Texas Judge Rules AO same as switchblade!

[kylemw13]

This is crap, and I was considering buying an AO too. BTW does anybody know what might happen to a person caught in possession of a 12" long fixed blade with a 7" long blade? I can’t find any information on penalties fines ect in Texas.

 

[Arkeld]

I agree with your outrage with the ruling, but I don't think that the judges' being women is at all relevant.

I too believe that it IS relevant. Generally speaking, a man is more likely to know about knives, understand and apreciat the necessity and cleverness of the opening mechanism and in general be less frightened, on a personal level, of a knife.

Or, simply put, the immediate reaction to an AO from a man is likely to be "heh, cool knife, let´s see if it´s legal", whereas a woman is more likely to think "Eeww, that looks nasty, I bet it´s illegal".

Same thing as with speeding offenses, really. In their heart of hearts, guys will have some respect for the dude who was stopped doing 150mph in his Lambo, whereas women consider it reckless.

Exceptions do exist, of course, such as the female members of this forum, but if I could chose, I´d rather have a male judge than a female one with these kinds of issues.

 

[joe-bob]

This is crap, and I was considering buying an AO too. BTW does anybody know what might happen to a person caught in possession of a 12" long fixed blade with a 7" long blade? I can’t find any information on penalties fines ect in Texas.

If you're hunting or camping, or travelling to or from, then you can have a knife like that.

 

[kylemw13]

Thanks Joe, but I was trying to figure out how hard of a slap on the wrist you would get for having one when not hunting camping or otherwise.

 

[Jennifer_B]

I too believe that it IS relevant. Generally speaking, a man is more likely to know about knives, understand and apreciat the necessity and cleverness of the opening mechanism and in general be less frightened, on a personal level, of a knife.

I believe the fact that the defense didn't bother to call any qualified experts had more bearing on the outcome than the gender of the judges.

If a judge, male or female, is presented with an "expert" testifying that the knife is a switchblade, and the defense doesn't bother to do anything about it, as was apparently the case in this case, what do people expect to happen?

 

[tom19176]

I have to voice in on the gender part of this. I have never worked with a female officer or dealt with one since, who did not have a negative feeling about knives, and a general feeling that they were all some way illegal. These were females in law enforcement ! Guys, tend to admire most knives except the true mall ninja stuff. Yes there should have been an expert for sure presented, but I can only think that if there were two male judges mixed in they would have raised a few more questions themselves as to the true type of knife it is....

 

[kylemw13]

On the gender issue this case may or may not have been different if there been any male judges. However most of the girls I know cringe when a knife is brought out, where as most of the guys I know would say the knife is cool, and ask what kind it is. However there are guys who would cringe, and girls who would think the knife was awesome. The point of all that was to say the gender matters, but only to a certain point, I blame the ruling on the defense vs. the gender of the judges, had an expert been brought in things probably would have been allot different.

 

[dougo83]

Has there been any update on this? Most of the knives I carry for work, etc are AO. CRKT M16, Kershaw Ken Onion, etc. This surely can't stand.

 

[zignal_zero]

as knives evolve, so will the laws that target them :-(

if there had never been a law against auto knives, there probably never would've been the whole assisted opening market. now laws will force greater technology which will spawn newer laws.

it's pointless and silly