Laws, Knife, Safety…………?
I collect knives. including pocket, swiss army, butterfly, automatic. I know they aren’t legal here in New York but I was wondering if there was any way i could get one. I never use them or carry them, theyre in a locked glass case. There is a website I ordered from in the past but I wanted to know if I’d be able to order, or if it wouldnt let me because of laws, or if i could get into any trouble?
Well, here’s the deal with this:
Generally speaking, the law is about carrying, not ownership. So locked in a case is generally ok.
There is a federal law that makes selling switchblades over state lines illegal. It does not apply to butterfly knives to my knowledge because they are sold regularly without incident through the mail. With switchblades however, most online retailers are scared of this law and will not sell outside their state unless you are a procurement officer for the military or police (which the law allows). So many times when you shop for an automatic online, they often block you from ordering at the last minute unless you call or fax them proof. You don’t get in trouble, it just stops you.
I should add that this law applies to the seller of the automatic, not to you the buyer.
There is one website I know of that will sell to anyone regardless, bladeplay.com. I don’t know how they get away with it, but they do. I’m told that these shipping laws on switchblades are no longer enforced anyway because nobody cares these days. Their only worried about bombs and guns. You can’t “detect” a switchblade in a package using x-ray or chemical tests; it’s just a darn knife after all. And the police not only do not search packages moving withing the US, but they can’t: That requires a MAJOR federal warrant. Are you a drug kingpin by chance or part of the mafia? Probably not, so nobody will ever see what’s in there but you.