S.1315 Knife Owners Protection Act

MigraineMan · Jun 28, 2015

Yes. The Knife Owners Protection Act of 2015 has been introduced in the Senate.

At first glance, this part sounds familiar ...

... an individual who is not otherwise prohibited by Federal law from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a knife may transport a knife from any State or place where the individual may lawfully possess, carry, or transport the knife to any other State or place where the individual may lawfully possess, carry, or transport the knife ...

And they do make concessions for refueling your car and taking a pee break. However, it gets ugly real fast.

(1) in the case of transport by motor vehicle—

(A) the knife is not directly accessible from the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle; or
(B) in the case of a motor vehicle without a compartment separate from the passenger compartment, the knife is contained in a closed—

(i) container;
(ii) glove compartment; or
(iii) console; or
(2) in the case of transport by means other than a motor vehicle, including any transport over land, on or through water, or through the air, the knife is contained in a closed container.

How much you wanna bet that local laws will be "aligned" with KOPA such that all knife transport activities require a locked container outside of the passenger compartment?

danb · Jun 28, 2015

We have different concepts of knife rights.

Here's mine: Knives of all shapes and sizes, regardless of opening mechanism, are legal for open or "concealed" carry.

mckraut · Jun 28, 2015

I'm so confused. Currently I keep a Kershaw assisted opening knife in my car. Is this not kosher?

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/32...lack-stainless-steel-blade-nylon-handle-black

WeaponsCollector · Jun 28, 2015

I always have multiple concealed knives on my person, and that will not be changing!

MJD438 · Jun 28, 2015

mckraut said:
I'm so confused. Currently I keep a Kershaw assisted opening knife in my car. Is this not kosher?

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/32...lack-stainless-steel-blade-nylon-handle-black

Depends on where you are - in Baltimore City, for example, that knife would be illegal to possess.

kcbrown · Jun 29, 2015

The "protections" this act affords will prove as useful as the "protections" afforded by FOPA. Which is to say, they'll prove worthless in the end, because the judiciary will simply handwave their way around them in order to uphold convictions, and SCOTUS will do nothing to contradict those courts.

It won't be long before certain states start banning all knife possession. Those states which refuse to recognize the right to self-defense (we know which ones those are) are going to attempt to follow in England's footsteps.

mckraut · Jun 29, 2015

MJD438 said:
Depends on where you are - in Baltimore City, for example, that knife would be illegal to possess.

I often carry it concealed in Baltimore...I guess not any more. I just ordered another Kershaw with the Emerson wave opening feature, does anyone know if that is illegal to conceal in Maryland? Also if anyone could point out some solid Maryland knife law resource websites, that would be great.

Thank you for the guidance

danb · Jun 29, 2015

mckraut said:
I often carry it concealed in Baltimore...I guess not any more. I just ordered another Kershaw with the Emerson wave opening feature, does anyone know if that is illegal to conceal in Maryland? Also if anyone could point out some solid Maryland knife law resource websites, that would be great.

Thank you for the guidance

The trouble with MD knife laws is that they vary from county/city to county/city. MD has no state-wide preemption. Saying it's GTG for Maryland (manual and assisted openers are fine) does not make it GTG for Baltimore City or Ocean City.

Redd Byrd · Jun 29, 2015

Does the "document" separate knives used to "stick" and "cut" or are they all in one pile? Does it specify how sharp a cutting knife has to be? To say nothing of the way it is opened.

mckraut · Jun 29, 2015

danb said:
The trouble with MD knife laws is that they vary from county/city to county/city. MD has no state-wide preemption. Saying it's GTG for Maryland (manual and assisted openers are fine) does not make it GTG for Baltimore City or Ocean City.

And unfortunately Baltimore City is nearly the only place I carry and according to what I found below, even the Kershaw CQC-6K I just ordered is a no go considering the Emerson Wave opening feature.

§ 59-22 Switch-blade knives.

(a) Possession or sale, etc., prohibited.

It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, carry, or possess any knife with an automatic spring or
other device for opening and/or closing the blade, commonly known as a switch-blade knife.

(b) Penalties.

Any person violating the provisions of this section, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not
more than $500 or be imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both, in the discretion of the court.
(City Code, 1950, art. 24, §155; 1966, art. 19, §160; 1976/83, art. 19, §185.) (Ord. 44-057.)

MigraineMan · Jun 29, 2015

The 2nd Amendment is under assault like never before. While a frontal assault is unlikely to be successful, "death by a thousand cuts" might be. If legislators can place enough burdens on exercise of the right, they can create a procedural prohibition. Knife restrictions matter as much to us as firearm restrictions do. (They're "arms" just the same, and I'm willing to bet that there's an expectation that we "gun nuts" won't care about knives, the same way hunters don't care about concealed carry legislation.)

And with Roberts' bold suggestion that the words don't matter, but the "intent" does ... well, let's just say I'm not sleeping well right now.

BigBull · Jun 29, 2015

Would hatchets /small axes fall under this? I keep a hatchet in my truck that wouldn't be very good at chopping wood but certainly would be good at busting a window to escape in an emergency situation and for any other situations that may arise.

DC-W · Jun 29, 2015

As we heard from Mr. Lyon in the DC CCL class yesterday, FOPA is continuously ignored and trampled by places like NJ and NYC. Can't imagine a KOPA would be any different.

AntiGun · Jun 29, 2015

I keep knives and hatchets in my vehicles and at least one knife on my person.
I gave up my assisted opening so I'd be legal in Baltimore city.

What do I have to give up next?

The intent of this law may have been to give protections but I see it easily being twisted against carrying a knife.

jc1240 · Jun 29, 2015

danb said:
The trouble with MD knife laws is that they vary from county/city to county/city. MD has no state-wide preemption. Saying it's GTG for Maryland (manual and assisted openers are fine) does not make it GTG for Baltimore City or Ocean City.

Does "preemption" in law like this mean "state law trumps local law" or does it mean "state law trumps local law IF state law is older?" To a simple fellow like me, "preemption" can go either way.

Pinecone · Jun 29, 2015

mckraut said:
And unfortunately Baltimore City is nearly the only place I carry and according to what I found below, even the Kershaw CQC-6K I just ordered is a no go considering the Emerson Wave opening feature.

§ 59-22 Switch-blade knives.

(a) Possession or sale, etc., prohibited.

It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, carry, or possess any knife with an automatic spring or
other device for opening and/or closing the blade, commonly known as a switch-blade knife.

(b) Penalties.

Any person violating the provisions of this section, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not
more than $500 or be imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both, in the discretion of the court.
(City Code, 1950, art. 24, §155; 1966, art. 19, §160; 1976/83, art. 19, §185.) (Ord. 44-057.)

AFAIK, assisted opening knives are NOT switch blades.

They are talking about the type of knife where you press a button and the blde comes out automatically, by spring or gravity or other power.

Assisted opening are manually opening knives, with an ASSIST.

DC-W · Jun 29, 2015

Pinecone said:
AFAIK, assisted opening knives are NOT switch blades.

They are talking about the type of knife where you press a button and the blde comes out automatically, by spring or gravity or other power.

Assisted opening are manually opening knives, with an ASSIST.

ANY knife that has a spring in it to assist opening is a no-no in Baltimore. Roaddawg talked about it early on in the freddy gray case, IIRC. Usually, they'd charge for it if it was clear you weren't up to any good.

DanGuy48 · Jun 29, 2015

This is a perfect example of the level of idiocy we have in our legislature right now. Unemployment, financial/monetary crisis imminent, we've had a declaration of war against us by fundamentalist fanatics, China, India and Mexico are gaining speed in manufacturing and production, nipping at our heels, and these f!*king MORONS are worried we might have a pocket knife in our pocket. It's like some sort of bad joke. Pathetic.

MigraineMan · Jun 29, 2015

Pinecone said:
AFAIK, assisted opening knives are NOT switch blades.

They are talking about the type of knife where you press a button and the blde comes out automatically, by spring or gravity or other power.

Assisted opening are manually opening knives, with an ASSIST.

Nope, sorry. As pointed out by Chief Justice Roberts, what the law "is" and not "what it should be" is what matters. The words "or other device for opening and/or closing the blade" quite clearly make the assisted-opening blades fall into the switchblade classification.

AntiGun said:
I keep knives and hatchets in my vehicles and at least one knife on my person.
I gave up my assisted opening so I'd be legal in Baltimore city.

What do I have to give up next?

The intent of this law may have been to give protections but I see it easily being twisted against carrying a knife.

Fortunately, as also pointed out by Chief Justice Roberts, what the law "is" is irrelevant and "what it should be" is what really matters. So we should be good-to-go without concern about legal shenanigans warping KOPA into some oppressive regulatory scheme.

Knowing that the law can be applied arbitrarily, can be ignored, and certainly always will be enforced in a manner consistent with your best interest should be comforting, citizen. Would you like to know more?

Second Amendment · Jun 29, 2015

Fu*k all of that, I'll carry what I've been carring for years. In certain places, I just won't expose the clip. :sad20:

S.1315 Knife Owners Protection Act

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