Three questions

[Danhaler]

I discovered this website today and I have 3 quick questions for my first post that I hope make sense after typing them while kind drunk and being someone who can demonstrate things much much better than explain things.

1) What excatly is a knife...Already I've read a lots of threads on people getting their knives confiscated sometimes resulting in court appearances because it was 4" long or could be opened with one hand or with 'a flick of the wrist'. I was thinking some knives have serrated blades. What about the gardening saws (usually pull saws) which are like giant pocket knives where the blade folds into the handle that you can (with even barely dexterous hands) unclip and open with one hand. They have a blade that's about a foot long so would that be classed as an illegal 'knife'?

2) With those basic pocket knives that open and lock where to release and close it you press the lever at the small indent in the plastic handle...if a knife is illegal because it can be opened 'with a flick of the wrist', what exactly is a flick of the wrist ?

I was wondering about this because these basic knives and from what I've seen of butterfly knives, they can be opened easily enough with one hand but but to me it takes more of a 'roll' or some manipulation of the wrist.

3) Would it be classed as a 'flick of the wrist' if it took a flick of the wrist AND a bit of help such as your ring finger pressing the lock lever to release any friction it placed on the blade if it's a knifethat was designed where the lock lever also serves in assisting to hold the blade closed through a bit of friction?

Just some things I was wondering about when reading about all of those confiscation/search/one handed open/flick of the wrist knives.

Daniel.

 

[dylan_d]

I'll answer #2:

No, they're not illegal in the US. It's fine if you can "flick" your knife open. Autos, the ones where you push a button to open them, ARE illegal for civillians I believe. Now, I'll try and describe a "flick of the wrist", hold your hand in front of you as if you were holding a knife, now quickly "flick" your wrist towards you body, then quickly flick your wrist away from your body. If you do it correctly and fast enough, then your knife should open (as long as it has a smmoth action). That's how you open a knife with a "flick of the wrist"

 

[Aniketos]

I can make my manuals fly open as fast as a auto.. and I got no springs to ever replace.. someone once said on this forum that sometimes having less is more... like leaving out the little trinkits on knives such as.. assisted opening, double locks, window breaker, laser sights, night vision, microwave capabilities, and the 13 piece socket wrench that you keep tucked away tightly in the handle. so I guess im trying to say is....... uhhhhh damnit let me go read your post again. I forgot what this was about But I hope I made some people laugh at least

 

[Sergiusz Mitin]

Hmm, when I was young technical high-school student one of my lecturer used to say: “There are no silly questions, there are just silly answers”.
Sometimes seemingly silly question allows to make oneself aware of lawmaker stupidity. In my country crossbows are forbidden to buy, possess and use without police permission and police do not give permissions because according them there are no reasons for you to have one. To get permission you should actively go in for crossbow shooting and to do so you should have crossbow. Some kind of bureaucratic vicious circle...
But the most funny in this vicious circle is the fact that forbidding crossbows our bureaucrats didn’t define what exactly the crossbow is! BTW, bows we can buy and possess without any limitations.

In some European countries people are banned to carry a knife if it can be considered as a weapon. Hope their laws have clear cut definition what is weapon and what distinguishes it from not-weapon or tool what occasionally can be used as weapon (for me it is some kind of challenge to imagine garden, locksmith’s, carpenter’s etc. tool what couldn’t).

I saw also law regulation what prohibited gun shot bang silencers without taking the trouble about definition what exactly it is.

Probably this list could be continued endlessly.

I have only two alternatives to explain this more than odd situation. First could be that our lawmakers are in their dominating mass real fools. However I can’t believe. The real stupid puts the spoon into his/her ear when eating. As journalist I was present at some events where I could observe how our lawmakers eat or at least drink – nobody put a spoon, fork or glass into his/her ear!

Another possible explanation is much less funny. Seems that the MATRIX what rules us intentionally make law regulations more and more silly and difficult for understanding and obeying. Please note – the more prohibitions the less comprehensible and rational they are...

Bravo, Daniel, and Welcome to the Forum!