HB2170 Advances: Makes Assisted Opening Knives Clearly Legal to Carry

[Crusader8207]

So I just looked and this was signed by the Governor on 4-22-2013 http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb2170, however the only change on it was "spring type knife" was lined out. Doesn't seem to me as to that big of a difference from where it was originally. It still says that knives that open with a button are illegal.

 

[Crusader8207]

STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 54th Legislature (2013)

HOUSE BILL 2170 By: Echols





AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to crimes and punishments; amending 21 O.S. 2011, Section 1272, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 259, O.S.L. 2012 (21 O.S. Supp. 2012, Section 1272), which relates to the unlawful carry of certain weapons; deleting certain knife from list of prohibited weapons; and providing an effective date.




BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 21 O.S. 2011, Section 1272, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 259, O.S.L. 2012 (21 O.S. Supp. 2012, Section 1272), is amended to read as follows:
Section 1272.
UNLAWFUL CARRY
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to carry upon or about his or her person, or in a purse or other container belonging to the person, any pistol, revolver, shotgun or rifle whether loaded or unloaded or any dagger, bowie knife, dirk knife, switchblade knife, spring-type knife, sword cane, knife having a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife, blackjack, loaded cane, billy, hand chain, metal knuckles, or any other offensive weapon, whether such weapon be concealed or unconcealed, except this section shall not prohibit:
1. The proper use of guns and knives for hunting, fishing, educational or recreational purposes;
2. The carrying or use of weapons in a manner otherwise permitted by statute or authorized by the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act;
3. The carrying, possession and use of any weapon by a peace officer or other person authorized by law to carry a weapon in the performance of official duties and in compliance with the rules of the employing agency;
4. The carrying or use of weapons in a courthouse by a district judge, associate district judge or special district judge within this state, who is in possession of a valid handgun license issued pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act and whose name appears on a list maintained by the Administrative Director of the Courts; or
5. The carrying and use of firearms and other weapons provided in this subsection when used for the purpose of living history reenactment. For purposes of this paragraph, “living history reenactment” means depiction of historical characters, scenes, historical life or events for entertainment, education, or historical documentation through the wearing or use of period, historical, antique or vintage clothing, accessories, firearms, weapons, and other implements of the historical period.
B. Any person convicted of violating the foregoing provision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable as provided in Section 1276 of this title.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2013.

54-1-6047 GRS 01/04/13

 

[ez bake]

So I just looked and this was signed by the Governor on 4-22-2013 http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb2170, however the only change on it was "spring type knife" was lined out. Doesn't seem to me as to that big of a difference from where it was originally. It still says that knives that open with a button are illegal.

Correct. This bill was not designed to clarify the legality of Auto-Opening knives, but rather Assisted Opening knives since the vague language left many people who carried an assisted-opener in a bit of a legal-state-of-worry seeing as how it sort of depended on how the police officer's interpretation as to if your knife was legal or not.

The hilarious thing about this is that you can ask any knife or close quarters combat expert: What is the best knife to use for self-defense, or even offense (for military, etc.)? The answer is almost always: A medium-sized fixed-blade knife with good ergonomics - not too big but not too small.

Which are legal in OK, yet we allowed 1980's movie stereo-types to dictate our knife-laws here in OK. Sometimes I wonder if the portrayal of the 1980s gang member with his Michael Jackson gloves, Red Leather Jacket and 1980's White-guy-afro hair tied up in a bandanna wasn't so convincing, would we all be outlawing lasers and photon torpedoes or what?


Here's an awesome question - WTF is a Bowie knife? Cause it ain't necessarily the clip-point knife everyone who is reading this has pictured in their head (the actual Jim Bowie knife has never been confirmed as officially found - it was described as basically looking like what we would picture as a large butcher knife, but these days there are about a thousand different definitions for some sort of "bowie knife").

 

[Dale00]

Is there a summary of cities in Oklahoma which have their own knife laws? I recall someone posting that the The Village was one. It's crazy to think that local law makers believe they are protecting public safety by enacting a patchwork of laws which no one except a law abiding citizen worries about.

 

[AKguy1985]

Ok......so.......assisted opening knives are now legal?????

 

[ez bake]

Ok......so.......assisted opening knives are now legal?????

Technically, they always were (subject to interpretation of the statute listed above) since assisted knives are typically opened with either a thumb-stud or a flpper - which is part of the blade and not a button/spring/other-device "in the handle".

 

[twoguns?]

Technically, they always were (subject to interpretation of the statute listed above) since assisted knives are typically opened with either a thumb-stud or a flpper - which is part of the blade and not a button/spring/other-device "in the handle".

So balisongs, aka ,butterfly knives are legal?

 

[TallPrairie]

EZ Bake's got it right. It was already arguable that AO knives were legal to carry, but the archaic "spring type knife" language put a cloud over that. Now it'll be very clear. As explained, AOs do not fall under the switchblade language from 1272 (or from federal law) because the user pushes on the blade itself to open them, unlike a switchblade where you press a button or gizmo in the handle of the knife.

Re: municipal laws in OK, correct, our state does not (yet!) have a "knife preemption" statute to match our good gun preemption statute, so counties and cities can have their own knife ordinances. We are not as bad as Florida (which has a jillion different municipal restrictions, really hard to comply) but there are some OK municipalities that have legislated in the area. I believe Norman has a 4" maximum blade length limit, for example.

Here is a good place to start: http://www.handgunlaw.us/documents/USKnife.pdf They tried conscientiously to get it right and it is generally pretty good info, but if you explore further you'll find it is off (or out of date) in a few places.

So here is a good place to continue: http://www.municode.com/Library/OK -- click on the city you're interested in and you can read its municipal code online.

To find the section on weapons laws (not all municipalities have such regulations), look for headings like "Offenses," "Public Safety," "Offenses Against Public Order," "Weapons," etc.

 

[Arin Morris]

They should just nix the whole thing. Is a switchblade really more effective than a fixed blade? Nope, but I guess it's considered an assault knife because using a spring to deploy a blade is scary.

 

[TallPrairie]

I largely agree. One step at a time ...