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Obama’s Customs agency declares war on pocket knives
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The late Col. Jeff Cooper often discussed various gun control proposals, different firearms accessories or alterations as “a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.”
That could accurately describe a move by the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) agency to reverse one of its own long-standing regulations, and suddenly attempt to classify all “assisted opening” folding knives as switchblades. There are literally millions of these pocket knives in circulation today, many made domestically and others imported, with the hub of this commerce being the State of Oregon, where more than a half-dozen knife companies are located, including Gerber, Columbia River Knife & Tool and Kershaw, all three being among the top knife manufacturers in the country.
A regulation change that threatens to curtail if not crush their business could have a devastating impact on Oregon’s already fragile economy.
My colleagues, John Longenecker and Kurt Hofmann have already delved into this problem over the past couple of days, and Friday morning I tried to get some answers from CBP. Instead of information, CBP Media Relations Director Mike Friel stonewalled me. He would only say that the agency does not comment on issues that are open for public comment.
The proposal would not only outlaw assisted opening knives, its overly broad new definition of a switchblade would also include all one-handed opening knives and most other pocket knives!
It is the public comment process that intrigues me and my colleagues, and the folks at Knife Rights, a fledgling organization interested in the rights of knife owners. Before one becomes too amused by that notion, remember that the Second Amendment says we have a right to keep and bear arms. It doesn’t say “guns.” According to Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation in Bellevue, a pocket knife clearly falls under the definition of arms. Both SAF and its sister organization, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, have thrown their weight behind Knife Rights in this battle. They issued a joint alert Thursday evening to millions of gun owners cross the country.
Customs announced the proposed regulation reversal on May 21, and instituted a rigid 30-day comment period that ends next Sunday, June 21.
But that’s not really accurate, because the agency is only accepting comments via regular mail, and the comments must be in by Sunday, not merely postmarked by that date. The agency is accepting no e-mail comments, and when a request for a time extension was made, it took less than an hour for the agency’s Office of Regulations and Rulings to firmly say “No!” So, opponents have until next Friday, June 19, to get their letters to Customs in Washington, D.C., which somehow smacks of a wilfull violation of the 30-day rule.
Doug Ritter, founder and executive director of the Knife Rights group, finds that astonishing and downright suspicious, and he is not alone. Sources in the knife industry concur that it appears as though Customs has already made up its mind, is merely going through the minimum allowable comment period in order to meet legal requirements, and intends to push this regulation through.
Note, please, that CBP's interpretation of the Federal Switchblade Act forms the basis for national, state and even local law and judicial rulings in many cases. This ruling by CBP is NOT limited to just imports. This WILL affect virtually everyone who carries a pocket knife, no matter the type!
Pocket knife sales bring in a couple of billion dollars to the U.S. economy every year. Keeping track of this is the American Knife and Tool Institute (AKTI), which is now working feverishly to respond to the Customs agency proposal.
Pressure should be brought on Customs by members of Congress. Oregon’s two Senators are both Democrats, Ron Wyden (202-224-5244) and Jeff Merkley (202-224-3753). Congressmen David Wu (202-225-0855), Earl Blumenauer (202-225-4811) and Peter DeFazio (202-225-6416) are also all Democrats and their districts will be the most directly impacted should Oregon’s knife makers be hammered by this proposed regulations change.
They should be asked why Customs is in such a hurry to enact this rule change. They should find out who is responsible for requesting the change, when there is no evidence that assisted opening knives – which are popular with hunters, anglers, backpackers, hikers, law enforcement and firefighters – are suddenly involved in a crime spree.
After all, who ever heard of a drive-by slashing?
Why a push to criminalize a type of knife that is owned by perhaps 35 million American citizens, most of whom are gun owners? A conspiracy theorist might wonder if this is a back-door strategy by the Obama administration to roll up criminal charges against as many gun owners as possible in an effort to disqualify people from owning firearms. That may be a stretch of the imagination, but since we are discussing a knife mechanism that is currently not illegal, and not a problem, why is Customs so eager to make these knives contraband, and why won’t they talk about it?
In an administration that passed itself off as the model of open government, it’s a railroad job that does not pass the smell test.
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For more info: Knife Rights.org.
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