Following the lead of the Federal Switchblade Act amendment of 2009, and language American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) officials said they successfully used first in California in 2001, Rep. Mark Neuman (R), Alaska House District 15, last year introduced clarifying “bias toward closure” language to the definition of gravity knife and switchblade in Alaska’s criminal law.
Unfortunately, time ran out last year for the legislation to be passed.
But as Rep. Neuman promised, he is reintroducing HB 55 this session. As Rep. Neuman states in his Sponsor Statement, “According to the American Knife and Tool Institute, there are over 35.6 million Americans who carry and use some type of utilitarian knife which opens with one hand.” He encourages fellow legislators to recognize the importance of one-handed or assisted-opening knives in Alaska to hunters, anglers and craftsmen, and to support the definition changes to protect Alaskans’ knife rights and clarify that the knives are legal to own and use.
Rep. Neuman attended a presentation last fall by members of the AKTI Board of Regents who showed him several examples of knives, answered his questions and explained the advocacy goals of the organization to protect the knife industry and all knife owners from restrictive and confusing laws.
Alaskans, encourage your representatives to support HB 55. Contact them today at http://w3.legis.state.ak.us.
To understand knife mechanisms and bias toward closure, check out www.AKTI.org/resources/additional-definitions.
For more information, call (307) 587-8296 or visit the American Knife & Tool Institute website at www.AKTI.org. The mailing address is 22 Vista View Lane, Cody, WY 82414-9606. Or follow AKTI at: http://www.Facebook.com/SaveOurKnives.
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