Why are 5-inch butterfly knives illegal when people can walk around with guns?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “why are butterfly knife illegal“
About Eva
Written by: Eva
Published on:
Why are 5-inch butterfly knives illegal when people can walk around with guns?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “why are butterfly knife illegal“
About Eva
This really depends on your jurisdiction. You can carry either in Arizona, for example.
When one politician writes a law to ban something, he has his own agenda to ban this item, sometimes for a larger agenda, sometimes just to show he is “doing something” about a (often imagined) problem.
They are not required to really follow any logic.
They also are not required to have the law they write compare to other laws.
When it comes to knives in general, in the US they are historically seen as weapons of the lower classes, people the politicians consider to not deserve any rights but the rights they give them.
This is also an area where racism actually does come into play. Let’s just say that knives are generally not seen as the types of weapons that middle class whites would be armed with.
That is not to say that this is actual reality, but that this is how the government, courts, media, and even the police often see things, and it was even more common in the past.
With butterfly knives in particular, this has to do with fear generated by movies as well as the “Martial Arts Weapons Scare” promoted by the media and politicians in the mid-1980s. They had their gullible followers believing that gangs teenage ninja were running around at night slaughtering each other en masse, and if a kid bought a junky shuriken or a pair of nunchaku at a flea market he was a budding assassin.
This led to many nonsensical bans on martial arts weapons, including butterfly knives.
Chicago Cutlery Belden 15 Piece Premium Kitchen Knife
I assume you mean in the USA. The Second Amendment provides:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
It is one of the great curiosities of American constitutional law that the Second Amendment is universally held to apply to firearms, but not to any other type of ‘arms’. It does not, for example, protect your right to carry a sword, spear, crossbow, or indeed a butterfly knife. At the other end of the scale, it doesn’t protect people’s right to hold “scale” armaments, like rockets, bombs, etc.
On any view, it is a curious inconsistency.
imarku Japanese Chef Knife – Pro Kitchen Knife 8 Inch Chef’s Knives
Certain knives are illegal in some states because no one has taken the law to court as they have with gun laws. In fact, the second amendment refers to arms, not gun only. Knives are arms.
Spring Assisted Knife – Pocket Folding Knife – Military Style
Lawmakers pass laws based on Hollywood.
I’m not kidding.
It’s why firearm suppressors are controlled items. Because people think “suppressor” and think “secret agent murdering people silently”. In reality it’s just a hearing protection item.
It’s why switchblades are classed as illegal in many places, even though the difference between pressing a button to deploy a knife blade and manually deploying a knife blade doesn’t affect lethality or anything. They just think it’s something “gangsters use” and so is therefore illegal.
It’s why butterfly knives are illegal in many places. It’s a “gangster item” that “bad guys” use.
It’s all from Hollywood.
How embarrassing is that? To openly pass laws because of stuff you see in movies, rather than reality?
This is why many of us don’t vote, by the way. The collective IQ of every US legislator is well below room temperature. Why bother?
Wanbasion Black Stainless Steel Knife Set, Sharp Kitchen Knife
Because lawmakers are often idiots. And so are people.
Such knives were used frequently for a while by bad guys. In movies . Butterfly knives became associated with ruffians and scofflaws. Perhaps somebody somewhere got shanked with one. And in an effort to appease the stupid, some moron passed a law that banned those “bad guy” knives…whilst ignoring the household kitchen knife which is frankly a better weapon.
Original question- Why are 5-inch butterfly knives illegal when people can walk around with guns?
Amazon Basics 14-Piece Kitchen Knife Block Set, High-Carbon
Good question since neither should be legal. Thus especially for ASSAULT STYLE weapons and knives beyond what s needed for utility purposes.
Authentic XYJ Since 1986,Outstanding Ancient Forging,6.7 Inch Full Tang
Because lawmakers can be incredibly knee-jerk and irrational.
In some places, there are still bans on silly things such as shuriken and nunchaku, maybe because of Hollywood and movies making them look deadly. In reality, throwing axes are legal and much deadlier than shuriken, shuriken aren’t even intended to kill (and are often no more than crudely cut and sharpened steel plates), and nunchaku are dangerous for an untrained user, more liable to do damage to the user than to an opponent in a street assault.
The katana is banned in some places whereas European swords are allowed.
There are also even more stupid bans. Like how knives that are spring assisted or otherwise classify as “switchblades” are banned in some places. A knife that can be flicked open just as easily with one hand is perfectly legal for no reason in the same place. They take the same amount of time and effort to open, but one is viewed as a thug’s weapon while the other is a harmless everyday tool.
Even with guns, there are some incredibly stupid laws and distinctions.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
A lot of weapon laws are idiotic. There are people walking around with guns, so if you’re planning to mug people with butterfly knives there is a good chance you’ll run into someone with a gun, and it is a mistake to bring nothing but a knife to a gunfight.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
fairly certain it is because lots of people who didn’t know how to use them properly cut themselves when the knives were first released, resulting in lots of people in the ER. People cutting themselves = bad so the govt. made them illegal.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Butterfly knives aren’t illegal because they’re somehow super deadly… They’re actually super ineffective compared to most other knives.
The reason they’re illegal is because a) they look more scary than a regular knife, and b) they’re dangerous. But they aren’t dangerous for anyone else, the person who is going to be injured the worst by a butterfly knife is the person holding it. It’s a knife, what reason is there for the blade to be swinging around like a pendulum? What do you gain from that, other than trying to show off?
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Butterfly knives are more concealable than guns. That’s the closest thing to a logical explanation.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Because the user was more likely to hurt themselves using a butterfly knife then whatever their target was. Despite this, they are very flashy causing everyone to keep using them and in the process, hurting themselves.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
id see it as a simple “kids think butterfly knives are cool because you have to flip and play with them and you look like bruce lee” so the easiest way to stop these things becoming some nasty little fad amongst even some well balanced kids from well balanced families is just make them illegal. people are stupid. especially kids.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Why are 5-inch butterfly knives illegal when people can walk around with guns?
Because you’re comparing apples to oranges. Or rather, you’re comparing oranges to Granny Smiths.
Both guns and knives are potentially deadly weapons, but both also have legitimate uses. In a sane world, access to specific models or types of gun or knife would be controlled based on a case-by-case basis depending on the purpose that gun or knife is designed for.
They already do this to a certain extent- there is a reason you can’t buy fully automatic weapons. But, while your government recognise this necessity, they’re handicapped by that 2nd Amendment you hear so much about.
For some strange reason, the 2nd Amendment is not generally held to apply to knives, or bladed weapons in general. So lawmakers are free to treat these weapons sensibly.
Butterfly knives are specifically designed to be easily-concealable weapons. They are not utility knives, they are daggers.
You will note that utility knives are not generally banned, though there may be restrictions on acceptable length. They can be used as weapons, but are not designed to be used as weapons- they have several perfectly legitimate uses.
So that’s why.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
They’re legal in 42 states.
They’re only illegal in Texas, Wisconsin, Utah, Oregon, Kansas, New York, Hawaii, or California.
I had always been told they were illegal, even when I was a kid, but it turns out that they’re legal in literally every state I’ve ever lived in.
CJRB CUTLERY Folding Knife Crag
In most US states, Butterfly knives are legal. In some of them, they are restricted to either open carry or possession of a carry permit, just like guns. In most of the states they are illegal in, handguns are also heavily restricted. Obviously, the correlation is not 100% but it trends in that direction.
In the places they are illegal, a lot of it was because gangs liked it, because opening a butterfly knife “looks cool” and can intimidate an unarmed person.
In Georgia, where I live, butterfly knives are just knives and are treated the same as all other knives. There are legal restrictions in Georgia on carrying knives over 12″ but other than that, you can carry any knife you like. If you carry a knife over 12″ you need a carry permit, just like a gun.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
im gonna let you in on a secret many of the people who answer here are morons. you see we habe this thing in our constitution that recognizes your RIGHT to bear arms. This RIGHT shall not be infringed.
Until that RIGHT is taken away from you thats how it is.
Interestingly enough once thstcright IS taken away the only way to get it back is by the use of a gun…see the problem here?
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
For the same reason switchblades are illegal in most areas. They are a lethal weapon that are designed for quick access for fighting. In most states most people are not allowed to carry pistols.
There is also the fact, that it could be a lot easier for children to get hold of these knives than a gun.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
There are some specific anti-switchblade laws, and those came about in the late 1950s because of a broad perception that switchblade knives were a favored weapon of adolescent miscreants—and a cause of rising violent crime. But they’re actually legal in most US states. I’m a New York City resident, and it’s entirely legal for me to own one (but it wouldn’t be legal for a visitor to bring one into the city). Where they are illegal, it’s generally as part of a broader prohibition on switchblade-style knives, knives with long blades, concealed weapons, or deadly weapons in general.
Guns are typically exempt from provisions bann…
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Because we as a nation, especially cucked places like New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago don’t stand up for our full and complete rights under the Second Amendment.
As a tool, a knife should not be regulated. As a weapon, the Second Amendment is clear: shall not be infringed, and we should accept no less from state law.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Is this question a call for a logical explanation, or a platform to argue against laws prohibiting private ownership of weapons? You decide.
The Benchmade Morpho
The more traditional Benchmade Bali-song 62
To understand all the fuss, y ou have to look at the intended purpose of Bali-songs (aka butterfly knives aka balisongs) and look at their history. Legislators weren’t born yesterday. They didn’t wake up one day to answer these questions arbitrarily with no memory of what came before.
Bali-songs aren’t American in origin. They come from the Philippines, where bladed weapons are now illegal to carry without an ID or permit to “demonstrate the need in professional livelihood or utilitarian purpose.” Bali-songs, however, are disproportionately used in violent crimes in the Philippines and in other areas in Southeast Asia where these knives have been most popular.
it’s not difficult to see why street criminals would favor these knives. I see four main points of interest:
It’s exclusively a weapon. You wouldn’t cut bread, clean a deer, or carve wood with a Bali-song.
They’re very concealable for how long they are. A 5” bladed Bali-song is a 10” knife. That’s a large knife. They are lightweight and narrow.
They open up very quickly if you’re skilled.
And this is likely the main point: They’re intimidating in the hands of a skilled user. They aid in committing intimidation crimes like mugging, assault, and extortion, because they’re scary .
All of these points are true for switchblades, which are also often illegal, but the Bali-song has the edge in intimidation factor. It just looks intimidating to see a skilled user handle one.
In most places in the world, it’s illegal to carry a gun, legal to carry a pocket folding knife, and illegal to carry a Bali-song. Most countries have laws against flick-knives, aka switchblades or automatic knives. Butterfly knives are generally recognized as belonging to that category. The thought is that folding knives that serve a utilitarian purpose are okay but a weapon predominantly used to commit street crime is not okay.
What about the United States? There’s a constitutional right to carry firearms. How does it make sense to ban butterfly knives?
For one, there’s the history. No, it’s not just that lawmakers are under the spell of Hollywood, as so many other Quorans have said. America isn’t the only country in the world, and the prevalence of butterfly knives in street crime in Southeast Asia goes a long way towards explaining why, in Hawai’i it’s illegal to make, own, ship, or carry a Bali-song. Communities exposed to the actual use of these weapons are unlikely to fall for “but a kitchen knife can kill someone too and you don’t ban those do you?” argumentation.
For another, the fact that it’s exclusively a weapon is explanatory. People use sidearms to hunt, shoot snakes, etc. However, at the end of the day, the Bali-song is not known to serve any utilitarian purpose, but is an attractive knife to use for illicit purposes. Legislators are much more comfortable banning or restricting weapons that don’t serve a utilitarian purpose, especially weapons like the Bali-song that are extra-menacing in the right hands.
Those observations notwithstanding in many places in America I tend to think it makes little sense to ban knives. Switchblades have been legal in Texas since 2013 and I own a couple.
Why I’ve never been interested in owning a balisong enough to get one? Too much time needed with one of these:
It’s a blunt/dull bladed balisong practice knife.
Check out this video if you want to see how cool and scary these things are in the hands of someone with too much free time:
Victorinox Fibrox Pro Knife, 8-Inch Chef’s FFP, 8 Inch, Black
Texas recently decriminalised ALL knives, so your Balisong is now safe on the streets of Laredo… etc…
Now you can carry any knife (almost) anywhere in Texas
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Ok let’s answer this for what appears to be a little anti- gunn response…… You have knives that are legal for work, for fishing, for filleting, for cooking, even for enjoying (cutting) steak, wood knives to widdle & there all legal safely used…. Then there’s knives that’s that’s illegal because they don’t serve well like double edge blade, switch blades, butterfly, pen knives…. As for guns there legally carries every day by police, CCW & open carry in different states….. THE ANSWER IS LEGAL not what suits you, but why it’s made illegal. Because of predominant use and intent
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Well, knives are more dangerous.
Think of a knife as a guided missile. A bullet isn’t. Once it’s fired, it follows a straight line. If you’re not in the path of the bullet, you’re safe. But, a knife that misses can be turned back around and silently slash or stab you. Then, you pull it out and shove it in again, and again, and again.
Here, we have a perfect “foot in the door” deal. Way back, they decided that certain knives, more often used than firearms, needed to be controlled. One was the Bowie knife. The reputation of the Bowie knife got it controlled. The “butterfly” or Balisong knife is one of the more recent ones. This one got nailed under Reagan with the martial arts ban. The movies caused this. And, really, the movies are a lot of the reason we have the problems we do today. Expert martial artists give the idea that these weapons were more lethal than firearms. Now, these same movies are giving the same people the idea that firearms can do more than they can. Politicians rarely have military experience. So, they get all they know from movies. Even the police don’t have a lot of experience with firearms. Civilians, often without military experience at all, demand changes and can’t tell reality from fiction.
Serial killers use knifes, not guns. The reason is simple. They’re quiet. Effective. Cheap. Easy to conceal.
People are scared. Rather than learn to defend themselves, and take chances, they demand someone else do it for them. The police, for example. But, they aren’t smart enough to do anything themselves. Instead, they go to the people they “trust,” politicians. They shouldn’t trust these people. All they do is put words on paper, after playing games with others over the wording, and then expect the poor cop to enforce their stupidity.
An example is the “ninja throwing star.” Politicians believe Hollywood when they say that they can kill. No, they can’t. They wound. In the past, they could kill. Rust and infection killed. Any scratch or cut could kill then, but not today. Throwing them “expertly” is another problem. It takes a lot of skill. Most never get near this level of skill, just like with a sword…or even a firearms. The Balisong got the same bad press. Super fast opening, like another controlled knife, the switch blade, and just as lethal. Switchblades got a bad rep as gang weapons.
Here is a little interesting extra. Ninja masks were banned. In fact, before Covid-19, any face covering was illegal if you were over 16. So, for many of us, we have a lifetime of not wearing masks and suddenly we are ordered to. Now, the mask law never stopped a crime. It was also interesting in freezing cold weather. Ski masks were both legal and illegal, depending on the cop enforcing the law.
Now, with many knives, they are legal one way (open) but illegal another (concealed). Here, only a few are completely illegal, like the Balisong, ballistic knives, and so on. The Bowie is only illegal if “concealed.” Here, it’s a game like with handguns. When is it concealed and when isn’t it?
Also, the “reputation” of Balisong knives, stars, and other weapons is that of a criminal’s weapons. The media, and government, knows that painting someone with a bad image and then saying they use a certain weapon is enough to get that weapon banned. Mass shooters and assault weapons. Ninja assassins and Ninja weapons of murder. The Balisong was connected to gangs at a time when gang violence was in the news day and night. It’s all about timing. Politicians are good at it. They’re part of the reason that people assume that mass shootings are faked. Politicians want to ban guns so the mass shootings are “perfect timing.”
In case you can’t tell, the government has lost a lot of trust over the last 70 years. A big loss was when the last Catholic president was murdered. Since then, it’s been downhill. Trump really didn’t help.
MOSFiATA 8 Super Sharp Professional Chef’s Knife
I would answer this seriously, but there is no answer. There is no reason. Someone got scared and went “wah wah the sharp thing shouldn’t move!” And the law makers were like “yeah, it is scary!” And then they made it illegal, for no reason except it looks intimidating. Which is funny because a knife made for intimidation is probably a lot safer than a knife actually made for violence, which usually are legal.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
For the same reason “switchblades:” automatic opening knives are illegal. Same reason folks want to ban ar15s. While they’re unconcerned about a “hunting” rifle with wooden parts not plastic. Even though most hunting rifles are more lethal than an overthrown 22lr.
Because they’re scary looking and they saw an actor in a film. Literally rain down hellfire, death and destruction with those scary looking items.
Zelite Infinity Damascus Chef Knife 8 Inch, Japanese Chef Knife
You’re assuming that the idiots who write all the laws that restrict our rights actually know what they’re doing. These cretins hear about, or see in a movie, someone using a Butterfly knife to kill someone on screen with a flourish. ‘Oh, that must be bad’, without having any practical knowledge of the actual knife. Product knowledge escapes them just as the ability of people to ‘walk around with guns’ escapes your reality landscape. People must apply to carry a firearm in most states. There are fees to be paid, firearm handling classes to complete, practical shooting skill courses to participate and pass and oral interviews to weed out all the fringe-dwellers and mental defectives. All the while they are eyeballing you, watching for any telltale quirks, twitches or idiosyncrasies that would reveal a flawed individual who could be a danger to others. Anyone carrying a firearm without meeting all the local government requirements is doing so illegally. In other words, they’re more criminal that law-abiding. I hope that gives you a better grasp of the real world.
12-Piece Color-Coded Kitchen Knife Set, 6 Knives with 6 Blade Guards
Laws don’t make sense many times and that 5”butterfly is not illegal in all states. My guess is there are 100’s of thousands of documented defensive gun uses which are mostly with no shots fired and the crime totally prevented. But not really to many documented defensive knife uses.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
There is no National Knife Association, funded by billion dollar knife manufacturers.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
It is not because, as people suggest, laws are dumb or out of fear from fiction. It is because a 5 inch butterfly knife is only 5 inches when stowed. Let me explain.
5 inches is not even the length of many hands from tip of middle finger to wrist. Measure your hand and you’ll find that you have a surprisingly amount of room there, juat ask any magician.
Someone who has practiced can also open a butterfly knife easily with 4 total motor actions. Forget the fancy movie stuff, it only takes holding it with the thumb (1 action) to allow one part to swing, moving the thumb out of the arc (2nd action), cradling it in the fingers to catch it as ut comes around (3rd action), and closing the hand (4th action). All these actions can also be within a second fron start to finish. This is also why spring loaded weapons can be illegal. The ease in which to open it gives you a surprise attack when palmed.
Let’s say you have the plan to attack an officer. There are very few guns you can conceal in your palm. I can conceal any item that is 5 inches long or less in my palm without notice. The officer is dead once I get within 3 feet. It only takes about 2 inches to be able to hit a vital organ, so a folded blade that is 5 inches will easily do it. Once in range, I can pull a blade and attack before the officer realizes what is happening.
These laws are primarily in place to protect law enforcement officers, whom are often direct targets of criminal violence. The laws make getting the blades generally harder, though never impossible, since they technically can’t be sold in that jurisdiction and means that an officer can arrest you and confiscate, thereby removing one off the street, is they see one on you.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
/begin sarcasm/ Because butterfly knives, as a class of weapon, are generally shoddy, unreliable, and likely to injure their user? I’m thinking it’s more of a consumer protection law than a weapon regulation kind of law. /end sarcasm/
Well, there are different laws around the world… the mayor of London, England tweeted this: “No excuses. [T]here is never a reason to carry a knife. Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law.” Butterfly knives are knives. So… And yet, London has Armed Police units walking around with guns.
I don’t know where you are, so I don’t know what laws you are talking about that make 5-inch butterfly knives illegal, nor under what circumstances “people can walk around with guns”. For example, I believe that in Chicago, Illinois, has a 2.5-inch blade concealed carry limit; if you drive through and are pulled over with a simple pocket knife with a 2 3/4 inch blade in your pocket… that’s illegal. A five inch butterfly knife in your pocket would also be illegal. I’m sure that many of the people in Chicago, Illinois who are walking around with guns are doing so illegally (contributing the the many firearm deaths there every week), yet they still do it.
The point is, that laws all over the globe are written for various reasons. And are written at different times, under different circumstances. Perhaps the laws against a 5 inch butterfly knife was written at a time when their use by criminals was more prevelant that they are now (see reality based sarcasm above – butterfly knives are pretty shitty weapons. hard to deploy quickly under control (you don’t wan…
HENCKELS 8-pc Steak Knife Set
Because gun manufacturers have many more millions to donate to political campaigns than the companies that make the butterfly knives.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
I’m sorry, but Hollywood has to take the brunt of the blame for this one. That combined with politicians who are dumb enough to think what they see in movies and on tv is any resemblance of reality.
Just about any time you see a person wielding a butterfly knife on the big or small screen, they are a “bad guy”.
Where it gets even worse is when writers dream up new things or technologies that don’t (and often can’t) exist and politicians genuinely believe that it’s OK to craft legislation around these ideas.
One of the most appalling is the 1995 film Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone. The number of laws in various states that can be traced or connected DIRECTLY to that movie would be laughable if it wasn’t so alarming.
I’m talking about things like smart guns where only the authorized user can fire it, or, traceable ammunition that is tagged as its fired from the gun.
There were also things in that movie like Mega-Cities . I have to wonder if politicians aren’t trying to legislate towards things like this as well.
EDIT 2/22/2020
I had no idea I was so spot on….
Australia, we need to talk about who governs our city-states
Pocket Knife Spring Assisted Folding Knives
Because law is just the opinion of politicians asserted trough violence and threat of violence. They have nothing anything to do with justice morals, logic or intelligence.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Little secret: The people who write these laws are dumb and motivated by fear/control. They know, over time, more dumb people will be willing to give them power by giving up freedom.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
They are more concealable, but really it’s the reason that in some places automatic knives are illegal just because they used to be portrayed as a villains weapon and very “scary” in films, it’s kinda like the video game argument, just because something is used as a part of a stereotype or trope doesn’t mean its true
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
The premise is incorrect. I can buy a five-inch butterfly knife on Amazon right now. They are not broadly illegal.
They are illegal only in the following states:
Texas
Hawaii
California (all knives more than two inches long are illegal)
They are restricted in Wisconsin, Utah, Oregon, and Kansas. In New York, they are only allowed for people that live in New York. In every other state, they are totally legal.
They are illegal in some states for a few reasons:
Any skilled knife-thrower can actually throw one and do some decent damage.
A mugger on the street with one could fatally stab you.
They’re pretty useless as tools because they are too thin.
Criminals have, in the past, used switchblades. The states that banned them generally did so because those states had issues with criminals mugging people with switchblades. They viewed butterfly knives as switchblades.
Note that most of the states with restrictions or bans have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. A lot of people think that Texas has lax gun laws but they’re actually middle of the road. Utah has by far the weakest gun laws out of any state that actually restricts butterfly knives.
Gerber Gear 22-48485 Paraframe Mini Pocket Knife, 2.2 Inch Fine Edge Blade
For the same reason nunchucks are illegal, despite the fact that swinging them around without hurting yourself is pretty difficult.
They became popular during the ‘60’s and ‘70’s with the rise of kung fu movies and the like. People started a moral panic where they were concerned that teenagers would emulate what they see in the movies. Thus, various governments banned them.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
I am going to let you in on a little secret:
The people who write our laws are pretty dumb .
Because that’s the only explanation I can come up with.
Maybe someone in the comments can correct me. I have had multiple concussions and dropped out of college, so I might not be the smartest crayon in the USMC lunch menu.
When it comes to butterfly knives, they are, objectively, the most useless type of knives I can think of. It’s thin and typically made up of very cheap metal, with a very insecure connection to the handles, so they break easily. They are harder to open one handed than other types of folding knives, and have a weaker locking mechanism (often just a clasp made of even weaker metal, if they have even that).
Forget guns, why are 5-inch butterfly knives illegal when this
isn’t?
This is the Chimera, made by the Ontario Knife Company , and is available on Amazon for around $100. It’s very similar to the bayonet I was issued in the Marines, and this is a much, much more deadly knife than any butterfly knife on the market. See those deep grooves on the handle? Ensures a sure grip, even when covered in mud, dirt, or blood. That thick hilt prevents your hand from sliding up the blade. That drop point? Allows for sharp, pointed tip for stabbing, while at the same time allowing a curved edge for cutting, and a thick spine to prevent snapping, so you could stab someone, dig it deep into the bone, and your knife wouldn’t break. Features almost universally absent on butterfly knives. This knife was made for ending human lives as one of it’s primary jobs.
So why is this legal but the butterfly knife isn’t?
Because the butterfly knife is better for showmanship. And because it’s better for showmanship, it featured heavily in Hollywood. And a bunch of pearl clutchers clutched their pearls and demanded that they be banned and a bunch of pearl clutching politicians acquiesced and now we have a fairly useless piece of inert metal banned.
Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops SWA24S 7.1in S.S. Folding Knife with 3.1in
Because idiots in the legislature don’t know enough to fear knives ! Seriously, a knife in a crazy person’s hand is no joke
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
For the same reason that when MI went from “may issue” to “will issue” concealed carry permits mace, pepper spray and tasers remained illegal for a few years… politicians don’t have to be smart, they just have to look smart… same reason they want to ban certain guns based upon appearance, it looks scary to the uninformed.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
People can’t legally just walk around with guns unless they’re in some kind of armed services or are on private land and have licenses to.
At least, that’s the case in my country, where we don’t have much gun crime.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Because they don’t lock properly. The government doesn’t want to manufacture butterfly knives because the locks slip, making them too unpredictable to be legal.
Automatic knives are illegal because their action is considered either unsafe or unreliable. Personally, I’m a fan of Frank Bertrame and Protech knives.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
First of all, butterfly knives are legal to own in many (though not all) jurisdictions in USA, just not to carry on one’s person in public.
Second although their design makes them “flashy” to open and close, butterfly knives are no more, nor less dangerous than any folding knife of similar blade length, including lockback stillettos (automatic OR non-automatic).
It doesn’t matter how many hours you’ve practiced flicking open/closed your butterfly knife, a conventional folding knife opens just as fast with a flick of the thumb, and an automatic (or spring-assist) one will open FASTER.
The question is, why can people legally carry guns for self-defense but not knives?
Without making this too complicated, its because there is more of a lobby for carrying guns, which generally make a better defensive tool.
In USA, perception is that knives are used by “bad guys” as weapons, not “good guys”.
Tac-Force- Spring Assisted Folding Pocket Knife
It isn’t that the laws or the people who made them are dumb, though they may seem that way at first glance. Until recently getting a public carry permit for a gun was not just difficult, it was fairly uncommon even for those who could get them.
The reason you got a separate law banning small concealable knives be they butterfly or switchblades or any other small concealable weapon that weren’t guns is these things were problems or at least perceived of as potential problems in the places they got banned. Usually law enforcement went to lawmakers and said X is becoming a problem, but at present it is legal can you come up with a way to make X illegal.
So why not ban entire classes of weapons or all potentially criminal weapons? First, is trying to do too much often results in the failure to do accomplish anything. There will always be some enthusiast who will vote against a bill banning 20 things if they only care about 1 thing on the list, and you can guarantee the more items you try to ban, the more small vocal groups will work against the entire ban. The Second Amendment. (By the way when a lot of these knife bans went into effect in the 50’s and 60’s small concealable handguns were also not generally legal for the public to carry either and the NRA was cool with it).
The next reason goes to the function or marketed function of butterfly knives or any of the small concealable knives vs say a hunting knife with the s…
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
My guess is because butterfly knives are almost exclusively used by teenage boys who like to play with them because they have seen a video or movie where someone was twirling them around and it looked cooler than a yoyo. I think those guys cut themselves a lot and someone’s mum decided they had had enough.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
This is an extremely complex topic. Sometimes, as used to be the case with Texas, they were part of a larger law. Sometimes it’s based on various perceptions about the (like an idea that such knives are preferred by gangs.) Also understand in the US that not every state even allows openly carrying firearms and that even has to do with perception. When Ronald Reagan was governor of California he signed the Mumford Act prohibiting open carry of firearms in that state. It was passed due to the Black Panthers openly carrying rifles.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
I once asked a cop why butterfly knives were illegal (here in Canada) and he told me it was because so many people injure themselves! He said they always had people in hospitals, thinking they were a toy and ended up injured. I’ve got a nice scar reminder on my finger showing they aren’t a toy. Probably should’ve gotten stitches but just used crazy glue instead lol. You need to be careful with them. Maybe buy a practice butterfly knife first. I still don’t think they should be illegal, I doubt the average person would want to buy and learn how to use one anyways.
MOSSY OAK 14-inch Bowie Knife, Full-tang Fixed Blade Wood
The main place I’ve heard of them being illegal is in New York. New York has some goofy knife laws that date back to the 1950s and 60s when gangs were more likely to carry knives than guns. They wanted to keep people from having knives that were easily concealed but could be opened and used rapidly so they went after a class of knives that includes butterfly knives and switchblades. The laws are so strict that a worn pocket knife where the blade can be flicked open is also illegal and carrying one can result in a felony conviction.
At the same time these knives were made illegal they also made it illegal to carry a concealed handgun so there was no double standard.
The gun lobby is better organized than the knife lobby so restrictions on carrying a gun have been eased while restrictions on carrying a knife have not been. The main push to make knife laws more liberal (in the old-fashioned sense of the term) comes from the Libertarians who see the knife laws as arbitrary and racist (most of the people convicted for carrying a concealed knife are minorities).
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
It depends on the jurisdiction. In Denver it is legal to carry a gun on one’s hip; yet, it is illegal to carry nunchakus or nunchuks. Odd. Every one who has seen a Bruce Lee movie knows what nunchuks are. Why is a pair of nunchuks illegal, when carrying a gun on one’s hip is legal? One of the many idiotic laws made by idiots.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Those knives aren’t the type of arms that are loved by voting citizens. Arms used by the lower classes have never been accepted by the ruling class.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Because laws are dumb?
In reality, weapons laws were passed in hodgepodge, against whatever was seen as a ‘threat’. So they end up targeting items that are used by the lower classes simply because that is what is seen as a threat.
A big example is switchblades. A switchblade knife is slightly less dangerous than a normal knife. It’s like a normal knife but a little flimsier. But, since ‘greasers’ would carry them in self defense for gang scuffles, lawmakers were able to gin up OUTRAGE and use that to pass special laws making switchblades terribly illegal!
Butterfly knifes are close enough to switchblades that they follow in the general pattern. I could give you a long etymology on what city in the Phillipines the butterfly knife comes from, what it was really used for there (it’s a shaving knife, actually), and so on…
But the reason it got outlawed in the United States is because there was a perception that low-class gangs used it, so they could outlaw it.
ALBATROSS EDC Cool Sharp Tactical Folding Pocket Knife
I see a lot of answers that amount to ‘because the laws and/or lawmakers are stupid’.
While I am no great fan of our lawmakers, I don’t think this is an adequate explanation of this situation. I think there are reasons, maybe even fairly good ones, why such a situation exists.
Some weapons, like knives, mostly have the effect of escalating any fight they’re used in. They’re not great for holding or arresting people. They won’t allow an eighty year old woman to defend herself against a violent young man. While they have some deterrent effect when displayed or brandished, it’s a bit limited. So, to the extent that some knives can be classified purely as weapons, maybe it makes sense to ban them.
The same logic can be applied to other weapons with similar characteristics, like nunchaku or brass knuckles.
Guns, while having some of the objectionable characteristics of other weapons, have some additional advantages. One of the primary ones is that they genuinely level the balance of power. A frail and elderly person with brass knuckles or a knife is still at a severe disadvantage to someone young and strong. With a gun, this is no longer the case.
Another is that guns are ranged weapons that can be used to hold someone, or deter them at range.
In other words, guns have some potential for good that many hand weapons don’t. The question of whether that good outweighs the associated problems is a different argument; but we can’t just assume that all weapons have similar enough attributes that the laws surrounding them should be similar.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Because laws are made by people who want to be elected. They will make anything a law as long as it gets them votes. At some time in the past, some impressionable old woman watched a movie in which ominous music played while the villain twirled a balisong. She started a latter writing campaign with the other pearl-clutchers at church, and soon the congress passed a law.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
They’re not illegal Constitutionally. They’re “arms”, and you have the 2nd Amendment right to “bear” them. It really is that simple.
So, why are they still illegal?
Because nobody much cares.
Crappy answer, I know. But consider what it took to get the unConstitutional gun laws in Washington DC overturned.
District of Columbia v. Heller – Wikipedia
The lawsuit was funded by someone who cared about the issue, and Dick Heller ended up being the guy who would be the actual plaintiff. Heller had a clean record and actually worked in a law enforcement capacity. They were able to get an unConstitutional law overturned.
It would take similar hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of dollars of attorney time to get stupid knife laws overturned. And you’d have to find a good plaintiff/defendant (depending on how you want to do it) to stand in the case.
I’ll give you a similar case. Ever heard the name “Rosa Parks”? Of course you have. And you may have heard that she was a simple seamstress who just got fed up and sat in the white section of the bus because there was no room in the black section, or some other story like that.
Ms. Parks was chosen and volunteered for her role, which was planned. She had a clean record and was perfect for the role. She refused to give up her seat for a white passenger knowing that she would be arrested. It went as planned, and she was arrested and subsequently charged. Her defense was well-funded and used to help overturn the stupid segregation laws.
If you care enough about knives, go for it.
RoverTac Pocket Knife Multitool Folding Knife Tactical Survival Camping Knife
Because knives and guns are two different entities .
So they each have their own laws and classification .
For example, you could rephrase your question to :
“ Why is it illegal for me to drive an 18 wheeler when I have a licence to drive a car “
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
I’m not familiar with the butterfly knife law, but it won’t stop there. People will always be around trying to ban everything from large sodas and cigarettes to video games and books. When someone “knows better” than you, they take it as though it’s their job to make sure you don’t hurt itself, whether that’s with firecrackers or pornography…
I would guess though that butterfly knives are restricted for probably the same reason that nunchucks and throwing stars are illegal to carry in several large cities. Old ladies (with nothing better to do) take it upon themselves to manufacture a public outrage over the item, (probably because their grandkid saw a guy using nunchucks on tv and thought nunchucks were cool).
Some people are just unable to accept that someone might disagree with them. Others are just completely unhinged. Look into the story where a boy was expelled from school for biting his pop tart into the rough shape of a gun, or the other boy that was expelled for wearing an NRA t-shirt to school.
Anyways, after there’s sufficient manufactured outrage, it’s insanely easy to trick people into voting for almost anything. It’s pathetic. Just look at the proposed bans on AR-15’s. They want to ban almost entirely cosmetic features that don’t affect the mechanical operation or function of the weapon in any way whatsoever. If it’s scary looking, people will be tricked into banning it. Case in point, nobody is calling for a ban on mini-14’s even though they fire the exact same round, have the same rate of fire, and can accept the same capacity magazines.
Guess what though, the mini-14 has a wooden stock and looks more like grandpas hunting rifle than a military weapon, therefore it is not an “assault rifle”. Keep in mind that AR-15’s are used in less than 1% of gun crime anyways.
This is the logic floating around in the heads of people who truly believe that they can affect crime by banning an object. Same types who thought we could end drug abuse by just making drugs illegal. They simply don’t think for themselves and they damn sure don’t learn, even when the same mistakes are repeated over and over and over.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Hollywood is partly to blame. They put the balisong in the bad guys’ hands so it became associated with bad guys. Lawmakers sometimes take their cues from Hollywood.
There is a frequent view expressed by many Westerners that the Philippine balisong is a useless design. It is not. Let me explain.
You see, at one time there WERE NO folding knives in the Philippines except the balisong. Hence, it was a perfect design .
Indeed, when I was still living in the Philippines, I never owned nor even had seen a folding knife other than the balisong. (I am now writing from Virginia, USA.)
The balisong was designed for a Philippine setting.
When it was brought to the West, it had been compared to modern folding knives that were designed about 200 years later. Hence, the design difference.
Author : Pananandata Knife Fighting (Paladin Press, 1988); Pananandata Guide to Balisong Openings (Unique Publications, 2007)’ The Art of Throwing (Tuttle Publishing, 2007 & 2010); Archery for Beginners (Tuttle Publishing, 2019)
Former Professor: Chemical Engineering, Adamson University, Manila, Philippines
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Because there isn’t a butterfly knife lobby that influences legislation.
Most of the time when some kind of exception or distinction in legislation doesn’t make intuitive sense, the issue is that there is some interest group distortion going on behind the scenes.
Similarly, there are very few single-issue knife voters. That sort of thing also leads to carve-outs that don’t make intuative sense: a huge amount of housing/zoning policy is based around “what will keep single-family homeowners from yelling at me” rather than “what is the most logical way to build things.”
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Have you ever heard of a politician who knew anything at all about the weapon they were trying to ban or hell, even protect? Most politicians simply react to pressure from some group or another. And someone saw some kid with one of those knives and was afraid and they got banned.
That’s the cynical, but correct answer.
But in addition, the second amendment to the US Constitution protects arms, which people have more or less interpreted as guns. One can argue that knives should also be considered arms, but there’s not much constituency for that. Can you imagine the big chubby militia guys all walking around with shoddy little butterfly knives instead of serious rifles?
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Because of bureaucratic stupidity. Keep in mind that in anti-gun California, there is no length limit on knives, and open carry of them is legal, even if you have a 30-inch sword.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Because there IS an NRA and other like minded organizations to lobby for guns as self defense weapons.
And because there are no National Knife Association type organizations.
Plus, there ARE organizations like this:
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Yup it’s ridiculous isn’t it? I have a CCL and carry a hand cannon on my hip but I can’t carry a 5 inch knife. Makes no sense does it? This is your liberal left law makers mentality and your tax dollars at work. Stop voting for liberals
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
A quick google tells me they are not illegal, but are illegal to carry in public.
The knifes were made illegal back in the 1950s, so we’d have to ask that generation why they were made illegal, not as others have implied, modern anti AR15 people.
My guess is, they’re illegal because criminals used to carry them back in the 50s, or some mothers saw their kids buy them and freaked out. Maybe they saw the bad guys in movies using them, and thought if they ban the knifes then there won’t be any bad guys. The usual nonsensical logic that parents have around the safety of their children.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Because of liberal demonization of their conceived usage (I.e. in movies, video games, etc.). In real life, butterfly knives are utterly useless, unless it’s in the hands of an EXTREMELY skilled butterfly knife fighter.
It’s not because they’re dangerous (they’re actually more dangerous to the wielder). It’s because liberal lawmakers have absolutely zero idea of what they’re legislating, and they only get away with it because their constituents don’t have a clue either.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Actually, knives are shockingly dangerous. Someone can pull out a knife and stab you to death really quickly. In fact, if I remember correctly, police can’t pull out their guns quick enough to shoot unless the person with the knife is 6 feet away! Plus, you have to get permission to get a gun. However, knifes can be easily crafted by any old person or bought at the store. There is no “permission” you need to get, so authorities can’t tell who’s dangerous with a knife and who isn’t.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
It’s mostly about concealment and deployment. Often reffered to as automatic knives butterfly knives and switchblades can be concealed in hand and quickly deployed. It’s what they cannot see that LEOs fear the most. As far as I know the primary reasoning behind the illegality of the auto knife is the danger they represent to law enforcement.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
It depends on where you are. In the state of Georgia an itty-bitty 5 inch butterfly knife isn’t even considered a weapon unless you are in a school safety zone.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
As is often the case, I read this to be a question about the USA specifically, instead of about other countries where you don’t tend to find people walking around with guns.
I suppose that gun manufacturers have more money, more lobbying power, more zealous organizations behind them, more nutcases behind them, etc, than knife manufacturers, and therefore have far more sway over elected legislators than knife manufacturers do. Even though it is arguable that the founding fathers would far more likely have had knives on their mind (in addition to old-fashioned rifles) than semi-automatics, handguns, etc, when they created the second amendment.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
For the longest time, anything with a 5″ blade or longer in Texas was outlawed to be carried. People still had them, particularly in deer season, but they were rarely carried walking down the street.
I have a ballisong. Bought it on the streets in the Philippines (Olangapo City), slipped it down my sock, and walked on base with it. Way easy to conceal. Maybe too easy.
Lots of people got badly cut by these things. While not nearly as strong as a Kabar or a Bowie, they still inflicted a lot of damage. As a stabbing weapon, they worked pretty good. Slashing, not so much, a bit weak for that. Tip to ricasso [Edit thanks Jim Miller for the catching the spelling error] is 6.5“ – not short! One issue with them, to maintain the handle integrity when open, you have to flip a catch to join the handles – pretty tough to do in the middle of a fight.
As to why they’re illegal, would have to go back to any knife over 5″ being illegal, and all switchblades, spring loaded blades, and such being illegal. Why those particular ones were illegal, I’d have to presume Hollywood had a lot to do with it.
Mossy Oak Survival Hunting Knife with Sheath, 15-inch Fixed Blade
Actually, I was surprised to find that in many states (I’m not sure if it’s most) they are now legal. So are switchblades and what I knew growing up as paratrooper knives. That’s the one that springs the blade out the front end of the knife. I bought one and checked the law here in Alabama and surrounding states and it’s legal anywhere I’m liable to go.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Because the right bare arms for better or worse is written into the constitution. The right to bare knives which are primarily designed to be concealed and stab is not. The fact these knives are banned is evidence that lawmakers recognise that the ability for people to quickly, gravely and easily maim each other in the heat of the moment is something that should be actively prevented by b…
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t find very many states that have banned them. In fact many of the answers giving examples of states that have are more then a few years out of date, or simply incorrect (Utah has never banned them to begin with, for one example) that have explicitly banned butterfly knives.
Counties and individual municipalities on the other hand…
Look, there’s no good way to say it, so I’ll just say it. Few if any laws banning guns, knives ect have even a half assed attempt at a rational basis behind them. They’re basically knee jerk emotion driven idiocity at best. And a lot of the really restrictive laws you’ll see are a direct result of a city council passing something just to shut up someone who does nothing but show up to “observe” city council meetings and complain.
Not all US states have supremacy of state law over local jurisdictions enforced either, so in some places you can have very different laws in place with on a few miles distance.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
This is called a false equivalency. One could make an argument that if you find noise suppressors on firearms disturbing, knives should terrify you. They are more easily concealed on average, faster from draw to strike and you are far more likely to kill or maim with a knife than most firearms smaller than a shotgun or .50 cal. Knives cause irregular lacerations that are much harder to close given that most stab victims are stabbed multiple times. Most gunshot victims are shot once. Thing is, nobody over 5 ft away hears the actual strike of a knife. Yes. the screaming person will be heard from further, but the same could be said of a firearm.
Thing is, with a knife, you REALLY feel it. a gunshot may or may not burn like hell. Depends on if it went through cleanly or not. But many people do not even register they have been shot. They often find the blood before they feel the pain.
having been an EMT and having seen numerous amounts of both gunshots and knives victims, I would FAR rather be shot than stabbed.
But FYI, at least in Texas, Butterfly knives are legal, provided they are not two sided like a dagger. You can literally carry a katana in Texas, legally. Though, most sane people wont.
In the end, why even care about a butterfly knife? they are mostly show pieces. There are far more advanced and 50 state legal options in the form of one handed operation that are faster opening than a butterfly and more reliable than a switchblade. Not to mention all the amazing bushcraft knives like the Mora Garberg carbon, that are full tang, razor sharp and are FAR more reliable and useful than any showpiece folder.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Five inch butterfly knives are perfectly legal to carry in Texas and I suspect if you look into it, most states where they are illegal it’s virtually impossible to carry a gum. Dont know that for certain but it’s an educated guess.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
I don’t know about everywhere, but for where I live, I read it was because too many dumbasses were going to the ER after cutting off a finger or stabbing their wrist practicing with them.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Is it illegal? It’s our god given right to protect ourselves. Guns on their own don’t hurt anyone. Guns in the hands of a bad person can but only if the bad person chooses to. A good person with a gun will only use the gun if he is being attacked by the bad person. Or if they see another innocent being attacked by a bad person.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Doug Marcaida a Kali instructor And medical professional (yes and forged in fire host but the first two are why i trust his opinion on this) actually has a video specifically on this with funker tactical. Basically he explained that a lot of it didn’t come from cops or politic…
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Well, in most states, you can’t just walk around with guns and the states with open carry probably allow you to carry those knives in a holster but I’m not positive on that.
I know in my state and a lot of other states with similar laws…the CCW you need to walk around with a gun which only allows concealed carry is actually called a Carry Concealed Weapons or Firearm license so if you go through the FBI background check, class, and shooting test (since most use it for Firearms) to get one…it doesn’t matter what weapon you carry concealed.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Why are you so worried about what is legal and what isn’t? If someone was going to try to assault you with a butterfly knife, or anything else for that matter, they wouldn’t care about the law. Do you understand that making things illegal only affects law abiding citizens. It is time to address the problem of actual crime, mental health, and the real issues, not the tools.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Think yourself lucky, atleast in America you guys can carry something that is almost guaranteed to keep you safe, in Scotland we can even carry a butter knife in public to keep ourself safe, nor pepper spray, any spray of any type or variety. No tasers, no stun guns, no guns at all, no Batons, no anything all we can carry is a fucking rape whistle. And even if we try and fight the attacker off WE Can then be charged with assault, because over here we are controlled by England and England has some stupid fucking rules.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
In Wisconsin they aren’t illegal as long as you aren’t a convicted felon. Anyone who is over the age of 18 can legally carry a concealed knife in Wisconsin as long as they haven’t been convicted of a felony or been adjudicated delinquent with a firearms prohibition.
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing
Why are 5-inch butterfly knives illegal when people can walk around with guns?
The ability or restriction to carry a Balisong like the above is not federally illegal. The only knives which are illegal at the federal level are automatic knives such as switchblades.
Restrictions on Balisongs vary on a state-by-state basis. The primary reasons they are restricted anywhere is rather simple: Balisongs are easily concealed.
A kabar knife like the above is far more capable of causing bodily harm, and is in general both a better field knife and combat knife. There’s a reason that rangers and spec ops will carry a kabar rather than a flimsy balisong.
To that point, concealed firearms do face similar and sometimes more severe restriction. Broadly comparing firearms to the balisong specifically misses the intent of these tools. More importantly, if you asked most gun rights advocates how they feel about balisongs being restricted in some states …
Forged Viking Knives, Husk Chef Knife Butcher Knives Handmade Fishing