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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on January 1, 2014 at 12:53

Dec. 19, 2013: South Carolina state Senator Kevin L. Bryant has introduced a Knife Law Preemption bill, S.885, for the 2014 session. This is the fifth Knife Rights backed bill pre-filed for the 2014 legislative session! If you live, work or travel in South Carolina, we need your help. Please click on "Read More>>>>" below.

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S.885 simply adds "knives" to the state's existing Firearms Preemption Law. It would make state knife law supreme over the entire state, repealing existing local knife regulations and prohibiting any future knife regulations.

If you live, work or travel in South Carolina, please contact your state Senator and ask them to please support S.885. If Sen. Bryant is your Senator, please thank him for sponsoring S.885. You can find your South Carolina state Senator here: http://www.scstatehouse.gov/legislatorssearch.php

Knife Law Preemption is Knife Rights' signature legislative initiative and is the essential foundation for improving knife laws and protecting knife owners. Beginning with the nation's first Knife Law Preemption bill passed in 2010 in Arizona, Knife Rights has passed Knife Law Preemption in seven states to date. Knife Law Preemption prevents a patchwork of local ordinances which can entrap honest citizens traveling within or through a state. This is the fourth Knife Rights' Knife Law Preemption bill filed so far for next year.

Knife Rights is rewriting knife law in America™ in the legislatures and the courts. Support the fight for a Sharper Future™ with a donation before the end of the year and get chances to win from $7,500 worth of gift certificates valued up to $1,000. DONATE TODAY for a Sharper Future Tomorrow!

- See more at: http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=vi...

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on January 1, 2014 at 12:54

Dec. 5, 2013: Building on Knife Rights' unprecedented 2013 legislative success with 5 more pro-knife bills passed, we are getting a jump on 2014 by filing two bills already in Florida and Tennessee. The Florida bill would enact Knife Law Preemption and the Tennessee bill would repeal the ban on automatic knives and on carry of knives over 4-inches in length "with the intent to go armed," a vague term subject to abuse by authorities. And, we've just only gotten started! If you live, work or travel in Florida or Tennessee bills, we need your help. Please click on "Read More>>>>" below. Florida Knife Law Preemption Bill Filed Florida State Senator Thad Altman has reintroduced Knife Rights' knife law preemption bill for the 2014 session. SB458 will prevent local municipalities in Florida from passing laws governing knives more restrictive than state law and will repeal any existing local knife laws more restrictive than state law currently on the books. SB458 includes onerous penalties for jurisdictions that try to ignore this knife preemption law, making it much easier for Knife Rights or citizens to take such a jurisdiction to court. If passed, this will bring Florida in line with the seven other states that have already passed and implemented Knife Rights' knife law preemption. If you live, work or travel in Florida, please contact your state Senator and ask them to please co-sponsor this bill. If Sen. Altman is your Senator, please thank him for sponsoring SB458. You can find your Florida state Senator here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/#Senators Tennessee Bill to Repeal Knife Restrictions Filed Tennessee State Senator Mike Bell has introduced a bill to finish the job of updating the state's knife laws. Last year Knife Rights and Senator Bell passed knife law preemption, but the effort to repeal the antiquated ban on switchblade knives and possession of knives over four inches in length failed in the House due to opposition from the Tennessee Sheriff's Association (TSA). Knife Rights has worked very closely with the TSA Executive Director Terry Ashe to address their concerns and SB1438 is the result. We sincerely appreciate Sheriff Ashe's cooperation in coming up with a solution for the TSA's concerns while removing restrictions on law-abiding citizens. If you live, work or travel in Tennessee, please contact your state Senator and ask them to please support SB1438. You can find your Tennessee state Senator here: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/legislators/

  - See more at: http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=vi...

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on January 1, 2014 at 12:56

Knives and the Second Amendment Published The first detailed scholarly analysis of knives and the Second Amendment has been published in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform (vol. 47, pages 167-215). Authored by noted Second Amendment scholars Dave Kopel, Clayton Cramer and Joe Olson, the paper makes the case for knives as "arms" protected by the Second Amendment, supporting one of Knife Rights' foundational tenets. Knife Rights applauds these scholars for this long-overdue effort. This is a great start on the sort of scholarly work that needs to be done to assist in potential legal cases down the road. The arguments made and supported in this article will also support our legislative efforts to roll back knife bans and oppose proposed new restrictions on knives. For more details and a link to the complete article Knives and the Second Amendment, click on "Read More>>>>" below. Kopel writes in his blog: The Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear “Arms”–not solely “firearms.” While firearms have always been the paradigmatic Second Amendment arm, there are many other types of arms which are protected by the Second Amendment. By far the most common of the other arms are knives. Under the Supreme Court’s standard in District of Columbia v. Heller, knives are Second Amendment “arms” because they are “typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes,” including self-defense. There is no knife that is more dangerous than a modern handgun; to the contrary, knives are much less dangerous. Therefore, restrictions on carrying handguns set the upper limit for restrictions on carrying knives. Prohibitions on carrying knives in general, or of particular knives, are unconstitutional. For example, bans of knives that open in a convenient way (e.g., switchblades, gravity knives, and butterfly knives) are unconstitutional. Likewise unconstitutional are bans on folding knives that, after being opened, have a safety lock to prevent inadvertent closure. The article provides an explanation of various types of knives, of criminological evidence regarding knives, and of the 19th century panic and case law about Bowie Knives and Arkansas Toothpicks. We then apply the Second Amendment to modern knife laws. We cover the utility of knives for personal self-defense and for militia use, and the constitutional significance of technological changes in knives since 1791. Finally, the article considers some modern prosecutions, statutes, and cases from Washington, Oregon, Indiana, New York, and D.C. We conclude that even under the weakest relevant standard (intermediate scrutiny), blanket bans on the carrying of knives (or of certain types of knives, or of knives with a blade longer than a particular length) as well as bans on the home possession of some types of knives violate the Second Amendment. See the complete blog post at: http://www.volokh.com/2013/11/23/knives-second-amendment/ The complete article can be downloaded at: http://www.kniferights.org/Knives-and-the-Second-Amendment.pdf

 

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on January 7, 2014 at 4:57

Looking at the site this morning I see that Preemptions Bills have been added in 2014. SC, KY, OK, FL, TN

That is 5 and today is only the 7th!  With these folks out there working this hard to secure our rights, we should be making sure we are sending the emails that help them get this legislation passed!

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