Knife News Wire

According to Knife Rights, Georgia Knife Preemption Bill SB432 passed out of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee yesterday on a 6-2 vote. Your emails and calls make an impact!

     Successful passage of SB432 would not only ensure Georgia residents carrying a knife are treated fairly wherever they travel in Georgia, but all those traveling to the BLADE Show though towns and cities with knife laws more restrictive that Georgia’s otherwise decent knife laws, would be safe from violation.

    Now the bill moves to the House Rules Committee today or Thursday to be scheduled for a vote of the full House. You can continue to help by calling or emailing the members of the House Rules Committee and request they schedule SB432 for a vote. It is VERY IMPORTANT to remember to be very RESPECTFUL & POLITE when making your request.  Knife Rights has included a succinct sample message below. Committee members a lot of bills to consider, so all you need to do is to politely let them know that this bill has support from an involved constituency.     

    If you are a Georgia resident it is best that you call the committee members below. If you can’t call, at least email.     

    If you are a BLADE Show attendee from outside of Georgia, please email ALL of the committee members (listed below) and ask them to vote YES on SB432.  

    Use Email SUBJECT: Please Schedule SB432  for a Vote

    Suggested email:  

Dear Representative [insert name],

    As a knife owner, collector and enthusiast, I attend the BLADE Show in Atlanta which generates millions of dollars for the Georgia economy. SB432 would ensure that when I visit Georgia, the knife laws will be consistent statewide. It will also ensure that Georgia residents will know that their pocketknife is legal throughout the entire state.

    Please schedule SB432 for a vote as promptly as you can.

    Thank you for your time and consideration.

    [your signature] 

    If you call, here is what you might say to the Representative’s secretary:

    Hello my name is xxxxxx xxxxxxx and I am calling to ask Representative [insert name] to please schedule SB432 for a vote as soon as possible. This bill is important to me because I attend the BLADE show in Atlanta and would like to see the knife laws across Georgia be consistent. Thank you for taking my message.

Rich Golick:  404-656-5943 – [email protected] 

Tommy Benton: 404-656-0213 – [email protected] 

David Casa: 404-656-0254 – [email protected] 

Mickey Channell:  404-656-5103 – [email protected] 

Sharon Cooper: 404-656-5069 – [email protected] 

Katie Dempsey: 404-463-2247 – [email protected] 

Earl Ehrhart: 404-463-2247 – [email protected] 

Gerald Greene: 404-732-2973 – [email protected] 

Bob Hanner: 404-656-7859 –  [email protected] 

Bill Hembree: 404-659-9195 –  [email protected] 

Judy Manning: 404-656-7868 – [email protected]  

Greg Morris: 404-656-5115 – [email protected] 

Butch Parrish: 404-463-2247 – [email protected] 

Allen Peake: 404-656-5025 – [email protected]

Tom Rice: 404-656-5912 – [email protected] 

Jay Roberts: 404-656-7153 – [email protected] 

Ed Setzler: 404-656-0177 – [email protected] 

Donna Sheldon: 404-656-5025 – [email protected] 

Barbara Sims: 404-656-0213 – [email protected]

Lynn Smith: 404-656-7149 – [email protected] 

Ron Stephens: 404-656-5115 – [email protected] 

Tom Weldon: 404-656-0152 – [email protected] 

Wendell Willard: 404-656-5125 – [email protected]  

    It is much, much better to email each member individually, but if you cannot, below are all the email addresses which you can copy and paste into your email:

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];  [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]   

    CALL or EMAIL TODAY! 

    For more click on www.KnifeRights.org.

For more on the latest knives, knife legislation, knifemaking instruction, knife trends, knifemakers, what knives to buy and where and much more, subscribe to BLADE Magazine, the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication. For subscription information click on http://www.shopblade.com/product/blade-magazine-one-year-subscripti…?r+ssfb032112#BL1SU.

In one of its latest e-mail newsletters, Knife Rights reports that Knife Rights Director of Legislative Affairs Todd Rathner testified at a hearing of the Alaska House Judiciary Committee on HB55 “Definitions of Gravity Knives and Switchblades” this past Wednesday. Referred to by sponsor Representative Mark Neuman as the “Knife Rights Bill,” the measure would clarify state law on the subject of assisted-opening and one-hand opening knives to ensure they are not considered gravity knives or switchblades, currently banned under Alaska statute. The bill was first introduced last year.

    According to the newsletter, Rep. Neuman introduced an amendment at Knife Rights’ request that was adopted into the bill to include Knife Law Preemption. Preemption means the state laws are applied throughout the state, regardless of where you are. With preemption, other political jurisdictions such as cities, towns and the like cannot pass laws regarding knives that are more restrictive than the state law. Preemption is the keystone to eliminating the patchwork of local knife laws that can trap the unwary citizen who cannot possibly know the particulars of the laws for each and every municipality. Preemption is the basis for further efforts to ease irrational knife restrictions altogether and is the cornerstone of Knife Rights’ efforts to protect Americans’ right to own and use knives.

    HB55 advanced out of committee with a unanimous vote.

    If you live, work or travel in Alaska, please contact your Representative and ask him or her to vote in support of HB55. For more information, click on http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/commbr_info.asp?session=27

    For more on Knife Rights, click on www.KnifeRights.org   

For more on the latest knives, knife legislation, knifemaking instruction, knife trends, knifemakers, what knives to buy and where and much more, subscribe to BLADE® Magazine, the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication. For subscription information click on http://www.shopblade.com/product/blade-magazine-one-year-subscripti…?r+ssfb022012#BL1SU

Congratulations! With the help of the many knife enthusiasts who emailed and called Georgia senators, the Georgia Senate passed SB432 by a vote of 41-12. SB432 is the Knife Law Preemption bill that would repeal all local knife ordinances more restrictive than state law.

    Now the bill moves to the Georgia House for consideration.

     Without the outpouring of emails and calls from knife enthusiasts around the country who let Georgia Senators know that this bill was important to them, it would not have passed. Thanks for your help!

     Much credit goes to Senator Bill Heath’s diligent efforts in getting this bill through the Senate under extreme time constraints. The knife community and BLADE Show (for more on the show click on http://bladeshow.com/ehome/index.php?eventid=31379&😉 attendees are lucky to have a Georgia senator who appreciates our rights and our tools and is will to work so hard to protect them.

     Knife Rights officials said they will now focus on the House and will update you shortly.

     As home to BLADE Show, successful passage of SB432 would not only ensure Georgia residents carrying a knife are treated fairly wherever they travel in Georgia, but all those traveling to the BLADE Show through towns and cities with knife laws more restrictive that Georgia’s otherwise decent knife laws would be safe from violation.

    Knife Law Preemption protects honest citizens from a patchwork of local ordinances and rules that can entrap those traveling within or through a state in possession of knives that meet state law or wherever they live in the state. A person can be charged with a violation of law when they have no intention of violating the law.

    The BLADE Show, held annually in Atlanta, Georgia—this year June 8-10, once again at the spacious Cobb Galleria Centre—is the world’s largest knife show and pumps millions of dollars into the local and state economy. SB432 would protect the thousands of exhibitors and visitors who travel to and from BLADE Show to buy, sell or simply enjoy the thousands of knives on display and the many knife-related events associated with the show.

    For more info on the pro-knife bill, click on www.KnifeRights.org.

For more on the latest knives, knife legislation, knifemaking instruction, knife trends, knifemakers, what knives to buy and where and much more, subscribe to BLADE Magazine, the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication. For subscription information click on http://www.shopblade.com/product/blade-magazine-one-year-subscripti…?r+ssfb030812#BL1SU