That one had me scratching my head, because I actually went and read the customs documents linked to.
So far as I can tell from the document (and remember, I'm NOT a lawyer), customs (and the law) defines switchblades as having a button on the handle causes a spring to open the blade. The design that customs wants to declare a switchblade has it set up so that you open the blade slightly with the usual thumb stud on the blade, and then a spring takes over and snaps the blade out without further work on your part.
Just to play devil's advocate, I can kind of see why customs would want to expand the definition of switchblade. As they note, knife designers have been trying to figure out how to have spring-opened blades without the button that triggers the regulations, and the customs people want to expand regulation of the set of mechanisms that trigger spring opening.
Since none of my knives are spring-opened, it's not clear whether I'm going to have trouble with the new mechanisms. I can open a knife just fine with nothing but a thumb stud. If they make THAT kind of one-handed open illegal, I'll be very unhappy.
Leaving aside arguments about whether switchblades should be regulated at all for a paragraph, what I would suggest is that ANYONE who needs a spring-opened blade for something they're doing, especially as part of work, send a letter to their congresscritter explaining why the new law will mess with them. I suspect that will have more impact than the AKTI letter form, especially with the democratic lawmakers who are currently in the majority.
As for legality of switchblades, I don't think that there's much that's rational about the non-gun weapons laws in the US, and I'm pretty sure lawmakers don't want to deal either. "I'm for law and order, and I think that switchblades should be legal." Right. I'm trying to figure out how any politician could say that with a straight face.
However, if Mr. Smtih, the old farmer in the heartland of America, needs that one-handed spring assist to open his knife because of his arthritic hands (and he can't retire, because he lost it all in the financial crisis), and he needs his knife to open the seed bags to plant his fields, that's a much better argument. Mr. Smith needs his spring-opened knife for his everyday work.
In any case, the AKTI links to the customs documents, and I'd be much happier if someone who is a lawyer will go through them and figure out what it is customs is trying to outlaw, and how many knives it will actually affect. If they're going to outlaw any one-handed opening mechanism, spring or no spring, that's a really good reason to protest. If they're trying to expand the list of prohibited mechanisms for spring-assisted opening, it would be good to get an idea of how many knife designs would actually be affected.
Best,
F
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