You have NO need to read this article because it could never happen to you. Right? This article must have been written for knife-wielding thugs or street gang members. Right? Why would law enforcement authorities ever come after you? Right?
WRONG! Merely because you possess or carry a knife, knife law enforcers may try to justify their existence by turning you into an accused “law-abiding” criminal. Even though you are a careful, honest knife owner, with no intent to do any harm, and would never knowingly break the law, this can easily happen to you. I have plenty of criminal case files of examples of innocent, unsuspecting, law-abiding folks having to fight their way through the justice system to “prove their innocence.”
#1: Remain Silent
The Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, also known as the “Right to Remain Silent,” is one of the most important Constitutional protections Americans have, that many other countries do not grant.
Yet, naive people in the United States routinely ignore Fifth Amendment protections and bury themselves with “explanations.” When it comes to a criminal violation, most law-abiding citizens are ignorant about the details of the law and its many loopholes and defenses. By opening their mouths, they remove all doubt about their ignorance and usually give the state something not just to use against them, but to twist against them.
#2: Ask for your Attorney
The Sixth Amendment guarantees an individual’s right to an attorney. By asking for your/an attorney and remaining silent, honest knife owners provide themselves with a fundamental foundation for a strong legal defense. Defense attorneys smile when they learn their clients stood firm on their rights.
Say, “I want my attorney.” If you do not already have an attorney, say, “I want an attorney.” Requesting an attorney does much more than simply getting legal counsel. Simply requesting an attorney causes a wall of Constitutional protection to spring up around you.
#3: Do Not Consent to Waiving Any Rights
A right given up is a right lost. Do not consent to a search without a warrant. Do not sign any documents or statements without an attorney’s advice. All citizens have a Fourth Amendment right to a warrant being issued before their person or premises are searched.
There are exceptions to the necessity for a warrant, and there is a large body of law that exists as to when law enforcement officers have justification or probable cause for a warrantless search. However, whether an exception for the warrantless search exists or not, you should never consent to a warrantless search.
Editor’s note: This article is an excerpt from the KNIVES 2004 book, but the information is still relevant.
Switchblades, or automatic knives, might attract the most attention, but reforms in recent years have relaxed restrictions in most U.S. states. The most banned knife in the country remains the ballistic knife.
Here’s a look at what ballistic knives are, how they became banned and why those bans should be repealed.
What Is a Ballistic Knife?
Federal law defines a ballistic knife as follows:
United States Code, Title 15 Section 1245
(d) “Ballistic knife” defined. As used in this section, the term “ballistic knife” means a knife with a detachable blade that is propelled by a spring-operated mechanism. Pub. L. 85-623, Sec. 7, Oct. 27, 1986. Amended Nov. 18, 1988.
In plain English, a ballistic knife is essentially a blade attached to a hollow handle that fits inside of another outer hollow handle, which contains a coil spring. The coil spring compresses inside the handle, and a latch holds the knife blade down against the spring pressure. When the latch is released, the knife and attached inner handle launch and “go ballistic.”
The federal law on ballistic knives is very similar to federal law on switchblades, except that the switchblade law exception for “the possession, and transportation upon his person, of any switchblade knife with a blade three inches or less in length by any individual who has only one arm” does not apply to ballistic knives.
That means one-armed individuals are forced by federal law to have to throw their knives by hand just like everyone else!
Hollywood and Ballistic Knives
“¿Como esta?” asks Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1985 movie Commando, as he fires a ballistic knife into the chest of a bad guy, which amazingly causes immediate death. Hollywood never misses a chance to help fuel a misguided weapons ban, and the ballistic knife was no exception.
In May of 1986, Francis Ford Coppola’s son and Ryan O’Neal’s son were in an automobile accident in which Coppola’s son died. O’Neal’s son was charged with reckless driving and possession of a ballistic knife.
Hollywood elitism and hypocrisy is nothing new. What made the ballistic knife so frightening to career politicians, media talking heads and assorted hoplophobes (those who irrationally fear weapons) is that it’s a knife that shoots!
Why are Ballistic Knives Illegal? Hype and Politicians
Politically, the ballistic knife helped fill the gap between guns and knives. It enabled knife haters to join ranks with gun haters and both had a common, new, inanimate object to wail and screech about.
In addition to the ballistic knife being slandered and falsely linked to drug abuse, this was the newest national attack on knives since the 1958 Federal Switchblade Law.
Republican Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato held a news conference pushing for and spinning the proposed ban. He announced that a ballistic knife “is a favored weapon used by drug dealers.” He further proclaimed, “Ballistic knives are at least as dangerous as switchblade knives that have been banned since 1958.”
A vintage poster from the USSR showing parts of a ballistic knife. Note the firearm cartridge used to propel the blade. (image via RussianLegacy.com)
The hype surrounding ballistic knives did not help matters. The knives were advertised for sale in tactical magazines with the pitch “The Commies Had It. We Stole It. Now You Can Buy It!!!!” Ballistic knives were advertised as being able to “kill swiftly and silently.”
Sen. D’Amato claimed a ballistic knife to be a “dangerous weapon, a terrorist weapon.” He further declared, “Ballistic knives have no legitimate sporting purpose. They are sought by professional criminals because they are easily concealed and capable of penetrating a policeman’s bulletproof vest.”
Democratic Rep. Mario Biaggi (a well known anti-gun politician and a sponsor of the so called “Cop-Killer Bullet Ban”) appeared at a news conference and asserted that ballistic knives were the “latest in cop-killer technology,” and that the ballistic knife can “…fire its blade like a bullet” and “penetrate police bullet-resistant vests.”
He stated he had bought his ballistic knife via mail order from the Florida Knife Corp. by putting the $79.95 on his credit card. Biaggi stated, “…there were no questions asked. I could have been anybody. The ballistic knife is totally accessible to anyone who wants it.”
A button or switch in the handle, seen here in red, is usually used to release the blade. (By Jerryk50 at English Wikipedia)
At the news conference, the typical “dog and pony show” was conducted by a New York police officer who fired a ballistic knife from 30 feet at a silhouette target of a person. Of course, there were no known cases at that time of anybody ever being killed by a ballistic knife, no less any reported cases of a police officer being shot at by a “drug dealer or terrorist” (or anyone else for that matter) with a ballistic knife.
Furthermore, I could not find any official poll taken of drug dealers inquiring as to whether a ballistic knife was their “preferred weapon” of the 1980s, but somehow I doubt it considering the ready availability of cheaper and more effective black market firearms.
The Florida Knife Corp. issued a statement that their ballistic knives do NOT penetrate bulletproof vests, but noted that any ice pick could penetrate a bulletproof vest. Bulletproof vests are NOT ice pick-proof, however banning ice picks is not as politically correct or headline grabbing. A ballistic knife has as much “sporting purpose” as any throwing knife.
Since when is the “sporting purpose test” applied to knives, anyway? What sporting purpose does an 8-inch chef’s knife have? Then again, why should facts get in the way of a feel-good knife ban?
The Final Cut to the Ban: Throwing Knives
There are many books that deal with the subject of knife throwing for both fun and combat. A knife can be thrown with substantially more power and accuracy than can be achieved by firing a ballistic knife. This fact alone makes the ballistic knife ban patently absurd and useless.
Any decent fixed blade knife can be thrown (although throwing your handmade, damascus, ivory-handled bowie is not recommended). But why should facts and logic stand in the way of any headline-grabbing politician pushing a weapons ban and holding news conferences?
So What? Who Needs a Ballistic Knife Anyway?
Okay, the law is ridiculous, so what’s the problem? Who needs to own a ballistic knife anyway, right?
Well, here is the problem: the ballistic knife ban is a KNIFE BAN, and just because it isn’t your ox being gored does not mean you should ignore it. This ban paves the way for more knife bans. The politicians see our knife rights as “easy pickin’s.” They can look like they are doing something about crime, terrorism or drug dealing, when in reality it’s just another hit on our knife rights.
Ballistic knife bans lay the groundwork for further knife bans and for activist courts to be judicially dishonest and to prohibit other lawful knives and weapons that are not ballistic knives. Don’t believe it? Then you have obviously not read State of Florida, Appellant, v. Pariya Darynani, Appellee, 4th District, Case No. 4D99-4172.
In this case, the Florida Court banned formerly lawful automatic/switchblade knives under the guise of Florida’s ballistic knife ban. The case is a classic example of anti-knife bias and the abuse of our knife rights that a wrongful knife ban can cause.
Modern broadheads used for archery remain legal, even though they function similarly to ballistic knives. (Wikimedia image)
New Jersey’s ballistic knife ban has even more potential for abuse. The New Jersey ballistic knife ban was signed into law by then Republican Gov. Thomas Kean, who stated, “We have to restrict the flow of knives that serve no useful or lawful purpose.” I
f the “bunny huggers” wanted to push it, New Jersey’s ballistic knife law is so overbroad that archery and bow hunting are threatened and could be banned.
Chapter 39 Of New Jersey Criminal Code Firearms And Weapons 2C: 39-1.
u. “Ballistic knife” means any weapon or other device capable of lethal use and which can propel a knife blade.
Bows and crossbows can all shoot broadhead arrows. Broadheads are and/or contain razor-sharp knife blades. Is a compound bow with a broadhead arrow a “weapon or other device capable of lethal use and which can propel a knife blade?” Of course it is!
Sure, it was not the intent of the New Jersey Legislature to ban archery and bow hunting, but it was not the intent of the Florida Legislature to ban switchblades/automatics, either, and yet the Darynani court did just that!
Stay Vigilant
Unfortunately, knife aficionados were not organized, prepared or ready for the ballistic knife fight in the mid-1980s. We were never warned about the future effect and ramifications of ballistic knife bans on our knife rights. We dramatically lost on the ballistic knife issue and are now paying a price.
Editor’s note: The below is an excerpt from an article originally published in the KNIVES 2018 book, but it still rings true today. Hardly anyone is talking about dive knives, but they come with the kind of history and innovation that is ripe for collectors. They truly are the sleepers of knife collecting.
Shown here are the author’s piles of dive knives purchased for bargain prices at gun shows and flea markets.
Dive knives present an opportunity for collectors to get in on the “ocean floor” of an industry segment. Other than modern, imported low-end knives, vintage dive knives are often the lowest priced blades at a gun show or flea market. The overwhelming majority of dive knives are easily acquired for between $5 and $40 apiece, similar to how U.S. military knives and theater-made knives were priced years ago, before folks woke up and recognized their true value.
They say the sea, not space, is the last true final frontier. Dive knives have been the personal tools of undersea explorers for as long as there have been divers. What the bowie knife was to the West, the dive knife is to the sea.
Before You Buy, Know the Pricing Ceiling
Dive knives are currently the “sleepers” of the knife world, and investment opportunities abound for the collector who has an interest in such pieces. Before we look at inexpensive dive knives, one should be aware of the pricey ones available today.
There are some expensive, desirable dive knives out there now, many coming from high-end makers. The expensive pieces are often associated with military and sporting uses, and include, but aren’t limited to, Randall, Gerber, Puma, Benchmade and Mission Knives & Tools, or those made specifically for the military.
Becoming familiar with expensive dive knives may help one find a bargain and to recognize certain qualities that make a dive knife valuable. Additionally, the expensive dive knives lay the foundation for price appreciation of the vintage sleepers waiting out there for savvy collectors to scoop them up.
Bargain Buys
When it comes to bargain dive knives, one sees names such as U.S. Divers, Healthways, Wenoka, AMF Swim Master, AMF Voit, Sportways, Dacor, Scubapro, Scubaskin, P.I.C., Eternal, etc.
The general pattern of the knife is a stainless steel blade with a plastic or rubber handle and sheath. There are models that can be picked up for incredibly low prices, and for what one is paying, “it’s worth it just as a knife.” It’s those kinds of investments that seem to be can’t-lose propositions, although nothing is ever guaranteed in life.
The sturdy Wenoka dive knife was designed by Blackie Collins.
Wenoka knives are some of my favorites. They were very well made in Japan. There is a wide variety of models. The larger Wenoka dive knives have a great, sturdy feel and are nicely designed for the task at hand.
Note the heavy brass guard and butt of the high-quality, U.S.-made AMF Swimaster dive knife.
The AMF Swimaster is a beautiful, well-made knife, very high quality, serial numbered, with a heavy brass butt and guard, and made in the U.S.A.
Healthways offered the “Skin Diver,” a double-edged blade made in Solingen, Germany, with a large, red cork handle.
The nickel-plated P.I.C. dive knife boasts a 1918 trench knife-style handle that protects the user’s knuckles underwater.
The P.I.C. Model 728 “Sea Hunter,” made in Japan, is also of high quality. It is easily recognized by its handle, which is a nickel-plated replica of the 1918 World War I trench knuckle knife. Many such dive knives were made in Japan, and even a dive hatchet, which was a hatchet, pry bar and hammer combination set that came in a vinyl sheath was available.
Buy Low Now, Sell High Later
There are so many variations of dive knives, and they appear to be limited only by the imaginations of various makers. The collector now has a chance to reasonably acquire these fascinating knives that were once strapped to divers exploring the underworld of the earth.
This article was excerpted from KNIVES 2018. Click the cover to order the book directly from the publisher at a great price.
