Yet Another Amendment - Time to Write Again - Really!

Critter

Critter

Platinum Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2003
Messages
1,781
OK, I know you're starting to get Amendment and Email Fatigue, but believe me, it is working, or we wouldn't be here to ask again. You are the ones who have made this happen. It is working!

Amendment Revising Federal Switchblade Act Introduced, Supported by the Administration.

We’re going to ask you to write yet again, because your letters and emails and faxes are WORKING. Let me explain...

While our primary focus had been on stopping funding for Customs relating to their proposed rule, another track was being worked in the background that would permanently solve the problem. It was initially conceived as a follow-up to the urgently required need to stop Customs dead in its tracks, giving us time to work on a more permanent solution. Late Tuesday evening, even as we were marshaling support for the Cornyn-Wyden stop funding amendment, we received an amendment introduced by Senators Pryor (D-AR) and Hatch (R-UT) that would revise the Federal Switchblade Act (FSA); an amendment that was being supported by Customs.

It was a good start, but was not quite acceptable for a variety of reasons. Knife Rights led an effort to "perfect" the language of the amendment. Working with our attorneys and AKTI representatives late into the night and early morning hours, Knife Rights drafted language that we felt would permanently solve the issue. With the cooperation of AKTI and NRA lobbyists this revised language was handed off to Sen. Pryor who worked to get Customs to accept the revised language. After a concerted effort by Sen. Pryor, a consensus revision emerged that had the support of Customs and was acceptable to Knife Rights and the industry. Late today a new Amendment Number 1447 was introduced by Senators Cornyn, Pryor, Hatch, Vitter, Risch, Chambliss, Corker, Enzi, Barrasso, Graham, Roberts, Wyden and Crapo that adds another Exception in Section 1244 that clearly covers conventional assisted openers and one-hand openers. It's not perfect, but it's good enough and a major step forward. Even better, it is a permanent solution rather than a stop-gap measure.

View the amendment here: http://www.KnifeRights.org/SAmdt%201447.pdf

This cooperative effort has resulted in a bi-partisan amendment that has the critical support from the Senate committees which have responsibility for the FSA and which is endorsed by the Administration (Customs and Border Production have signed off on it). That gives it a very good chance of making it through the process, but first we have to get it voted into the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.

NONE of this would have occurred without the groundswell of negative reaction to the Customs proposal. Your thousands of written letters mailed to Customs and the thousands more emails and faxes sent to Members of Congress asking them to stop Customs, are what raised the issue to a level where it could no longer be ignored. As the efforts by Knife Rights and AKTI garnered more support from others with more political pull, that led to the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus' letter to Sec. Napolitano. It all added up to a great deal of pressure on Customs to fix the problem. Customs has responded, to their credit.

The coalition of advocacy groups including Knife Rights, American Knife and Tool Institute, National Rifle Association, Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and others were able to leverage YOUR outrage into an effective political force in a very short time. None of us individually could have done it alone and it would not have happened without the grassroots support you have provided. You deserve to pat yourself on the back for this effort to get it this far. In an age when we often feel like Congress and the Administration simply ignore the citizens' wishes, this is an example of them actually listening to the citizens. YOU made this happen!

Now, we need to get the job finished. The next step is a vote on this Amendment in the Senate. Yes, that means it is time to write again. And, hopefully you'll need to write again to support an effort to get it through Conference Committee. That we are in a position to ask you to do this is proof positive that it works. We have a short and simple letter this time. Please WRITE NOW!

Locate YOUR OWN Senators and their email forms here:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Sample Letter to YOUR Senators (copy and paste into the email form). If your Senator is one of those listed at the end as co-sponsors, change the closing to THANK them for their efforts co-sponsoring this amendment.:

------------------------

RE: Amendment Number 1447 to DHS Appropriations H.R. 2892

Dear Senator [Insert Senator's Name],

As a pocket knife owner, I support Amendment Number 1447 as a fair and reasonable solution to Customs' rulemaking which would expand the interpretation of what a Switchblade is. I am pleased that Customs has endorsed this amendment as a solution.

I strongly urge you to accept Senators Cornyn, Pryor, Hatch, Vitter, Risch, Chambliss, Corker, Enzi, Barrasso, Graham, Roberts, Wyden and Crapo's amendment, Number 1447, to the Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Individual Signature]

----------------------------

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Emailed my senators (Grassley and Harkin) once again on this. Thanks for keeping us all up to date!
 
Thanks for the input, Critter. Perhaps you or another member may be able to help me. Seems like a long time ago (18/20 years) customs once siezed a shipment of CRKT's M-16 series at POE Portland,Oregon. They held them just long enough to cause CRKT a huge loss of inventory and sales. They finally released them with no explanation. Does anyone have much info. on that deal? Could use some help with history. You guys&gals are usually on the ball. We really can't let this happen again. Kinda sounds like they are trying to stop imports in order to boost U$A products. Unfair. But ok in politics until enough voters start to speak up. Let's go after them. Diplomatically, of course. Thanks to all you great folks.
 
Glad to hear all the efforts are having a positive result! Democracy in action! Good job to all who took the time to write. :thumbup:
 
sending mine right now! i am so glqad to hear our efforts are yielding results. Hopefully we will win this fight.
 
by the wording, would this allow knives that can be flicked open without touching the blade? It says 'exertion applied to the blade' and also by 'wrist, or arm'. You generally can't/won't contact the blade with your wrist or arm, so that would seem to cover inertial opening, but does 'exertion applied to the blade' mean you do have to be in direct contact with the blade itself, not the handle, to be covered under the amendment to the Act?
 
hardheart said:
by the wording, would this allow knives that can be flicked open without touching the blade? It says 'exertion applied to the blade' and also by 'wrist, or arm'. You generally can't/won't contact the blade with your wrist or arm, so that would seem to cover inertial opening, but does 'exertion applied to the blade' mean you do have to be in direct contact with the blade itself, not the handle, to be covered under the amendment to the Act?
Click to expand...

As noted, the final language is good, but not perfect. I would never claim otherwise. The key design criteria is the bias towards closing vs a bias towards opening that exists in a traditional spring-loaded automatic (switchblades). Our original language would have closed any loopholes. It's been said that the enemy of good is perfect, and that politics is the art of the possible, not the desirable, and this is an example of that in action. What we got is far better than what we had. How it eventually falls out down the road is unknown, many laws are misinterpreted by authorities, which is why we are here today, but we feel that this provides a solid defense that covers virtually all mechanisms used on assisted and one-hand openers....and we weren't going to get anything better this time around. This would represent a huge win for knife owners and deserves everyone's support. It also sets a very strong precedent that should discourage further novel interpretations of the law. They are not likely going to mess with knives again anytime soon. We have gotten their attention. The alternative we have been fighting, this proposed rule by Customs, is very, very bad. This new amendment is good. Night and day. Thanks for your support.
 
Emails sent to Senators Lautenberg & Menendez this morning.


Thanks for keeping us posted!:thumbup:
 
Thank you Mr. Ritter, for all your efforts, as well as for the efforts of everyone else working on this. This latest news sounds very encouraging...

I've sent a THANK YOU to Senator Cornyn for his work and leadership on this amendment, and I've sent a note (email) to Senator Hutchison asking her to support the amendment. I'm glad to see that Mr. Cornyn (of Texas) is helping to lead the way in the Senate. I'm not a native Texan, but I've been a transplant to the Lone Star State for almost 20 years now. It makes me feel a bit better that my representation in Washington seems to be sympathetic to this issue.
 
Emails sent.
I also gave a thanks to Senator Chambliss. I was worried about him in the return
emails I had received from him in the past regarding this.

Glad he stepped up to the plate on this.

Thanks Doug. Also thanks to everyone who stepped up and flooded there
Reps with emails and letters. :thumbup:
 
Rather than ask them to support the amendment I'll send a 'thank you' to Mr. Enzi and Mr. Barrasso (co-sponsors) since both are my Senators. :thumbup:
 
I must not understand the wording. To me, a knife that has a mechanism that creates a bias toward closure that must be overcome to open it, describes almost every folding knife in existence! Every folder I own remains closed by some sort of mechanism, and that mechanism must be overcome by use of a button, stud, flick, or nick. What am I missing?
 
aljar8 said:
I must not understand the wording. To me, a knife that has a mechanism that creates a bias toward closure that must be overcome to open it, describes almost every folding knife in existence! Every folder I own remains closed by some sort of mechanism, and that mechanism must be overcome by use of a button, stud, flick, or nick. What am I missing?
Click to expand...

A switchblade is spring loaded and trying to open at all times. Pushing the button simply releases it.

An AO is actually being held closed by the spring, and you have to fight the spring to get it started, THEN it pushes it open.
 
Correct, and to me, that description of an AO knife is being added to the definition of a switchblade. It is held closed by a mechanism or spring, that is overcome by force to assist in opening the blade.
 
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