whatever design it needs to be appropriate to the task.