imported post
Let's take a closer look at the section you quoted. It is RCW 9.41.250. Here it is as written:
(1)Every person who:
(a) Manufactures, sells, or disposes of or possesses any instrument or weapon of the kind usually known as slung shot, sand club, or metal knuckles, or spring blade knife, or any knife the blade of which is automatically released by a spring mechanism or other mechanical device, or any knife having a blade which opens, or falls, or is ejected into position by the force of gravity, or by an outward, downward, or centrifugal thrust or movement;
(b) Furtively carries with intent to conceal any dagger, dirk, pistol, or other dangerous weapon; or
(c) Uses any contrivance or device for suppressing the noise of any firearm,
is guilty of a gross misdemeanor punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW.
(2) Subsection (1)(a) of this section does not apply to:
(a) The possession of a spring blade knife by a law enforcement officer while the officer:
(i) Is on official duty; or
(ii) Is transporting the knife to or from the place where the knife is stored when the officer is not on official duty; or
(b) The storage of a spring blade knife by a law enforcement officer.
Let's look at it again and I'm going to try to translate it as we go. I've leaving out the 1 b and c as they don't apply to the conversation directly. I am not a lawyer, but I like to do my best to sound like one
If you make, sell, get rid of, or possess the following items, you are guilty of a gross misdemeanor
1. A slung shot (metal slung in a sack, generally leather, like a bar of soap in a sock)
2. A sand club (a sack of sand, like a bar of soap in a sock)
3. Metal knuckles (brass knuckles)
4. A spring blade knife (like a switchblade, which opens like a regular knife, except automatically by the push of a button)
5. Any knife where the blade is automatically released by a spring mechanism or other mechanical device (like a stiletto, where the blade is pushed outward from the front of the knife by a spring)
6. Any knife where you use gravity or "flip" it to expose or open the blade (like a butterfly knife)
If you are a cop, don't worry about that switchblade thing so long as you are on duty, taking it to or from work, or are storing it between shifts.
Based on that very last section, it seems to me that even having a switchblade in a box in your closet is illegal unless you are a cop. Doesn't matter if you are carrying it. If it did depend on you carrying it, then it wouldn't matter if a cop was storing it and they wouldn't have put in that exception. Further, knife shops still couldn't sell them as selling them would still be a gross misdemeanor.
warhammerjr seems to be referring to assisted opening knives. Let me try to explain the difference.
A switchblade or spring knife has it's blade under constant tension of the spring while the knife is closed. It requires no force by the user on the blade for it to open. It opens automatically when button is pushed.
An assisted opening knife is kept close by a torsion bar (like what keeps a swiss army knife closed) so that it doesn't open by gravity by accident. The user must apply sufficient pressure to overcome the torsion bar, just like opening any other folding knife, before the torsion bar or another torsion bar then helps swing the blade into the fully open position.
Assisted opening knives, as far as I can find in law, are not illegal in this state although there is an effort by US Customs and Border Protection to redefine switchblades to include any knife that can be opened with one hand, such as assisted opening knives. While this would in and of itself only prohibit such knives crossing the border, many states look to CBP's definition of switchblade for their own and consequently assisted opening knives may become illegal if they change the definition.
Check out
http://www.kniferights.org to keep up with the CBP issue.
Like I said before, I am not a lawyer. I do my best to understand the laws but I make no guarantees that my understanding is the same one a cop, prosecutor, or anyone else will have.