Detlef,
I don’t know if this type of lock is illegal to make, sell, and own in France (or in Spain for that matter) but I would bet that it is illegal to carry unless you are hunting or camping. When the carry restrictions came into effect I can’t say but this type of palm knife (with a cow horn hilt and without the “reinforced” tip) was the first French WWI trench knife and the knife maker Pierre Tarry Levigne (who went out of business in the 1930s) was importing Italian switch blades with teat locks at the end.
The reinforced tip may have started out as a hunting/skinning feature but I think it became an affectation on non hunting knives. The blade on my example is only 3” (about 7.6cm) which is on the small side for a hunting/skinning knife.
By the way, that's a darn good looking knife you have there.
Sincerely,
RobT
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