Switchblade mechanism

[ThomasPowers]

Well Matt87, in my business law class we reviewed a case where a farmer having a roadside stand selling vegetables was considered to "affect interstate commerce/transfer" in a specific case so certainly companies advertising their wares across numerous states can be construed to as well.

Seems like most of the stuff the Federal Government does nowadays is due to the interstate commerce clause.

May I suggest taking a business law class; very interesting in a sort of horrifying way!

[agsolder]

matt87-- interesting interpretation. I wish it were correct. Try telling that to the DEA, the AT&F people, the FBI, etc. and watch em roll around on the floor.

[matt87]

I didn't say it was what happens today... as in many other aspects of US law, the Constitution is often ignored.

Anyway, that's the answer to agsolder's question; the Switchblade Act applies to interstate commerce and federal property, but not intrastate affairs.

[agsolder]

matt87-- Seems to me the question of whether state and local law trumps Federal law was settled conclusively in the U.S. some time back around 1864 in something called The Civil War. Misguided demagogues like George Wallace and Lester Maddox and Orval Faubus believed to the contrary and again were proven wrong at gunpoint. Read the statute. You are grievously misinformed and are grievously misinforming the readers of this forum.

[keykeeper]

Not only does Federal Law trump state and local laws, but a person can be prosecuted for the same instant offense in both jurisdictions.Double jeopardy does not apply, as they are separate jurisdictions. If I'm not mistaken.

Not worth chancing it, IMHO.

[matt87]

My comments as to the supposed/proper/constitutionally legal role of the Federal government are moot, really. As you two so well pointed out, it's not what happens today. That is an aside though.

My answer to agsolder's question is still correct and valid though; the Federal Swichblade Act prohibits (or limits) interstate commerce of switchblades and posession thereof in certain US territories and regions (e.g. D.C, Indian reservations etc.). It does not affect intrastate affairs. Therefore state law does not trump federal law, nor have I ever implied that it does. (Whether it should on the other hand is a completely different matter. ;-))

Originally Posted by Title 15 chapter 29 section 1242 of the United States Code

Whoever knowingly introduces, or manufactures for introduction,
into interstate commerce, or transports or distributes in
interstate commerce, any switchblade knife, shall be fined not more
than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

Originally Posted by Title 15 chapter 29 section 1243 of the United States Code

Whoever, within any Territory or possession of the United States,
within Indian country (as defined in section 1151 of title 18), or
within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the
United States (as defined in section 7 of title 18), manufactures,
sells, or possesses any switchblade knife, shall be fined not more
than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

Of course, many states have their own laws regarding switchblades too.

[MooseRidge]

Just one thing to remember about Wikipedia.... the information is posted by the users who may, or may not, have the correct information included... usually safe to use for general information....

BUT, for something like this, I'd check with some official government sites including state and local officials.....

If someone was to travel across a state-line to buy a switch-blade, that could be construed as interstate commerce even if you did not advertise or ship it..... depends on who's reading the laws that day.....


(Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get me....)

[agsolder]

Ah, if only the law meant what it seems to say, as Matt so touchingly seems to think it does. But then, where would all the lawyers and judges and jurors and bailiffs and court clerks and stenographers be if all the courthouses were empty? Obviously the law never means simply what it seems to say, but what a judge and or a jury decide(s) it means. Let us hope if ever the need arises, that your faith is borne out. Beware, however, that just having a switchblade on one's person bespeaks a certain predilection for using it, for premeditated mayhem, in other words. I wish this were not so. I love the little darlings, so cleverly engineered, so beautifully crafted. As with other instruments of death, like Lugers and black widow spiders, though, few can see past the horror to the beauty.

[matt87]

Sir, I find your attitude and language condescending in the extreme and I ask you to keep civil or keep quiet.

I'm well aware of 'creative' judgements; in this country we are now not permitted by Those Who Know Better to carry locking knives without a 'good reason', due to a 'creative' judgement that a locked folding blade is a fixed blade.

I agree that many people suffer from hoplophobia, and I hate it, and try to help them lose it whenever I can.

May I ask what state you are from?

[Glenn]

We are now talking about carrying switchblade knives in two different countries with two different judicial systems, and the legal trouble it can cause.

The original question was

How does a switchblade action work?

A warning would be appropriate to check local laws, and the local police intergeneration of those laws before making, carrying, or transporting this type of knife.