switchblade

Sliding blade (animation)

A switchblade [1] (also known as automatic knife, switch, or in British English flick knife) is a type of knife with a folding or sliding blade that springs out of the grip when a button or lever on the grip is pressed.

Switchblades are illegal weapons in many jurisdictions, often covered by very specific laws—many of which appear to have been enacted at times of moral panic by newspapers and films about supposed knife use. This was most striking in the late 1950s, when films such as The Wild One in 1954, Rebel Without a Cause and High School Confidential in 1955, and the Broadway play West Side Story in 1957 about rebellious youth featured switchblades, and were closely followed by the US Switchblade Act of 1958 (a federal law; individual state laws differ widely). This US federal law was closely followed by the UK Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959.

Overview of designs

There are two basic types of switchblades, side-opening[2] and out-the-front[3] (OTF). A side-opening knife's blade pivots out of the side of the handle (in the same manner as an ordinary folding knife, except with the press of a button). An out-the-front knife's blade slides directly forward, out of the tip of the handle. There are two types of OTF (out the front) knives: double action and single action.

Double action OTFs[4] allow the user to extend or retract the blade with the press of a sliding button. Spring tension in these knives is actually provided by the movement of the button, which makes them much safer to carry since they will not open accidentally. However, the extra force the spring required can also make intentional opening more difficult.

Single action OTFs[5] require the user to retract the blade manually and compress the spring. Because they often use a lever to compress the spring, stronger springs can be used. This makes them open more vigorously than the double-action type, and allows them to achieve tighter lock-up.

The word stiletto may sometimes be used in American English to refer to a switchblade whose blade comes out of one end of the handle. However, the side-opening switchblade should not be confused with the butterfly knife (balisong), assisted-opening knife[6], or the non-automatic stiletto.

Switchblades are often cheaply made; however, there are a fair number of knife companies and custom makers who build high-quality automatic knives for military, emergency personnel, and for knife collectors. Some famous automatic knife manufacturers include Microtech[7], ProTech[8], Benchmade[9], Dalton[10], Boker/Magnum[11], and Piranha[12]. Then of course there are the Italian manufacturers famous for the classic stiletto style switchblade[13]. Included among these are Frank Beltrame, whose family has been making automatics for over 50 years, and AGA Campoline, another family concern that has been in the business for some 60 years.

Because they are illegal in some places, one variation of the switchblade is a dual-action design that allows the user to manually open the knife as though it were a manual (and legal) folding knife. Often, the trigger for such knives is hidden in a grip panel, requires the user to squeeze or twist the handle in a certain fashion, or is hidden in some other manner.

Legality

Regardless of specific legislation, in common law countries switchblades (like other knives) are likely to be considered as offensive weapons and carrying them in public "without lawful authority or reasonable excuse" to be illegal.

Switchblades however, are often covered by specific law. Such laws generally restrict one or more of the following: manufacture, export, importation, sale, possession, or carrying in a public place.

Australia

In Australia, switchblades are banned by the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations as a Prohibited Import.

At a state level, most jurisdictions declare them to be prohibited weapons in their respective acts, codes and regulations. Persons residing in states which do not have specific weapons legislation covering switchblades (eg, Tasmania) are still covered by Federal Customs legislation, but in circumstances where the state has no legislation against such items, an exemption may be applied for, after approval by the Head of the Police service in that state.

Some states which have specific legislation against switchblades allow individuals to apply for an exemption from this legislation if they have a legitimate reason. For Example, in the state of Victoria, a member of a bona fide knife collectors association, who is not a prohibited person (per the Firearms Act 1996), and meets other guidelines and conditions may apply to the Chief Commissioner of Police for a Prohibited Weapons Exemption, to possess, carry, or otherwise own such a knife.

This exemption may then, in turn, be used to apply to the Australian Customs Service for an import permit.

Canada

In Canada switchblades are illegal to carry or possess.

Germany

Most switchblades are illegal to own, import or export. However, if the blade is side-opening, a maximum of 8.5 cm long, the breadth is a minimum of 20% of length, and is not double-edged, they are legal.

New Zealand

The Customs Import Prohibition Order 2002 prohibits the importation of "any knife having a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in or attached to the handle of the knife (sometimes known as a “flick-knife” or “flick gun”)". The Summary Offences Act 1981 and the Crimes Act 1961 section 202A(4)(a) make it an offence to possess any weapon in a public place without reasonable excuse.

United Kingdom

The "manufacture, import, sale or hire, or offer of sale or hire, or lending or giving to any other person" of switchblades in the UK is illegal under the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959. Technically it is not illegal to possess such a knife as long as it is held within the home, although the knife would have to be pre-1959 vintage or its acquisition would be illegal.

Later legislation (under the authority of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 adds similar restrictions for a wider range of other knives and weapons. In Scotland the details differ, but the overall effect is similar.

United States

Each individual state (and sometimes individual counties, cities, and towns) may, and often do, have laws restricting weapons including knives, often specifically mentioning switchblades. These state laws differ greatly, but as an example, in California:

653k. Every person who possesses in the passenger's or driver's area of any motor vehicle in any public place or place open to the public, carries upon his or her person, and every person who sells, offers for sale, exposes for sale, loans, transfers, or gives to any other person a switchblade knife having a blade two or more inches in length is guilty of a misdemeanor. For the purposes of this section, "switchblade knife" means a knife having the appearance of a pocketknife, and includes a spring-blade knife, snap-blade knife, gravity knife or any other similar type knife, the blade or blades of which are two or more inches in length and which can be released automatically by a flick of a button, pressure on the handle, flip of the wrist or other mechanical device, or is released by the weight of the blade or by any type of mechanism whatsoever. "Switchblade knife" does not include a knife that opens with one hand utilizing thumb pressure applied solely to the blade of the knife or a thumb stud attached to the blade, provided that the knife has a detent or other mechanism that provides resistance that must be overcome in opening the blade, or that biases the blade back toward its closed position. For purposes of this section, "passenger's or driver's area" means that part of a motor vehicle which is designed to carry the driver and passengers, including any interior compartment or space therein.

Connecticut law states that:

§ 53-206. Carrying of dangerous weapons prohibited.

(a) Any person who carries upon one's person any BB. gun, blackjack, metal or brass knuckles, or any dirk knife, or any switch knife, or any knife having an automatic spring release device by which a blade is released from the handle, having a blade of over one and one-half inches in length, or stiletto, or any knife the edged portion of the blade of which is four inches or over in length, any police baton or nightstick, or any martial arts weapon or electronic defense weapon, as defined in section 53a-3, or any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than three years or both. Whenever any person is found guilty of a violation of this section, any weapon or other instrument within the provisions of this section, found upon the body of such person, shall be forfeited to the municipality wherein such person was apprehended, notwithstanding any failure of the judgment of conviction to expressly impose such forfeiture

Federal laws also apply but generally restrict only the import, export and interstate transportation of switchblades. The Switchblade Act, (public law 85-623, enacted on August 12, 1958, and codified in 15 USC 1241-1245), prohibits the manufacture or transportation of switchblade knives in interstate commerce. It provides exceptions for government agencies, members of the Armed Forces, and for one-armed persons. The act was amended in 1986 to also restrict ballistic knives. 18 USC 1716 further restricts sending switchblade knives through the United States Postal Service, with a few exceptions.

In 2003, Florida Governor Jeb Bush overturned a questionable law stating "No one shall carry a self propelled knife". The law was cleared up to allow Florida residents to use so called switchblade knives. (Portion of 790.225, F.S)

See also

• Gravity knife
• Ballistic knife

References

• Various links to U.S. State switchblade laws
• http://www.cga.ct.gov/2005/pub/Chap943.htm#Sec53-206.htm
• Police-information.co.uk: Knives
• British Knife Collectors Guild: "Prohibited Knives"
• State Knife Laws
• Discussion about Federal Switchblade Act
• NZ Police: "Swords, Knives and Bayonets"
• http://www.leg.state.fl.us/data/session/2003/Senate/bills/analysis/pdf/2003s2256.cj.pdf
• http://election.dos.state.fl.us/laws/03laws/ch_2003-082.pdf

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