Knife Rights’ bipartisan repeal of Washington State ban on sales and civilian possession of “spring blade” knives introduced.
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Knife Rights’ Ohio Knife Law Reform Bill Signed by Governor!
Knife Rights’ Ohio Knife Law Reform Bill Signed by Governor!
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Knife Rights’ Ohio Knife Law Reform Bill, SB 140, has been signed by Governor Mike DeWine. We sincerely thank Gov. DeWine for signing this important bill. Thanks, also, to all of you who used Knife Rights Legislative Action Center for the hundreds of emails and calls to the governor.
NOTE: The new law does not take effect until April 10, 2021, 90 days after signing. The existing law is still in effect until then.
NOTE: We have not yet passed Knife Rights signature knife law preemption in Ohio, so individual cities and towns may still have knife ordinances more restrictive than state law. Knife Rights’ LegalBlade™ Knife Law App will be updated when the new law goes into effect. LegalBlade™ App includes laws in a number of Ohio cities as well as provides links to find municipal codes of many Ohio cities and towns.
SB 140 reforms Ohio knife law by making two separate substantive changes:
The ban on manufacture and sale of “switchblade,” “spring blade” and “gravity” knives is repealed;
It clears up the vague and confusing Ohio law regarding carry of ANY knife by defining a knife, razor or cutting instrument as a “deadly weapon” or “weapon” ONLY if it is used as a weapon. This would allow carrying any knife concealed under state law.
Knife Rights was honored to work closely with a number of Ohio legislators over the past six years to get this bill introduced and passed.
Former Senator Joe Uecker, SB 140’s original sponsor, said, “When Knife Rights approached me about this bill, it made perfect sense to me. A completely legal item to possess should be completely legal to manufacture in Ohio. A knife should not be considered a deadly weapon unless it’s used as one. That’s just common sense.”
Knife Rights’ Ohio Knife Law Reform Bill Signed by Governor!
Uecker continued: “After four years of effort, it is clear that we’d never have gotten this done but for the simple fact that Knife Rights showed up, every time! As anyone successful in getting legislation done knows, being there, in the Capitol, at critical moments, is what makes the difference. Todd Rathner from Knife Rights did that. I sincerely appreciate that he and Knife Rights showed up every single time we needed him at each critical juncture.”
Uecker concluded, “I would also like to thank my fellow legislators who kept this bill moving and especially Chairman Lang for getting SB 140 to the House floor.”
Representative George Lang, Chairman of the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee, said, “SB140 is just good policy. It is good for Ohio businesses and will create jobs and it is good for Ohio citizens. Decriminalizing simple possession of a knife is much needed criminal justice reform. I was proud to work with Todd from Knife Rights. He was here every step of the way, there’s no substitute for that.”
Co-Sponsor Senator Kristina Roegner, said, “Manufacturing jobs are the lifeblood of Ohio. The fact that you cannot legally manufacture an otherwise legal product in Ohio makes no sense. This is why I co-sponsored SB140; it’s just good policy for Ohio. I’d like to thank Knife Rights for their support and hard work on SB140.”
Rick Hinderer of Hinderer Knives, said, “I was fully prepared to take our manufacturing of automatic knives to a neighboring state. Then Knife Rights stepped up to fix the law here in Ohio. I worked closely with Todd Rathner from Knife Rights and saw him in action in the Capitol. He easily worked with members from both sides of the aisle. There is no question that without his efforts at the Capitol SB140 would never have been passed. Decriminalizing knife carry was frosting on the cake that I was proud to help make happen. By showing up and doing the hard work, Todd and Knife Rights got the job done for us and all Ohioans.”
Representative Scott Wiggam, Rick Hinderer’s Representative, said, “When I was approached by a constituent who wanted to manufacture automatic knives under contract to the U.S. Government and he told me he couldn’t because of an outdated Ohio statute, I knew we had to fix it. SB140 is the right policy for Ohio and Ohioans. Thanks to Knife Rights and Todd Rathner for being here in the Capitol to make it happen.”
Knife Rights would also like to thank Ohio Second Amendment activist Jim Irvine for his support and assistance in getting SB 140 passed and signed. We also appreciate the support we received from American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and Buckeye Firearms Association.
About Knife Rights
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 33 bills enacted repealing knife bans in 23 states and over 100 cities and towns since 2010.
Knife Rights’ Knife Owners’ Protection Act Re-Introduced in Congress
Knife Rights’ Knife Owners’ Protection Act Re-Introduced in Congress
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Originally conceived and authored by Knife Rights in 2010 and first introduced in 2013, the Knife Owners’ Protection Act of 2021, H.R. 60, (“KOPA”) was re-introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on the first day of Congress by Arizona Representative Andy Biggs.
KOPA will remove the irrational restrictions on interstate trade in automatic knives that are legal to one degree or another in 44 states, while also protecting the right of knife owners to travel throughout the U.S. without fear of prosecution under the myriad patchwork of state and local knife laws.
Getting this bill introduced is only the first step. We need your help to gain additional co-sponsors.
Please email your Representative and urge them to co-sponsor this commonsense legislation. You can use Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to easily email your Representative in Congress at: http://www.congressweb.com/KnifeRights/23
About Knife Rights
Knife Rights is America’s grassroots knife owners’ organization; Rewriting Knife Law in America™ and forging a Sharper Future for all Americans™. Knife Rights efforts have resulted in 32 bills enacted repealing knife bans in 22 states and over one hundred cities and towns since 2010, as well as numerous litigation victories.
Bill Strengthening Knife Law Preemption in New Hampshire Introduced
Bill Strengthening Knife Law Preemption in New Hampshire Introduced
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- The New Hampshire Second Amendment State Preemption Act, HB 307, has been introduced by Representatives Norman Silber, Michael Yakubovich, Barbara Comtois and Linda Gould. This bill adds teeth to the state’s existing preemption law for knives (as well as firearms and ammunition). HB 307 provides for significant penalties against those who violate the state’s preemption law in order deter infringement. We will let you know when it’s time to contact your legislators to help move this bill along.
Knife Rights’ signature knife law preemption was enacted in New Hampshire in 2011, the third state to enact preemption for knife law. That followed Knife Rights’ historic first-in-the-nation repeal of the state’s ban on “stilettos, switch knives, daggers, and dirk-knives” in 2010. Both bills were sponsored by former Rep. Jenn Coffey.
Preemption prevents a patchwork of local ordinances more restrictive than state law which only serve to confuse or entrap law-abiding citizens traveling within or through the state. Preemption ensures citizens can expect consistent enforcement of state knife laws everywhere in a state.
Knife Rights passed the nation’s first Knife Law Preemption bill in Arizona in 2010 and has since passed preemption bills in Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
About Knife Rights
Knife Rights (www.KnifeRights.org) is America’s grassroots knife owners’ organization; Rewriting Knife Law in America™ and forging a Sharper Future for all Americans™. Knife Rights efforts have resulted in 32 bills enacted repealing knife bans in 22 states and over one hundred cities and towns since 2010, as well as numerous litigation victories.
Knife Rights: Bill to Make Bowie Official Knife of Texas Introduced
Knife Rights: Bill to Make Bowie Official Knife of Texas Introduced
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Texas Representative (now Senator) Drew Springer has introduced House Concurrent Resolution HCR1 that would designate the Bowie Knife as the official state knife of Texas. This is a corrected version of HCR 86 that passed with bipartisan support in 2019, but which Governor Abbott vetoed because it contained an obvious historical error.
At the time, Gov. Abbott said, ““This is the kind of resolution that a Texas Governor would sign without thinking,” Abbott said in his official veto statement. “So, as a thinking Governor, I think it best not to sign a factually incorrect resolution and instead to allow the Legislature to consider this next session.”
Abbott’s statement continued, “Fortunately, with a little thinking and study, it was learned that a statement contained in the resolution is factually incorrect: it identifies the location of Jim Bowie’s ‘Sandbar Fight’ as ‘near Natchez, Louisiana,’ when in fact the fight occurred near Natchez, Mississippi.”
Knife Rights: Bill to Make Bowie Official Knife of Texas Introduced
Gov. Abbott has some familiarity with Bowie knives. To recognize his signing of our bill in 2017 that made it legal to carry a Bowie knife in Texas, we had the honor of presenting the Governor with a very special Texas Heritage Bowie forged by Texas knifemaker Jason Fry, a sixth generation Texan.
This resolution is again expected to move with bipartisan support. Knife Rights will let you know as soon as it is appropriate to contact your Texas lawmakers to support this bill.
About Knife Rights
Knife Rights is America’s grassroots knife owners’ organization; Rewriting Knife Law in America™ and forging a Sharper Future for all Americans™. Knife Rights efforts have resulted in 32 bills enacted repealing knife bans in 22 states and over one hundred cities and towns since 2010, as well as numerous litigation victories.