BLADE Magazine

The New Hampshire Senate joined the state house in passing a knife law preemption bill yesterday, leaving only the signature by the governor to officially make the bill law.

“I hope to see this move quickly but there is no guarantee we will be done by the BLADE Show. I hope so!” said New Hampshire State Representative Jenn Coffey (pictured holding her Kershaw knife in her regular job as an EMT), the champion of the bill known as HB 544.

Coffey said both the state senate and house passed the bill unanimously. “I think that is a first nationwide” for such a law, she added of the dual unanimity.

Though usually the governor’s signature is a formality, especially when the senate and house pass a bill unanimously, Coffey cautioned that nothing is a given.

“He can sign it, not sign it and it becomes law five days after it hits his desk, or he can veto it, in which case we vote to override his veto,” Coffey explained. “It will take a couple of weeks, I think, to hit his desk. It has to go through the enrolled bills process first to ensure there are no spelling errors and such, the house speaker and senate president sign off and then the secretary of state sends it to the governor.”

In essence, Coffey said that in passing the bill, the New Hampshire state and house unanimously agreed that it makes little sense for towns to be allowed to make conflicting laws regulating knives. “If one were to pass from jurisdiction to a jurisdiction with conflicting law, you could easily find yourself in conflict with a town ordinance that is different than your destination or place of origin,” she noted. HB 544 prevents that from happening, creating the same state preemption New Hampshire citizens now enjoy with firearms.

For more on HB 544 and how you can repeal anti-knife laws in your state, join Rep. Coffey in her special BLADE Show seminar, “Got Liberty? How To Repeal Anti-Knife Laws.” The show will be June 10-12 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.

R. Lee “Gunny” Ermey, who will appear at the 30th Annual BLADE Show June 10-12 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta, made a special appearance in Chattanooga, Tennessee, May 13 to speak on behalf of a local policeman killed in the line of duty.

The policeman, Sgt. Tim Chapin, was answering a robbery call when he was shot and killed. The murder has resulted in an outpouring of concern from the local citizenry, and Gunny’s appearance was a most welcome one to a grieving community.

Ermey took the stage at a benefit for the Fallen Officer’s Fund sponsored by the Shooter’s Depot to raise money for the cause, specifically designated to the Chapin Family Memorial Educational Fund.

At one point Ermey threw an autographed football to one of Chapin’s sons, and addressed the family. “I know you will all keep moving forward and trying to make the best of it,” Gunny said. “All the best to you. God bless.”

Ermey will appear at the SOG Specialty Knives & Tools booth the Saturday of the BLADE Show from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Today BR Hughes and Mike Williams of the American Bladesmith Society announced the names of the Judges for the 2011 Atlanta Blade Show judging for ABS Master Smith and Journeyman Smith ratings. The judging will take place on June 10, 2011 at the Blade Show.

ABS Master Smith Judging Panel
Steve Dunn, Head Judge and Alternate Judge
Bert Gaston
Harvey Dean
J.W. Randall
Mike Vagnino
Wade Colter
Jason Knight
John Horrigan

ABS Journeyman Smith Judging Panel
B.R. Hughes, Head Judge and Alternate Judge
Mike Williams
James Rodebaugh
Terry Vandeventer
John White
James Cook
Jerry Fisk
Brion Tomberlin

You can now purchase tickets online for the BLADE Show. Just point your browsers here:

http://bladeshow.com/ehome/21409/30568/?&;