New group supporting knife rights

How is it that fighting knives (among other weapons)aren't considered arms under the second amendment?

In Colorado, anyone with or without a CCW can carry a loaded handgun in their car and it's perfectly legal. But if they have a fixed blade knife next to it, and are not transporting it for sporting purposes, they can be arrested for carrying a concealed weapon.

I hate "feel good" laws like the ones listed. And it reminds me of an article about the UK where they seized a man's(Klingon) military style assault Batlev.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/24/klingon-knife-scares.html

Best commentary in that thread:

"G'a'ak ptah! F'eh neh gork ack ptooey!"

Steve you jest had to bring up a Star Trek® reference!

England is now banning Star Trek® toilet paper because it eliminates . . .

Klingons©

I am so ashamed!

They aren't too new to the scene - I think we may be blogged about them back during the St. Louis NRA meeting. In fact, we have a couple of their pins laying around somewhere.

I have never owned a swithblade, nor a butterfly knife. I do, however feel naked if I don't have my pocket knife with me. And I promise you, I can open it with one hand as quickly as anyone can open a switchblade and more quickly than anyone can open a butterfly. It is not a small knife, not large enough to be illegal here, but close to the limit with a lot of heft and strength.

I do not actually consider it an arm, though in a pinch it could be used that way, but so could a doughnut. I consider it a tool and use it often in just that way.

What I find amazing is that I could strap on a machete as long as it wasn't hidden, but swords are prohibited here, sword canes are prohibited, knives over a certain length are prohibited, and it just makes no damn sense.

Of course, this is the kind of thing we get when we keep electing idiots.

Let me suggest another reason for "exotic" knife restrictions. It is commonly believed that such knives are carried/used/etc only/mostly by "those" people.

You know, like the campaign slogan for the first control laws in the US, that is "those guns/knives aren't good for anything except N* on Saturday night".

I think Mr. Freeman hit the nail on the head. These laws are, at a very basic level, xenophobic. They are intended to target 'those troublesome groups.'

Knives, in confined areas, can be more effective fighting tools than guns. And knives are almost always capable of more diverse pursuits than a gun. But no matter what inane reason a person gives for carrying a knife--whether it be cutting rope or slicing an apple--EVERY person has considered the possibility of using their little pocket knife defensively. Cops ostensibly carry knives to cut accident victims out of their seatbelts, but they always say it with a wink and a smile. Even the mild old professor, if he is honest, will confess that--given both the need and the opportunity to withdraw it--he would wield that little Case knife against an attacker.

Sevensteen is right. What part of "every terrible weapon of the soldier does not include a knife? At one time or another soldiers carried a bayonet AND a fighting knife with a blade about a foot long (Ka-Bar, anyone?). IIRC the paratroops had a fairly sizeable switchblade that most kept in a jump boot for cutting their way out of shroud lines if they landed in a tree, or cutting their way out of trouble if they lost their infamous leg bags with their carbines, or cutting stubborn Germans who refused to surrender to reason.

I resemble the mild old professor remark - I am one. I would not think of going out without my spydeco clipped inside my right pants pocket and a little swiss army in the right. Only a few students have ever commented on the spydeco and those students had the telltale sign of the little clip outside their pocket also. As a naval aviator I never flew without a knife. As a paramedic (in a previous life when I was young and skinny) I did cut seatbelts with my knife. I carry a knife with a window punch in my vehicles now. I never flew commercial without a seatbelt cutter until after 9/11. The knife is a wonderful tool. Only a fool would be caught without one.

Chuck

Heller's holding does rather clearly encompass knives, pepper spray, and the like. The Court approvingly cites the broad definition of "arms" from Johnson's Dictionary: "any thing that a man wears for his defence, or take into his hands, or useth ... to cast at or strike another." Elsewhere the Court stresses that "arms" does include even "weapons that were not specifically designed for military use and were not employed in a military capacity." Indeed, "the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding."

Presumably there's still wiggle room for prohibiting "dangerous or unusual" knives that aren't commonly carried by law-abiding citizens, but that leaves a large category of protected, defensively useful fixed knives, folders, etc.

First they ban knives, next they'll ban walking sticks.

Switchblades are now mil issue, and therefore arguably protected by the 2nd under Miller. That and $3 gets you a coffee these days, but those are the facts...

http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=5000

"IIRC the paratroops had a fairly sizeable switchblade that most kept in a jump boot for cutting their way out of shroud lines if they landed in a tree, or cutting their way out of trouble if they lost their infamous leg bags with their carbines, or cutting stubborn Germans who refused to surrender to reason."

Jumpmasters strap a knife to their leg for static-line jumps to cut towed jumpers free or, possibly, in the case a reserve is accidentally deployed within the aircraft. I've never landed in the trees (knock on wood) but I can't see how you'd be tangled in your chute seeing as how it's above you the whole way down. If you're stuck in trees, you get out of your harness the usual way, then partially undo the reserve from your waist, point it down, deploy it and use it as a rope to climb down.

Most enlisted carry a multi-tool like a Gerber with them. They're usually not allowed to keep knives with long blades in their barracks. I'm sure the Army has a knife-fighting school somewhere, but there's really nothing a knife or a bayonet can accomplish that a rifle butt can't do just as well, especially considering the body armor and 40 lbs of gear.

By the way, I see there was one important typo in my 6:00 PM comment yesterday: I wrote "dangerous or unusual" but that's not what Heller says. Instead, Heller refers to the historical practice of banning the carry of "dangerous and unusual" weapons.

That's an important difference that arms rights supporters should stress.

AR-15s are dangerous (as indeed are nearly all useful weapons) but AR-15s are not unusual. Heller says a weapon is an "arm" covered by the Second Amendment unless it's both. Thus AR-15s and similar modern, self-loading rifles are covered arms under Heller.

Texas has rules against the carry of "illegal" knives of a certain size, though you can own them as curios and collectibles if you just keep it in your home.

I've been pondering adding the nice Scottish broadsword sold by Cold Steel, Inc (www.coldsteel.com) to my personal arsenal, or at the very least, the Scottish dirk. I like that their swords are fully functional, not just movie props.

The UK, of course, has already gone psycho with their bladed weapons ban efforts, just as nutty (or nuttier) than their gun bans.

I don't like the restrictions in Texas law on knives because at some level they're based on the same fallacies as DC or Chicago's gun bans, i.e. only the law-abiding will actually be bound by the law anyway, and the use of knives in the commission of a crime *already* comes with stiffer penalties, I think.

I carry a Swiss army knife on my keychain as a utility tool. I have to remember to remove it and leave it behind in my car whenever I fly (which isn't often). I've sometimes forgotten and had to leave it behind at a checkpoint when entering a courts building. I suppose it would work as a last-ditch defensive weapon (especially since I have to be legally disarmed at work), but I don't relish the thought. I've heard that for a defensive knife you want one with a "lock blade", which my Swiss army knife does NOT have, i.e. once open blade locks into place and you have to move a piece of metal (the lock) out of the way before you can fold the knife back up.

I have a Texas CHL, and outside of work I do carry, but I haven't given much thought to having a knife as a backup, though my CHL instructors swore by the practice.

KnifeRights is indeed a couple of years old, but it's still small enough that it's 'new' to most folks. Bitter, since there were only three or four of us handing them out odds are good that I gave you that button. I was the only one with a significant beard so if you happen to remember that detail then it was me.

If I'm clothed in any way I have a blade on me. Actually, that's not quite correct. I seldom have a blade on me. I acquire Benchmade knives.

I only go past metal detectors with great reluctance and only if I feel whatever's on the other side is worth leaving America to visit. Metal detectors are un-American because they're based on the presumption of guilt. If I'm a good person what does it matter what's in my pocket?

None of my knives are weapons but never forget that a weapon is just a tool + attitude. Tools are everywhere and I'm known for having a good supply of attitude.

I could babble further but I don't want to load up someone else's blog. Suffice it to say that joining KnifeRights is a good thing to do.

I am from ky and if they think they can take away my right to protect myself with my guns and knife then I consider them the enemy and I will fight to the death! whoever is trying to pass this law should be tared and feathered or is there another so called law aganst it?HA HA.