Let’s end the 67-year scourge of the Switchblade Act.

There are knives more American in terms of historic origin but none more American in terms of being persecuted by the federal government than automatics. As such, the effort underway by Knife Rights and its fellow plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of portions of the Federal Switchblade Act should be of special interest to knife enthusiasts.

Originally enacted in 1958 with the help of Sen. Estes. Kefauver (TN) and other elected leaders apparently more interested in suppressing rights than upholding them, the Act restricts the introduction into interstate commerce of common automatically opening knives, popularly known as switchblades.

It also bans the knives’ possession on Native American reservations and in U.S. territories and on U.S. lands. The Act’s definition of a “switchblade knife” includes gravity knives and butterfly knives/balisongs, despite the fact that few if any balisongs operate according to the Act’s definition of doing so “automatically.”

In fact, since the original Act targeted knives that were blackballed at the time of the Act’s passage as those used by gang members, a significant percentage of whom were minorities, a strong case can be made that the Act is patently racist. Moreover, also racist is the Act specifically targeting the approximately 5 million people of color on 326 Native American reservations and in U.S. territories and U.S. lands that include Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In the two most recent developments in the case, on Dec. 9 KR and its fellow plaintiffs filed a Motion for Summary Judgement requesting the Court to find the Act unconstitutional, and that the portions restricting the knives in interstate commerce and on Native American reservations, U.S. territories and U.S. lands be permanently enjoined. Meanwhile, the Act’s existing import ban of autos would not be disturbed. In response, on Jan. 13 the Department of Justice filed a Reply Brief and Motion to Dismiss the plaintiffs’ federal lawsuit challenging the Act.

Among the DOJ’s reasons for the motion to dismiss is that the Plaintiffs’ claim has no standing because the Act “is not enforced.” This DOJ reason for dismissal is contradicted by the facts. As KR noted in an entry on its website dated Sept. 27, it was as recently as 2020 that federal agents staged a violent raid on a business, a raid that included forced entry into the home/business.

The upshot of it all: authorities seized/confiscated approximately $2.8 million worth of automatics and automatic parts and shut down multiple retail websites, forcing the business to close. Of course, even if the Act were not enforced, its mere presence serves to intimidate knife entrepreneurs who are or may be considering the manufacture or sale of automatics from doing so.

BLADE® will continue to follow the effort by KR and its fellow plaintiffs to rescind portions of one of the longest running federal acts of oppression and racism in U.S. history. While it is hoped the new administration will be more amenable to the effort, please take nothing for granted.

Contact your elected federal representatives—and anyone you know who may have pull with any and all federal reps—and urge them to help free automatics from the 67-year scourge that is the Federal Switchblade Act.

More On Knife Bans:

• England Knife Ban
• Massachusetts Supreme Court Strikes Down Switchblade Ban
• Virginia Lifts Ban on Concealed Carry Switchblades: What You Need to Know