« It was a pretty ragged group, but enough to do the job | Main | Oral argument in Tyler v. Hillsdale »

Knife Rights wins preliminary battle against NYC

The Second Circuit has mostly reversed a trial court ruling that Knife Rights members had no standing to sue.

"Standing to sue" is often a complex issue, and some courts use it as a "dump button" when faced with a case they don't like. The challenge is to the NY ban on "gravity knives," defined as any folding knife that opens by force of gravity or centrifugal force. The statute doesn't define how much centrifugal force, and in practice NYPD will cite or arrest for any folding knife that any officer can flip open in this way, or even for a knife that he cannot, if he speculates that someone stronger or faster might be able to do so.