Last week, state legislators heard from the American Knife & Tool Institute about the challenges knife users have using the knife and edged tool of their choice in outdoor activities. State legislators from 30 states representing the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC), the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and several people from the sportsmen conservation community attended the 13th Annual Sportsmen-Legislator Summit.
David Fee, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Benchmade Knife Company, and Chair of the American Knife & Tool Institute’s Legislative Committee, gave an early morning breakfast presentation to attendees in Biloxi, Mississippi. He explained the concerns knife users have about vague and unnecessary knife laws that affect their outdoor activities, and the lack of correlation between removing restrictive knife laws and any increase in knife-related crimes.
“On behalf of the American Knife & Tool Institute, thank you to the National Association of Sportsmen’s Caucuses for once again giving AKTI an opportunity to participate in your annual Summit. We share your interest in supporting access to the outdoors, and giving consumers access to the tools that they need to enjoy their outdoor activities. Since the partnership between AKTI and NASC began in 2008 it has led to many improvements in state knife laws to benefit consumers and outdoor enthusiasts. We look forward to continuing to work with NASC and utilize this unprecedented direct access to legislators to accomplish even more,” said David Fee.
“CSF works with Congress, governors and state legislators to protect and advance hunting, angling, recreational shooting and trapping. Our partnership with CSF provides access to decision makers who understand the value of their knife as a tool in those activities and has opened numerous relationships that have resulted in knife laws changes in several states, including Rep. Mark Neuman in Alaska who worked to remove automatic restrictions after attending an AKTI presentation at NASC,” explained Jan Billeb, AKTI Executive Director.
For more information on the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, go to SportsmensLink.org.
