Lw Prof says knife bans are also unconstitutional according to Heller….

[ezkl2230]

This was posted on guns.com:

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 also investigates case law about Bowie Knives and Arkansas Toothpicks, the utility of knives for personal self-defense and militia use, the constitutional significance of technological changes in knives since 1791, and modern prosecutions, statutes, and cases from Washington, Oregon, Indiana, New York and D.C.

Law Prof. David Kopel: 'Prohibitions on carrying knives in general, or of particular knives, are unconstitutional'

Interesting. We've been trying to overturn the switchblade ban in Michigan for several years, but the East-side legislators keep voting it down. I don't think anyone has ever approached it from this angle before.

 

[Warrior1256]

Switchblades are illegal in Kentucky but, according to my CC instructor, it is legal for someone with a CC permit to carry one. With thumb assist opening folding knives I don't see any reason to have a switchblade. Just my opinion. If someone wants to carry a switchblade I have no problem with it.

 

[Marcus]

It's confusing. In Maine, knives that open with the help of a spring are illegal while others that open in a similar manner but without a spring are not. I have a couple knives that are questionable. I once showed a cop friend and he had no idea whether it's legal or not. Just strange.

 

[BluesStringer]

I've contended for years that knives are 2A-protected weapons. Auto-openers have been illegal for decades in CA where I grew up, but are wide open here in Bama. On the other hand, we have a really loosely-worded law about carrying some fixed blade knives that has the potential to be a catch-all offense. It says:

"Section 13A-11-50
Carrying concealed weapons.
Except as otherwise provided in this Code, a person who carries concealed about his person a bowie knife or knife or instrument of like kind or description or a pistol or firearm of any other kind or an air gun shall, on conviction, be fined not less than $50.00 nor more than $500.00, and may also be imprisoned in the county jail or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not more than six months."

I don't know...A large screwdriver or crowbar that you're using on a job-site and throw in your pocket during your lunch break could fit into that description.

I have collected knives since I was a kid and have everything from the mild to the wild in my collection. I bought my first auto a couple of years ago, a Kershaw Mdl. 7000 Breakout, and it's a great medium-sized pocket knife, but the novelty of owning an auto-opener wore off pretty quick. I carry it infrequently, preferring my Bradley Alias I for EDC, which is about the same size but made out of better materials and an "old fashioned" manual opener.

Regardless of my own preferences for carry knives though, any kind of knife made should be both legal to own and legal to carry under the same 2A protections that our firearms are (ostensibly) covered by. I have never had any desire to be a knife-fighter, but the very fact that in most jurisdictions that outlaw autos, they make them legal for members of the military, proves beyond any doubt that the government(s) in those jurisdictions consider them valid military armament, and the SCOTUS decision "U.S. v. Miller" is what upheld the NFA '34 on the prohibition of short barreled shotguns, because the Court ruled that they were not commonly in military use, which was a crock of you know what, but whatever, auto-opening knives are made easy to get for the military, so under the obverse legal reasoning, the 2A should protect the availability of those kinds of arms for the general population as well.

Blues