Never say never! In a criminal case involving illegal carry of a switchblade, Commonwealth v. Canjura, that challenged the constitutionality under the Second Amendment of Massachusetts’ ban on carry of a switchblade (with a blade over 1.5 inches), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has struck down the state’s ban! Click here to read the Court’s decision.
NOTE: Carry of a stiletto, dagger, dirk knife or any knife having a double-edged blade, remain banned and also apply to the type of blade incorporated into now legal-to-carry switchblades.
NOTE: Since we have not yet passed Knife Law Preemption in Massachusetts, local city, towns and counties may still restrict blade type and length.
NOTE: While likely unconstitutional under the Second Amendment based on this decision, the state’s ban on manufacture and sale of switchblades remains on the books (G. L. c. 269 § 12).
Knife Rights filed an important amicus brief in this case and the decision closely tracks the arguments made and the facts we presented in support. Moreover, after oral argument that suggested the Justices were favoring the state’s argument that switchblades were not arms protected by the Second Amendment because they were “not commonly used for self-defense,” we filed a Supplemental Brief that argued against that flawed narrative. Although the Court did not accept our Supplemental Brief, we are pleased that the decision nevertheless ultimately mirrored the arguments we outlined and concluded that switchblades are “arms” protected by the Second Amendment.
As well, the Court correctly recognized that switchblades are broadly legal in most parts of the country and are therefore in “common use” for lawful purposes and thus protected under the Second Amendment. The Court also found that Massachusetts could not muster any historical tradition to support the ban.
Knife Rights Chairman Doug Ritter noted, “it is extremely gratifying to see this switchblade ban struck down on Second Amendment grounds in one of the most notoriously anti-Second Amendment states. It also stands in stark contrast with last week’s decision from the Federal District Court in California that got everything wrong that this decision got right.”
Knife Rights was represented by attorney Dan Schmutter of Hartman & Winnicki, PC. Knife Rights would like to congratulate Mr. Canjura’s public defenders, Cristina Rodrigues and Kaitlyn Gerber. We’d also like to thank our very helpful local counsel, Jason A. Guida, who specializes in firearms and Second Amendment issues in Massachusetts.
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