Knife Rights Director of Legislative Affairs, Todd Rathner, was in Dover yesterday to testify in support of SB 108. Geri Elliott from Willey Knives also gave great testimony from the perspective of a knife retailer, letting the Committee know how SB108 will positively affect her family business.

The Delaware House Judiciary Committee then unanimously passed this bill that would remove the restrictions on sale or possession of automatic (switchblade) knives. It also amends the “Deadly Weapons” exemption for “ordinary pocketknife” by deleting “folding” in order to cover all types of knives, and increases the length from 3 inches to 3.75 inches. The bill now moves to the full House.

The bill’s legislative synopsis does a great job explaining the reasons this bill should be passed and nicely sums up the case against knife bans in general: “This Act removes prohibitions in Title 11 of the Delaware Code related to owning or possessing certain types of knives that may be opened by one hand. Such cutting implements are lawfully used as tools by many working in the trades, and are also popular among outdoor, hunting, and camping enthusiasts. Currently, despite common and myriad lawful purposes, such knives are treated as deadly weapons in Delaware, and therefore subject otherwise law-abiding Delawareans engaged in law-abiding activities to criminal prosecution in the justice system. Removing the prohibitions would permit

individuals to lawfully use such tools, but would still subject them to prosecution for deadly weapons-related offenses where an individual uses such a knife in the course of an attack or assault aimed at causing death or serious injury.”

Knife Rights has led the effort to repeal switchblade bans or restrictions in 20 states, starting with New Hampshire in 2010. Repeals have since been enacted in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

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Knife Rights is America’s grassroots knife owners’ organization; leading the fight to Rewrite Knife Law in America™ and forging a Sharper Future for all Americans™. Knife Rights efforts have resulted in 54 bills enacted repealing knife bans in 34 states and over 200 cities and towns since 2010.