Knife Rights’ Gravity Knife Law Reform Bills, A.5667 and S. 4769 have been introduced in the New York Assembly. This is the fourth year in a row that bills have been introduced to stop the abuse of the state’s gravity knife statute by New York City. In response to New York Governor Cuomo’s New Year’s Eve veto overruling the New York Legislature that passed last year’s bills by overwhelming margins, and the large coalition of organizations, many part of his own constituency, which supported the bill, this year’s bill address the governor’s concerns in his veto message, even as irrational and politically motivated as they may have been.
Knife Rights has worked closely with our allies in New York to craft a bill that directly addresses the Governor’s concerns while also protecting innocent knife carriers in New York City from unjust arrests. The bill removes “centrifugal force” from the definition of a gravity knife to create a bright line definition that even New York City law enforcement and prosecutors can understand, as desired by the Governor. It would preclude the unconstitutionally vague “wrist flick” test that has resulted in over 60,000 arrests and persecutions in New York City and which the Governor himself described as “absurd.”
Any true gravity knife, as the term is understood everywhere but in New Yolk City, will still be prohibited by the “released from the handle or sheath thereof by the force of gravity” portion of the definition in the bill, but common folding knives could no longer be considered gravity knives.
A.5667 is sponsored once again by Assemblyman Dan Quart. S.4769 is sponsored once again by Senator Diane Savino. Both sponsors have been relentless in their pursuit of justice for New York City’s citizens and visitors.
Meanwhile, our five-year-old Federal civil rights lawsuit over the constitutionality of New York City’s “wrist flick” test continues and the Notice of Appeal of the Judge’s erroneous ruling against us has been filed.