HB2170 Advances: Makes Assisted Opening Knives Clearly Legal to Carry

[TwoForFlinching]

I've got a few OTF "assisted" knives... I wonder how that's covered

 

[Dale00]

This is good news. I hope it also supersedes local laws.

 

[TallPrairie]

I have 2 AO Kershaw’s I bought at Wal-Mart. They were the "ONLY" ones they had marked "made in USA".

I thought what made them lawful in OK at least was the fact that they had nothing which “opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife" so AO was fine since it is opened by the blade alone.

Your AOs wouldn't fall under that part of section 1272 -- that part mirrors the technical definition of a switchblade under the federal Switchblade Knife Act. But 1272 also lists a bunch of other stuff, and one of the things it bans is carrying any "spring type knife." That bit of sloppy language doesn't appear in federal law. It seems to be unique to Oklahoma.

So while an ordinary AO knife like a Kershaw Speedsafe doesn't fall under the switchblade definition you quoted, it might still be illegal to carry if it's deemed a "spring type knife." That category might be broader than a true switchblade. No one knows exactly what a "spring type knife" is. But a Kershaw Speedsafe is certainly a knife with a spring mechanism that moves the blade (a torsion bar is a flat spring), so ...

By eliminating "spring type knife" from 1272, this bill will make clear that having a spring in your carry knife can't make it illegal unless it meets the strict definition of a switchblade, which AOs don't. So AOs will be OK in OK.

The only thing we'll still have to think about (with folders) is the concluding clause in 1272 that prohibits carrying "any other offensive weapon." Decades ago, that provision used to read "any other offensive or defensive weapon", but the law was changed. So today 1272 seems to make a distinction between defensive weapons and offensive weapons. Indeed, only certain knife styles like daggers and switchblades are prohibited by name: this suggests that most other knives are defensive weapons and are okay. What's the difference?

We can speculate. At some point, a knife with an unusually large blade length will probably reach a point where it'd be deemed an "offensive weapon." There is a bit of Oklahoma case precedent suggesting that having scary/unusual design features on your knife (knuckle guards, spikes) can be evidence of it being an "offensive weapon."

PS: there does not appear to be a general prohibition in section 1272 on carrying a fixed blade -- as long as it's not a "dagger," "dirk knife," "Bowie knife," or other "offensive weapon."

In future I hope we'll see the vague "offensive weapon" catchall scrapped, or at least add a "safe harbor" for knives that says any knife below X" length is legal to carry.

I hope it also supersedes local laws.

Unfortunately no. Oklahoma doesn't yet have a "knife preemption" statute to match its strong firearms preemption statute. Several states, such as Georgia, Utah, and New Hampshire, have adopted full statewide knife preemption in the last few years. We should follow them.

* THIS POST IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE *

 

[AKguy1985]

I hope they pass this. Oklahomas knife laws are dumb.

 

[rebel-son]

So assited Opening is cleared up to now be legal right?

 

[TallPrairie]

So assisted opening is cleared up to now be legal right?

As long as the bill also passes the Senate and is then signed into law by the Governor.

The bill has cleared the House of Representatives and is now ready to be heard by the Senate Public Safety Committee. It needs to be approved by this committee before it can be voted on by the full Senate.

[ETA: It's on the Public Safety committee schedule for tomorrow, March 21. See post below.]
I am not an expert on the legislative calendar, but my understanding is that this bill needs to clear the Public Safety Committee by no later than April 4 in order to move forward to the full Senate. Then the full Senate must hear and approve the bill by May 31, the end of the legislative session.

HB2170 should be a no-brainer to vote for (it passed the House 97-1!) but it would be worth nudging your Senators to make sure it gets scheduled and heard.

The members of the Senate Public Safety Committee are:

Senator Don Barrington - Chair
Senator Kim David - Vice Chair
Senator Roger Ballenger
Senator Larry Boggs
Senator Josh Brecheen
Senator David Holt
Senator Al McAffrey
Senator Wayne Shaw
Senator Ralph Shortey

If one of these folks is your own Senator, you might especially consider contacting their office, and urging them to hear and vote for HB2170. It is a simple fix that clarifies a badly drafted part of the state's knife laws, to make clear that people can't be arrested and convicted for carrying common styles of pocket knives that line the shelves of Wal-Mart and Academy. (It doesn't have anything to do with switchblade knives.)

Sen. Barrington is the chair of the committee so he has a big role in setting the agenda for what bills it hears.

 

[TallPrairie]

UPDATE -- Turns out HB 2170 is on the committee calendar to be heard by the Senate Public Safety Meeting tomorrow, Thursday, March 21. It is one of about a dozen measures from the House to be heard by the committee.

So if you want to express support for HB2170, you might simply contact the Senators on Public Safety (esp. if they are your Senator) and urge them to vote for it tomorrow.

 

[TallPrairie]

HB 2170 was approved by the Senate Public Safety committee today by a unanimous vote of 15-0. Good show, Senators! Next step is the Senate floor, then on to the Gov.'s desk.

 

[rebel-son]

I still cannot believe with things going on in the country that governments focus on something as trivial as a spring assisted knife. I don't understand why they make an issue of switchblades. I know many people who can open a Spyderco ALMOST as FAST.

 

[Crusader8207]

Any more update on this?