The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Brooks said, “when Knife Rights brought to my attention the need to reform Pennsylvania’s knife laws, I was pleased to sponsor this legislation as a way to make things better for the people of Pennsylvania. In a state like Pennsylvania which cherishes its outdoor heritage and to respond to the needs of our many sportsmen and sportswomen, as well as rescue teams, knife law reform just makes good sense.”
“We are pleased to have gotten the ball rolling on this needed piece of common sense legislation,” said Knife Rights Founder and Chairman Doug Ritter. “Pennsylvania law should fully respect the rights of knife owners and eliminate the irrational restriction on automatic knives.” Knife Rights began pressing for introduction of the legislation late last year after a member from Pennsylvania highlighted ongoing issues with Pennsylvania knife law that he was willing to assist in addressing. Knife Rights quickly prepared the draft legislation and sought out the sponsor and co-sponsors. (Knife Rights’ original announcement of action on this Pennsylvania bill back in November, 2011, can be found here: http://bit.ly/vE1oW0)
If you are a PA resident, please contact your state Representative and ask them to support this Knife Rights Legislation. (Click here if you aren’t sure who your Representative is.)
In addition to repealing Pennsylvania’s ban on the possession of automatic knives, Knife Rights also included its signature preemption language in the legislation as well. Preemption prevents cities and towns from passing ordinances inconsistent with state law, which would otherwise result in a confusing patchwork of different knife laws that are difficult or impossible for honest citizens to navigate. A “right” should be treated the same throughout the state. Knife Rights has pioneered the passage of knife law preemption throughout the country on a state by state basis. This past May Georgia became the fourth state to enact Knife Rights’ Knife Law Preemption and Missouri this week became the second state to repeal its switchblade ban.
Knife Rights would like to thank the industry’s American Knife and Tool Institute for its support of this legislation.