Your the Judge

[soloman61]

Would you interpret the following law to prohibit the carrying of assisted opening knives??? Support your opinion with objective argument!!



A. It shall be unlawful for any person to carry upon or about his or her person, or in a purse or other container belonging to the person, any pistol, revolver, shotgun or rifle whether loaded or unloaded or any dagger, bowie knife, dirk knife, switchblade knife, spring-type knife, sword cane, knife having a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife, blackjack, loaded cane, billy, hand chain, metal knuckles, or any other offensive weapon, whether such weapon be concealed or unconcealed, except this section shall not prohibit:

1. The proper use of guns and knives for hunting, fishing, educational or recreational purposes;

2. The carrying or use of weapons in a manner otherwise permitted by statute or authorized by the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act;

3. The carrying, possession and use of any weapon by a peace officer or other person authorized by law to carry a weapon in the performance of official duties and in compliance with the rules of the employing agency;

4. The carrying or use of weapons in a courthouse by a district judge, associate district judge or special district judge within this state, who is in possession of a valid concealed handgun license issued pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act and whose name appears on a list maintained by the Administrative Director of the Courts; or

5. The carrying and use of firearms and other weapons provided in this subsection when used for the purpose of living history reenactment. For purposes of this paragraph, "living history reenactment" means depiction of historical characters, scenes, historical life or events for entertainment, education, or historical documentation through the wearing or use of period, historical, antique or vintage clothing, accessories, firearms, weapons, and other implements of the historical period.

B. Any person convicted of violating the foregoing provision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable as provided in Section 1276 of this title.

 

[DRider]

"knife having a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife"

Its the classic "in the handle" argument. In an assisted opener, you push on the blade. Technically, they are not forbidden by law. Practically a court may see little difference between pressing the blade and pushing a button on a handle.

 

[DaveinNY]

Would you interpret the following law to prohibit the carrying of assisted opening knives??? Support your opinion with objective argument!!



A. It shall be unlawful for any person to carry upon or about his or her person, or in a purse or other container belonging to the person, any pistol, revolver, shotgun or rifle whether loaded or unloaded or any dagger, bowie knife, dirk knife, switchblade knife, spring-type knife, sword cane, knife having a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife, blackjack, loaded cane, billy, hand chain, metal knuckles, or any other offensive weapon, whether such weapon be concealed or unconcealed, except this section shall not prohibit:

.

The way I read this is that any assisting devise would have to be located in the handle to make it illegal. It does not specifically list any blade mounted thumb devise, nor does it list any type of easy opener frame cut out.
The term "Switchblade" may need better clarification, but as I read it here does not include gravity opening knives or they would have listed as such.

 

[Samael]

Looks like they pretty much stole this verbatim from the Texas law. There are no shortage of comments about that elsewhere, so I don't feel the need to say anything more here.

 

[glistam]

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to carry upon or about his or her person, or in a purse or other container belonging to the person, any pistol, revolver, shotgun or rifle whether loaded or unloaded or any dagger, bowie knife, dirk knife, switchblade knife, spring-type knife, sword cane, knife having a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife, blackjack, loaded cane, billy, hand chain, metal knuckles, or any other offensive weapon, whether such weapon be concealed or unconcealed, except this section shall not prohibit:

1. The proper use of guns and knives for hunting, fishing, educational or recreational purposes;

2. The carrying or use of weapons in a manner otherwise permitted by statute or authorized by the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act;

If I sat on the bench in the black robe, I'd overturn the whole statute as violating the second amendment D wishful thinking).

The highlighted wording is actually much more than copied from Texas law, it from federal law (specifically, Title 15, Chapter 29 § 1241). Generally this law in federal matters has been found not to apply to assisted openers. Otherwise the DOJ would be having a flippin' field day prosecuting the thousands mail-order businesses that sell AOs all over the US and outside of it.

That being covered, the above quoted law also says "spring-type knife." That by itself, while rather vague, could unfortunately be interpreted as covering AOs depending on precedence.

That first exemption there about hunting and fishing is a bit confusing, and I don't know how it's applied in practice. But because switchblades were at one time designed for fishermen to cut rope and nets during a storm while clinging to the rigging with the other hand, one could argue for that purpose.

 

[soloman61]

I know it should have been titled "You're the Judge."

Thank everyone for the input. My job requires interpretation of such laws that are not clearly stated, but I cannot state my opinion here, lest I be disqualified in future cases.

No, I am not a judge, but am in an advisory role.