• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

Legality of Spring Assisted Pocket Knives

S

Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2010
Messages
154
Location
Fairfield County, CT
Adam Cook said:
Like all Connecticut laws dealing with self defense..... this one is unclear.
I've been in South Dakota on business since April 24th. I picked up a great little knife here (Smith & Wesson SWMP1B).
I'll be returning to liberal land in a week or so and need to know if this spring assisted opening knife is legal.

It does not meet federal requirements to be classified as a switchblade since the blade is not under constant tension by the spring. The blade needs to be manually opened about a quarter of an inch before the spring kicks in.

View attachment 10649
Click to expand...

I'm leaning towards Rich's opinion on this. I own a handful of assisted opening folders (a couple of Kershaw Blurs, Benchmade assists, SOG Flash I & IIs, & some CRKTs) which I purchased before I read the statutes Rich cites below. Once I had read the statutes, I shelved the knives for non-carry use (I just use them around the house).

You may or may not successfully make the argument in court that these are a switchblade or not given what the CT law states (and if you're willing to go this route per your below comments, I'm very interested in what happens). IANAL, but if you do decide to carry an assisted folder you're probably best off carrying one which has a detent hole/ball bearing which provide bias towards closure (like the Kershaw Blur for instance) - I'm not sure if the SWMP1B has this or not. Maybe this could possibly help your argument in court...(or not). Rather than fight the charge on the tail-end it may behoove you to pay a lawyer up front to have have him/her weigh in before you start carrying. I guess you could also contact Knife Rights to see if they can assist you in any way (http://www.kniferights.org/). At any rate, good luck and let us know how it all works out...
 
A

Adam Cook

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2013
Messages
38
Location
Connecticut, USA
Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. said:
I'm leaning towards Rich's opinion on this. I own a handful of assisted opening folders (a couple of Kershaw Blurs, Benchmade assists, SOG Flash I & IIs, & some CRKTs) which I purchased before I read the statutes Rich cites below. Once I had read the statutes, I shelved the knives for non-carry use (I just use them around the house).

You may or may not successfully make the argument in court that these are a switchblade or not given what the CT law states (and if you're willing to go this route per your below comments, I'm very interested in what happens). IANAL, but if you do decide to carry an assisted folder you're probably best off carrying one which has a detent hole/ball bearing which provide bias towards closure (like the Kershaw Blur for instance) - I'm not sure if the SWMP1B has this or not. Maybe this could possibly help your argument in court...(or not). Rather than fight the charge on the tail-end it may behoove you to pay a lawyer up front to have have him/her weigh in before you start carrying. I guess you could also contact Knife Rights to see if they can assist you in any way (http://www.kniferights.org/). At any rate, good luck and let us know how it all works out...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input :-D That's some good advice.
 
S

Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2010
Messages
154
Location
Fairfield County, CT
Adam Cook said:
Thanks for the input :-D That's some good advice.
Click to expand...

You're very welcome. The whole matter of switchblades (or assisted openers for that matter) being illegal to carry just seems stupid to me (I'm not sure why me carrying a gun is okay and switchblades are a no-no). I'm glad to see some states allowing switchblade carry now as I believe both knives and guns are/should be covered by the 2nd Amendment.

If you want an alternative to an assisted opener, take a look at the Emerson line of knives which have the "wave" feature. If you don't know already, this allows you to catch the knife on the lip/side of your pocket and deploys the blade as you pull upwards. Spyderco also offers a version of their Endura line which has a wave feature (they licensed it from Emerson). This option is a little cheaper than buying an Emerson blade. If you want to really go value, you can buy a regular Spyderco Endura/Delica and tie some zip tie on it to replicate the wave feature (you can run an search on Blade Forums/ YouTube to see how it's done).

P.S. knife collecting is bad (especially for marriages) - never get into it.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top