Both sides have now filed their final briefs in our Second Amendment lawsuit challenging Minnesota’s complete ban on switchblades. The state’s brief did little more than restate the arguments made in their original motions, adding little to nothing substantively; nor did they raise any new arguments in response to the Plaintiffs’ motions.
In our final brief we expanded upon our arguments against the State’s attempts to rewrite the governing Second Amendment framework by imposing requirements that the Supreme Court not only never required but even explicitly rejected. Most notably, Plaintiffs must show that switchblades are commonly used in self-defense, rather than commonly used for lawful purposes under the Supreme Court’s textual analysis. The plain text of the Second Amendment says nothing about self-defense and the Supreme Court has made clear in both Heller and Bruen that “common use for lawful purposes” is the only requirement.
We also attack the State’s assertion that arms may be banned based on generalized assertions of “dangerousness.” Those arguments contradict binding precedent and improperly shift the burden that Bruen places squarely on the government. Moreover, our brief makes it clear that there is no evidence of any kind that supports the notion that switchblades are more dangerous than any other kind of knife, a point the State’s “expert” agreed with.
Applying the correct framework, switchblades are “arms” within the meaning of the Second Amendment. They are bearable, commonly owned folding knives that differ from other lawful knives only in their opening mechanism. The Supreme Court has also made clear that the Second Amendment extends to all bearable arms, including modern arms. Defendants do not dispute that Minnesota’s law prohibits arms-bearing conduct. The burden is on Defendants to justify their ban, and they have not met their burden.
The hearing is scheduled before Judge Patrick J. Schiltz this Friday, April 24th, at 1:00 p.m., in Courtroom 15 at the United States District Court, District of Minnesota Courthouse in Minneapolis. For anyone interested in attending, details can be found at: https://www.mnd.uscourts.gov There is no audio or video of the hearing.
The government is fighting back hard in all three of our Federal cases. Whether it’s $25, $250, $2,500, or whatever you can afford today, every dollar goes directly to the legal fight. Your contribution to the 501(c)(3) Knife Rights Foundation is tax-deductible. Please support our efforts to defend your Knife Rights Rights.
Since 2010 Knife Rights’ efforts have resulted in 58 bills & court decisions repealing knife bans & protecting knife owners in 36 states and over 200 cities and towns! 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™.