Why can't I find butterfly knives / balisongs on Amazon or a few other sites anymore?

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Überfuchs

Joined
Jan 27, 2011
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I can't seem to find butterfly knives / balisongs on Amazon.com, Aliexpress.com, eBay and a few other sites (excluding a few outliers that seem to be getting by as antiques or showpieces). The only place I seem to be able to find them somewhat readily available are Chinese sites and knife dealers. I'm particularly disappointed because there was a butterfly knife I wanted to buy on Amazon by who appeared to be a small manufacturer that I can no longer find on their site. Did something happen?
If this happens to be the wrong forum for this, I apologize, and please forgive me. I haven't posted in here in a little while.
Either way, thank you!
Edit:
I do NOT live in California, nor are butterfly knives / balisongs illegal in my State.
If a moderator checks this thread and finds I made an error in one of my posts, please delete it. I do not wish to break any forum rules. I was mostly curious as to why I could not find butterfly knives / balisongs in numerous online retailers where even a year ago I remember finding them.
 
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Oops, I thought they were outlawed everywhere alongside with auto knives in the 60s to help stop gang warfare, but I very well may be mistaken


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BladeManiac10913 said:
Because they are illegal in the US


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This is bad information they aren't illegal in every state. I know fo a fact I can carry them in Indiana. Please know what you are talking about before you type bad info does no one any good. Op I would belive just can't get them there for a liability reasons.
 
They are not illegal in the US. I believe you can own them in every state. You can legally carry them in many at least several states, but that varies from state to state.
That is strange that amazon stopped selling them, I'm pretty sure they used to not that long ago. There are still plenty of online knife dealers who sell bailsongs though.
 
Oops, I thought they were outlawed everywhere alongside with auto knives in the 60s to help stop gang warfare, but I very well may be mistaken


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I may be mistaken, but they are illegal to import into the USA, that is why the American manufacturers can charge a premium for them and get it so easily
 
Do you know of any larger retailers (e.g. not knife stores, but places like Amazon, rakuten.com, aliexpress.com) that sell them?
 
Überfuchs;16488964 said:
Do you know of any larger retailers (e.g. not knife stores, but places like Amazon, rakuten.com, aliexpress.com) that sell them?
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No I don't besides like flea markets. Is there a reason you don't want to use knife dealer?
 
Überfuchs;16488964 said:
Do you know of any larger retailers (e.g. not knife stores, but places like Amazon, rakuten.com, aliexpress.com) that sell them?
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Ok now I see why you don't want to use a knife dealer because they won't sell to you because you live in California and they are illegal there. Now you are asking how to obtain something illegally and that's is so against the rules here I would say you stop now before you are banned. This thread has been reportedtake it easy.
 
Legality of Balisong Knives and Swithblade

21510. Every person who does any of the following with a switchblade knife having a blade two or more inches in length is guilty of a misdemeanor: (a) Possesses the knife in the passenger’s or driver’s area of any motor vehicle in any public place or place open to the public. (b) Carries the knife upon the person. (c) Sells, offers for sale, exposes for sale, loans, transfers, or gives the knife to any other person.


Comments:
It is legal to own, sell, buy, and transport a switchblade as long as it is less than 2 inches. The state of California has ruled that a Balisong knife is a switchblade because of how easily it can be opened. However, you can still buy Balisong knives that are over 2 inches if you do not carry it in the driver or passenger seat or on you. Simply put, if you buy Balisongs to collect and leave it at home, it is 100% OK.

Conclusion on California Knife Law

If you are in California you can buy, own, transport, and carry any knife you want as long as it is not a forbidden knife. You can also collect Balisongs without worry.

Note that this is not legal advice and there is no client-attorney relationship. *You should talk to a California lawyer if you want a real legal opinion. If you have a question, leave it in the comment below. Some cities and municipals might have their own knife laws so check with your city. We are also looking for an attorney to do a quick interview about California knife laws.
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Outlets for balisongs are limited because they just can't be sold from many states and so carry a lot of liability and risk. They can be purchased and are sold from bonafide knife vendors. Check bladehq, knifecenter, direct or google.
 
wensynch said:
Outlets for balisongs are limited because they just can't be sold from many states and so carry a lot of liability and risk. They can be purchased and are sold from bonafide knife vendors. Check bladehq, knifecenter, direct or google.
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In the op's post he dosent want a knife retailer because he knows they won't ship to him.
 
OK, listen. The US government restricts imports of balisongs and many dealers don't want to get involved in sending them across state lines, like autos.

Also, Bladeforums rules privilege those dealers who support us by buying dealer memberships. We do not want to hear about Amazon, eBay, Alibaba. They don't pay us so we don't advertise for them.
 
Of course, we do have a balisong discussion forum. You can read for more information there.

You can go to the Exchange and find Bladeforums members selling them, too.
 
gonebad395 said:
Ok now I see why you don't want to use a knife dealer because they won't sell to you because you live in California and they are illegal there. Now you are asking how to obtain something illegally and that's is so against the rules here I would say you stop now before you are banned. This thread has been reportedtake it easy.
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How is looking for larger retailers that usually sell knives for cheaper looking to evade U.S. law? Butterfly knives / balisongs are NOT illegal in my State.
I do NOT live in California.
 
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Esav Benyamin said:
OK, listen. The US government restricts imports of balisongs and many dealers don't want to get involved in sending them across state lines, like autos.

Also, Bladeforums rules privilege those dealers who support us by buying dealer memberships. We do not want to hear about Amazon, eBay, Alibaba. They don't pay us so we don't advertise for them.
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Thank you. Your post was very helpful. I didn't know about that.
 
Butterfly knives are NOT illegal to own in California, nor is it illegal under state law to have them shipped to California. It is illegal to carry butterfly knives in California, or have them in the occupant area of ones vehicle if the blade is 2" or longer. It is also illegal to sell butterfly knives with blades 2" or longer WITHIN the state of California. These prohibitions are covered under California penal code 21510.

If anyone wants to doubt this, and insist that they are illegal to own, here is a link to California's penal code from the states official government website and they can try and find the statute that says they are illegal. But I can save you the trouble because they are not illegal. http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml

To use that link to find California's knife laws, click on the "Text Search" box, then click the box next to "Penal Code" (bottom, center column), then type "knife" or any other word in the search boxes and click search.

I don't know why Amazon doesn't sell butterfly knives, but I've bought several switchblades from Amazon.
 
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Überfuchs;16489093 said:
How is looking for larger retailers that usually sell knives for cheaper looking to evade U.S. law? Butterfly knives / balisongs are NOT illegal in my State.
I do NOT live in California.
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So you just decided for your location to be California it says it in the upper right corner of every post you make
 
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