Legislative Update

While the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted almost all legislative efforts this year, Knife Rights continues its efforts to serve our knife community and Rewrite Knife Law in America™. Knife Rights Foundation today announced the filing of an important Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) brief in a Second Amendment lawsuit currently before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The case, captioned Teter v. Connors, challenges the State of Hawaii’s outright ban on butterfly knives. … Continued... Read More

While not obviously applicable to most reading this, this is actually an important judicial victory for all knife owners. In an opinion dealing with felons in possession of weapons, the Kansas Supreme Court held a critical portion of the statute unconstitutionally vague. While the decision dealt specifically with this felon related statue, it is relevant to many statutes with similar vague language. While the precedent it sets in Kansas is limited to that state, it will be cited in cases in other states where similar catch-all phrases (technically, … Continued... Read More

West Virginia SB 96 that expands the state’s firearms preemption statute to include “deadly weapons,” including knives, goes into effect Sunday, May 31st. Preemption prevents enforcement of existing local knife ordinances, and prohibits new ordinances, more restrictive than state law which only serve to confuse or entrap law-abiding citizens traveling within or through the state. Knife Rights passed the nation’s first Knife Law Preemption bill in Arizona in 2010 and with West Virginia, … Continued... Read More

Today, Knife Rights Foundation filed an Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) brief opposing District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr’s appeal and his reprehensible effort to now moot his own appeal and vacate the Federal District Court decision that ruled the “wrist flick test,” used by NYPD and prosecutors to determine if a knife is a gravity knife, was unconstitutional under some circumstances. Knife Rights had previously filed an Amicus brief opposing the DA’s motion to moot its appeal and vacate the decision and the U.S. … Continued... Read More

The recent inclusion of “workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges” in the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce  highlighted the challenges facing some knife manufacturers, retailers, importers and distributors in keeping their doors open in these challenging times. Recent COVID-19 related shutdowns are negatively impacting some knife manufacturers, retailers, importers and distributors, … Continued... Read More

Knife Rights’ Michigan Knife Law Preemption bill, HB 5286, the “Michigan Knife Rights Act,” was passed by the House with a bipartisan vote of 71-36. It will now move to the Senate. Thanks to all who used Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to email their legislators.  We will let you know when it is time to again contact legislators on this bill. Sponsor Rep. Steven Johnson said, “One of the things my constituents sent me to Lansing to do is to clear up confusion in government. … Continued... Read More

Knife Rights’ Michigan Knife Law Preemption bill, HB 5286, the “Michigan Knife Rights Act,” was passed out of the House Judiciary Committee with a bipartisan vote of 12-1. It will now be eligible for a vote by the full House. If you are a Michigan resident, please use Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to ask House members to vote YES on HB 5286: https://kniferights.org/resources/congressweb/#/34 DO IT TODAY and help us push this bill forward! … Continued... Read More

Despite two years of hard work by all involved and numerous trips to Olympia by Knife Rights Director of Legislative Affairs Todd Rathner, including a last-minute “fire drill” this week to manage proposed floor amendments to the bill, the Washington State House of Representatives again failed to vote on SB 5782, the “Spring Blade” (Switchblade) Knife Ban Repeal bill, before the March 6 cutoff for bills originating in the Senate. Unfortunately, … Continued... Read More

Knife Rights’ Michigan Knife Law Preemption bill, HB 5286, the “Michigan Knife Rights Act,” was heard by the House Judiciary Committee today. Knife Rights’ Director of Legislative Affairs Todd Rathner testified in support of the bill.  He was able to answer all the members’ questions.   The Democrat minority Vice-Chair, Rep. David LaGrand, related a story about a knife possession case he defended as an attorney and then stated, “this is a good bill.” … Continued... Read More

West Virginia SB 96 that would expand the state’s firearms preemption statute to include “deadly weapons,” including knives, was passed by the House 81-17. It now heads to Governor Jim Justice for his consideration. Preemption prevents enforcement of existing local knife ordinances, and prohibits new ordinances, more restrictive than state law which only serve to confuse or entrap law-abiding citizens traveling within or through the state. Knife Rights passed the nation’s first Knife Law Preemption bill in Arizona in 2010 and has since passed preemption bills in Alaska, … Continued... Read More

The Washington state “Spring Blade” (Switchblade) Knife Ban Repeal bill, SB 5782, was reported out the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee by a 12-3 vote with a  “do pass” recommendation.  Next step would be a vote by the full House. We will let you know when it is time to contact House members. Thanks to the hundreds of Washingtonians who used Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to email the committee members. … Continued... Read More

West Virginia SB 96 that would expand the state’s firearms preemption statute to include “deadly weapons,” including knives, was passed by the House Judiciary Committee with a minor amendment that does not affect the Knife Law Preemption aspect of the bill. It now awaits a floor vote of the full House. SB 96 was previously passed by the Senate 30-2. We will let you know when it is time to contact House Members on this bill. … Continued... Read More

Knife Rights’ Michigan Knife Law Preemption bill, HB 5286, the “Michigan Knife Rights Act,” is scheduled for a hearing next Tuesday, March 3rd, at 9:00 AM in the House Judiciary Committee. If you live, work or travel to Michigan please use Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to ask Committee Members to vote YES on HB 5286: https://kniferights.org/resources/congressweb/#/34 DO IT TODAY and help us push this bill forward! … Continued... Read More

The Washington “Spring Blade” Knife Ban Repeal bill, SB 5782, was heard yesterday in the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee. Knife Rights’ Director of Legislative Affairs, Todd Rathner, testified and answered member’s questions. It is tentatively scheduled for a vote on Friday. If you live, work or travel to Washington state AND have not yet done so, please use Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to ask Committee Members to vote YES on SB5782: https://kniferights.org/resources/congressweb/#/26 DO IT TODAY and help us push this bill over the finish line! … Continued... Read More

The Washington “Spring Blade” Knife Ban Repeal bill, SB 5782, which passed the Senate 46-1, has been scheduled for a hearing in the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 25. If you live, work or travel to Washington, please use Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to ask Committee Members to vote YES on SB5782: https://kniferights.org/resources/congressweb/#/26 Write Today and help us push this bill over the finish line! … Continued... Read More

The Washington “Spring Blade” Knife Ban Repeal bill, SB 5782, which passed the Senate last year and ran out of time in the House, is back! Today it once again passed in the Senate by a vote of 46-1. This is the same overwhelming bipartisan vote as last year. The bill now moves to the House. Thanks to everyone who used Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to email Senators in support of this bill. … Continued... Read More

West Virginia SB 96 that would expand the state’s firearms preemption statute to include “deadly weapons,” including knives, was passed by the Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 30-2. It has been sent to the House. Thanks to everyone who use Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to email Senators in support of this bill. We will let you know when it is time to contact the legislature on this bill. … Continued... Read More

West Virginia SB 96 that would expand the state’s firearms preemption statute to include “deadly weapons,” including knives, was passed out of the Judiciary Committee with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 16-1. It now heads to the Senate floor for a vote. Use Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to send Senators an email asking them to vote YES on SB 96: https://kniferights.org/resources/congressweb/#/33 Preemption prevents enforcement of existing local knife ordinances, … Continued... Read More

An Illinois bill to repeal the Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) Card Act, HB 4067, has been introduced by Representative John Cabello and gained 15 co-sponsors. When we got the state’s total switchblade ban repealed in 2017, we had to compromise to require a FOID card in order to possess an automatic knife. At a cost of $10 (good for 10 years), it is a relatively minor hurdle. Unless you are a prohibited person with regards to firearms possession, … Continued... Read More