Pictured above, from left: Bill Raczkowski, AKTI president; Nick Trbovich Jr. of Ontario Knife/Queen Cutlery; Goldie Russell of A.G. Russell Knives, AKTI past president; and Jan Billeb, AKTI executive director. (Missy Beyer photo)
A Special Ontario Knife Co. Marine Bayonet was won by a current member of the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) in a drawing at the Ontario booth during last week’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas. The member’s name is being withheld pending notification.
Individual members who renewed or joined AKTI between Jan. 1 and Dec. 30, 2011 were eligible to win the special bayonet and private factory tour, including a one-night stay in western New York.
The bayonet was taken from the Ontario archives. It is one of the first 200 OKC3s Marine Corps Bayonets produced and set aside in the company’s vault. Of those originally archived 200 knives, 52 were used to fill urgent requests from deploying Marines, when the company did not have regular production-run bayonets immediately available.
The reverse side of the 8-inch carbon steel clip point blade is laser engraved with the AKTI logo and the obverse side with a quote from Ronald Reagan, the Marine Corps logo and the serial #001 of 001. The one-of-a-kind knife with sheath ships with a glass-top walnut display case, and includes a certificate of authenticity attesting to its rarity, and a certificate for a one-night stay in western New York and a private tour of the Ontario facility.
“Ontario Knife Company has been a long-time member and supporter of AKTI, actively serving on the Advisory Members board as well as being an important asset on the Legislative Committee. They have been invaluable dealing with knife issues in their region of the country,” noted Jan Billeb, AKTI executive director.
AKTI has been actively changing restrictive knife legislation since 1998, working on a state-by-state basis promoting reasonable and responsible knife laws and enforcement to benefit all knife and edged tool users.
“AKTI is laying the groundwork for more knife law changes in various states to ensure that law-abiding citizens are not considered de facto criminals for carrying a tool they use every day,” Billeb said. “We are looking forward to an exciting year working with legislators for the benefit of the entire knife community.”
For more information click on www.AKTI.org.
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