This article appeared in Knife Magazine in December 2023.
Know Your Knife Laws – The Lawson That Saved Christmas (Twice)
By Anthony Sculimbrene, Attorney and Knife Expert
This article is not a case review, but one that I think is both festive (we can still be festive, right?) and interesting. It is a story that ties into one of the most important legal issues of the day for knife owners–the dreaded Federal Switchblade Act, 15 USC 1241 et. It also shows how that Act is both incomprehensible AND anti-business. So, throw another log on the fire, grab a cup of hot cocoa, and sit back and enjoy a tale of Christmases saved.
As we all know, in 1958, spurred on by false media stories of roving bands of street gangs fighting with knives, the US Congress passed the Federal Switchblade Act, which greatly restricted who can possess automatic knives. The law also swept into its prohibitions other kinds of knives, too – gravity knives and balisongs, to name a few. It was a law that did not need to exist and has stymied knife companies and knife owners ever since. But, like with all prohibitions, it spurred creativity. Whether it was the hidden-in-plain sight Speakeasy or the assisted opener, mandates telling people what not to do are met with clever resistance.
In the mid-1990s, a few different innovations created ambiguity in knife designs. Liner and frame locks with hard detents and smooth pivots allowed knives to pop open easily and only required one hand. Similarly, some manufacturers, most notably Kershaw and CRKT, developed “assisted” opening knives. These knives used mechanical systems to greatly aid in the deployment of a knife. The Kershaw method, called Speedsafe, allowed a knife to fire open with great alacrity once the blade reached a certain position in the opening arc. CRKT used a different mechanism, but the result was similar from the perspective of the user. In the late 90s and early 2000s, assisted opening knives were incredibly sought after. And while their popularity has waned to some degree, they still sell well.
But these knives clearly vex legal authorities. As we have written about here already, Freddy Gray’s death is partly attributed to the confusion over assisted opening knives. In 2000, they were particularly vexing for US Customs officials. CRKT has long used overseas manufacturing to produce some of its designs, including a few assisted opening knives. In the summer of 2000, a huge shipment of knives was held up by Customs officials because they thought CRKT’s assisted opening knives were actually switchblades. After inspecting a shipment that just came in (and clearing them), Customs “browsed” CRKT’s warehouse and declared other knives to be switchblades. CRKT and knife organizations begged Customs to release the knives, but Customs insisted that they violated the anti-import provision in the Federal Switchblade Act, which made it illegal to import automatic knives into the US. The parties were at an impasse, and that’s when a group of lawyers stepped in to help. CRKT got some assistance with Customs procedures from a firm that dealt with imports, and they got legal help on the switchblade issue from the American Knife & Tool Institute’s Dan Lawson.
Lawson, the former author of this column and legal consultant to the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI), had a long history of working with and for knife companies. He was a skilled litigator and advocate (I am bragging on him here because, like a fine gentleman, Dan would never brag about himself). He was also a true knife knut. Lawson knew how assisted opening knives worked. He also knew how they were different from true automatics. Assembling case law from around the country, Lawson armed CRKT and their import lawyers with key points about knife design. Later that year, Customs reversed its determination and released the knives, which coincidentally made it on the shelves for the holiday season of 2000.
That would be a merely good tale if it ended there, but it doesn’t; this is an epic worthy of Beowulf.
In 2009, after a few companies scored agreements with Customs regarding imported assisted opening knives, higher-ups in Washington DC did an about-face and made a legal determination that imported assisted opening knives were (again) illegal under the Switchblade Act. But this time, the ruling went further. Because of complex rules about determinations by administrative agencies, there was a chance that this rule would limit even domestically produced assisted openers. With the rescinding of prior agreements and the threat to spill over to all knives, AKTI marshaled legal forces again. The problem was, again, the Christmas season and a procedural rule that gave US companies only 60 days to appeal the Customs decision.
Fortunately for knife companies and knife owners, Dan Lawson was still on the case. Working with industry leaders and sympathetic legislators in both the House and the Senate, Lawson crafted an elegantly simple fix to the problem. He created an exception that excluded assisted opening knives. Here it is, found at 15 USC 1244(5), in its entirety: “Section 2 and 3 of this Act shall not apply to–a knife that contains a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that requires exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias towards closure to assist in opening the knife.” The “bias towards closure” exception is a beautifully clear yet thorough piece of legal writing. But they still needed it to be put into the law.
Working closely with AKTI, its then president, Goldie Russell, and Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ar.) Dan got the “bias towards closure” exception passed. It was an exhaustive effort, changing the law to save an American industry in 4 ½ months, but it came in the nick (St. Nick) of time as Dan’s bias towards closure law was passed into law on October 28, 2009. Then, the Christmas dominoes started to fall. Customs, seeing the law change, relented, and CRKT and other companies got their shipment to dealers just in time. Knife owners, wanting that new assisted version of the classic M16, were happy when they found one in their stocking instead of coal, and the knife industry now had a clear understanding of what was and was not prohibited.
It’s important to note that the Federal Switchblade Act was passed in 1958. Assists and smooth, one-hand opening manuals had been in existence for decades. For reasons still unclear, the Grinches at Customs decided to make an issue of things in 2000 and again in 2009, 52 and 61 years after the law went into effect, respectively. If that is not a sign of a poorly drafted law, I don’t know what is. But for now, at least, there is relative peace. Lawson’s quick thinking helped the knife industry immensely, not once but twice. So, while the bad law is still on the books, Christmas was saved for knife companies and knife owners alike.
Special thanks to Rod Bremer, founder of CRKT, who was instrumental in getting me the facts behind this incredible story. Thanks, of course, to Dan Lawson, who really should be the first lawyer in the Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame.
And, of course, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good knife.