BLADE Magazine

The American Knife & Tool Institute reports that right now some very good things are happening on the knife legislation front. If you live in one of the following states, take action to let your representatives know they should support these knife-friendly bills.

Alaska –  State Representative Mark Neuman introduced bill H 55 to Section 1. AS 11.81.900(b) to change Alaska’s definitions of gravity knife and switchblade to incorporate AKTI’s bias toward closure language successfully used in California, Texas, and in amending the 1958 Federal Switchblade Act in 2009.  The bill would add to the description of both gravity knife and switchblade knife that “does not include a knife that has a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure that requires a person to apply exertion to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure and open or release the blade.” This bill is currently in the House Judiciary Committee.  Alaska residents  – Please encourage your representatives to move this bill along and approve it.

Iowa – HSB 219 is a provision to change Iowa’s weapon law to reflect intent.  The bill eliminates current law that provides that a person, who is not involved in the commission of a crime, who goes armed with a knife concealed on the person, commits either an aggravated misdemeanor if the knife has a blade exceeding eight inches or a serious misdemeanor if the knife has a blade between five and eight inches. This bill was introduced by Chairman Sands of the Iowa House Ways and Means Committee and is the right step to making crime not based on the possession of a knife, but on the intent of the criminal. Let your representatives know this is a positive bill and you want their yes vote. 

New Hampshire – Rep. Jenn Coffey’s HB 544 bill passed the NH House on March 15th and success in the NH Senate would mean that knives are added to the list of firearms, ammunition, etc. that only the state has authority over.  Cities and counties would not be able to make more restrictive laws than the State of New Hampshire – which has no knife law! AKTI applauds her efforts on behalf of citizens of New Hampshire and encourages them to write their state senators to support passage of this bill.

Utah – On March 23, Utah Govenor Herbert signed into law H 271 that reserves to the state the authority to regulate knives and prohibits a municipaltiy, county or a local district from enacting any ordinance or criminal penalty greater than state regulations or penalties.  Utah residents can now travel throughout their state without concern of violating an unknown local law.

Buck Knives has announced a Pro Staff consisting of well respected outdoorsmen and women throughout the United States. “Whether it’s in hunting, fishing or survival, these men and women use Buck knives in their field as a testament to the quality of Buck’s products,” said CJ Buck, president, in making the announcement. “Valuable feedback from these Pro Staffers enables Buck to continue to bring the most innovative products to market.”

      Members of the newly established Buck Pro Staff:

      Chad & Marsha Schearer are outfitters, guides, television hosts and outdoor writers.

      Haley & G.O. Heath  are hosts of the “Family Traditions with Haley Heath” TV series. Born to families of hunters, their love with hunting started at early ages. Today, they travel the globe to hunt all types of game.

      Danny Grove, the host of “No Fences Outdoors,” began his career filming for Knight & Hale TV, and then worked on many outdoor and hunting shows until he found his place on No Fences Outdoors. His show promotes the ethics of hunting and Fair Chase.

      Ron Hood, wilderness video producer and publisher of Survival Quarterly Magazine, has forgotten more about survival than most people will ever know, and makes it his mission to impart that knowledge to others. A highly respected survival instructor, he has taught fully accredited courses at UCLA and other colleges, and has produced and published numerous award winning survival training videos, as well as being featured on many TV shows.

     Greg Heister is the host and producer of “Seasons On The Fly,” an Emmy Award winning program that soon will begin its second season on Versus. This season will include stops at some of the great fisheries in the world including Iceland, Argentina and Alaska. A fly fisherman since his youth, Greg is combining his better than 20-year television career with his love of fly-fishing to produce this award winning program.

      Bill Lowen is a professional bass fisherman who has been fishing full time for five years, and has enjoyed notable success.