U.S. Customs has denied a request by the American Knife and Tool Instutute for an extension of proposed customs regulations that would treat folding knives as switchblades. It seems they are intent to ram through this new regulation.
7 thoughts on “Obama’s War on Knives”
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Don’t forget that they are only taking snail mail comments and they have to be RECEIVED by June 21st.
I’ve mailed my letter and emailed both Senators and my Congressman. Have the rest of you?
There’s no address or regulation info, to be used when writing to Customs.
The sites “… click here for more info” isn’t a working link.
The sites “Contact Us” link leads to a form, that doesn’t send your message when you click on Submit – at least, for me.
Just how serious are they about getting help in fighting this?
CAn we nail them for not filing an environmental impact statement?
(Also, WTF, over? Why is customs getting there panties in a punch over this? And where are Leatherman, Gerber, and the boxcutter manufacturers?)
I imagine Leatherman and Gerber have already made statements.
On the other hand, they make their knives in the USA, and if some knives get confiscated by their customers while reentering the country, that just makes for another sale, doesn’t it?
Remember, it’s a Customs rule, and they don’t get to control production or possession, just border crossings.
And Victronix? The main point for all of this is that it STARTS with customer. How long before lawmakers say “hey, the Customers dept call this a switchblade, so it’s a switchblade in our juristiction.”
Of course, I can’t figure out a *good* reason to ban switchblades myself…
Sigivald – I hate to tell you this but most Gerber knives are made in China and not the good ol’ US of A. It is the same for many, if not most, of the US knife brands. They may be an American design but they are made in China, Taiwan, Pakistan, etc.
Paul,
Sample letters, with addressing embedded, can be found here:
http://www.kniferights.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=76&Itemid=150
I have no idea why AKTI’s site fails to list the address and full information. I did notice that their DONATE HERE link is operational.
Also note, if Customs loosens up their interpretation to include spring-assist blades, they may also loosen the interpretations of inertia- and gravity-opening blades. Many locking folders, including nearly every liner-lock I’ve ever encountered, can be opened by a solid flick of the wrist. They may not function that way by design, but nonetheless, they do open inertially.
I have seen anecdotal evidence of knives being confiscated by customs when crossing from Canada into the US (both by mail and on-person). In one case that particularly sticks out, the Customs officer deliberately loosened the pivot pin in order to make the knife easily opened by inertia.