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The Folding Knife (& Switchblade) Forum The materials, techniques and the designing of folding knives.

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  #1  
Old 09-21-2008, 04:06 PM
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GHNorfleet GHNorfleet is offline
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To Make Automatics Or Not To Make Automatics????

I want to make some automatics and was wondering what other makers do about making them in their state they live in. Here in Tennessee either selling or making them is illegal if I read the knife law correctly but there are makers in Tennessee and other states that make them and sell them all over the country without problems or so it seems. What are everyones thoughts on this. I have the tools to do it with and I think I can make a pretty nice automatic, I even have some plans on making a knife pistol that is small enough to carry in your pocket but that would require a ####### to manufacture firearms which might not be as big a deal as an automatic knife. Let me know guys what you think!!!


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Old 09-22-2008, 01:27 PM
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Gilbert, thanks for asking this question. I've been wondering the same thing and will be watching this thread closely.

-Ben
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Old 10-25-2008, 12:10 AM
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bump to the top for some responses!!!!


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Old 10-25-2008, 09:00 AM
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Here in Texas it's illegal to sell except to a collector, LEO, or active duty military and if sold to a collector the seller must obtain and keep a certificate stating the knife will be kept in a collection and never used.

It's illegal here for anyone to carry an auto unless he/she is a LEO or active duty military.

That said, anyone can buy from a local store or from a magazine ad. Seems the law officials ignore the auto law unless you get into trouble while carrying. Even so, I don't remember anyone being prosecuted for carrying.

Anyone can go over to Mexico, where any folding knife (navaja) is illegal and buy a switchblade in a store for $12.00. They seem to ignore the law also, but in Mexico the whole written law itself is irrelative.

There are federal laws outlawing autos and also local city laws related to them. It's illegal to import them. But anyone can buy one from an ad or from a store.
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Old 10-26-2008, 03:28 PM
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Thanks Don for the response. While I would really like to make some automatics but it sounds like more trouble than it would be worth. Tennessee state law pretty much sounds like Texas state law but what really bothers me about the knife laws in general is that in order to harm or kill someone with a knife you have to get close to them with in arms reach to stab or cut them. With guns you can kill them from a distance. Don't get me wrong as I am not against guns as I own several but the gun laws here in Tennessee allow me to carry a gun just about anywhere as long as I have a carry permit and it is easy to get a permit but the only thing you can do with a gun is shoot something or in my case miss something a lot. The knife on the other hand can be used to prepare food, open boxes, scapels are even used for surgery so the knife is a lot more useful but more strictly regulated by laws than are guns at least here in Tennessee. So for now I guess I will let the automatic fever I caught the other day just fade away and go back to my regular fixed/folding knife sickness.


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Old 02-04-2009, 09:08 AM
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Cool

Check your conceilled carry permit rules. In KY which has a recipical agreement with TN the permit allows a person to carry an automatic as a conceilled deadly weapon the same as a gun.

Don't think that a knife is less deadly than a gun, you could be dead wrong as many law officials will tell you. They are much easier to conceal and can be thrown with great accuracy and lethal results.

Trading and selling to collectors in a state with permits should be relatively safe.
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Old 02-04-2009, 09:44 AM
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I live in Mass. and they are a no-no here. I have made a few in the past but I have decided it's not worth the aggravation. (not the making of them but in dealing with the laws.) There are several shows here in Mass. where dealers have tables full of autos and no one seems to bother them.


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  #8  
Old 05-13-2009, 02:44 PM
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I won't tell you what to do. Where I reside, auto knives are illegal, but I still collect them. On duty, however, I carry a SOG assisted opener (Flash II). I am quite fond of it.
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Old 11-28-2009, 10:56 AM
Aaron Banger Aaron Banger is offline
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Perhaps assisted is the way to go. How does one do that? -Aaron
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Old 10-12-2010, 11:38 AM
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Auto's, I love 'em.
I suggest looking up the local laws where you live.
Shipping across state lines is the biggy.
If you use the US post office, for example, it becomes a federal offense, while UPS doesn't care.
Texas law states it is illeagal to make, sell, repair, or own an automatic knife, yet most of my customers are cops, military, and collectors (high end)
I have a customer who has NO fingers and HAS to use an auto.

Any 4 year old could explain to any judge, "your honor, the spring is NOT the dangerous part of this knife".

I have seen shows raided for autos and only the "cheepies" are confiscated.
No one leaves a $2000.00 knife behind at the crime scene, these crimes are being committed with throw away switchblades out of Mexico.

Custom knives are in a class all thier own now, and again I express these are NOT toys.
In 30 years of making knives I have NEVER heard of a maker being arrested for making auto's. I have been told to put them up at certain shows, but never got in trouble with them.

Interpritation of the law most often rides with the cop involved.
Hope it helps.
Geno
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Old 11-07-2010, 06:52 AM
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Here in Montana, they are legal only for Police, Fire Fighters, and active duty military to carry...but the law also states that for all others it is illegal to manufacture, posses, or sell. I have made several for those entities who can legally possess them.

My concern with autos has always been the knifemakers who I consider irresponsible, who make them, and then take them to shows where they are illegal. Countless times I have seen makers pull an auto from under their table at a show, and show it to someone....but all it's going to take is for one of them to show an auto to the wrong person, they will get busted, and it will give every knifemaker a black eye. We will all be guilty by association. You might laugh at that, but I believe it should be a real concern for all knifemakers.


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Old 04-09-2011, 02:47 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed Caffrey View Post
Here in Montana, they are legal only for Police, Fire Fighters, and active duty military to carry...but the law also states that for all others it is illegal to manufacture, posses, or sell. I have made several for those entities who can legally possess them.

My concern with autos has always been the knifemakers who I consider irresponsible, who make them, and then take them to shows where they are illegal. Countless times I have seen makers pull an auto from under their table at a show, and show it to someone....but all it's going to take is for one of them to show an auto to the wrong person, they will get busted, and it will give every knifemaker a black eye. We will all be guilty by association. You might laugh at that, but I believe it should be a real concern for all knifemakers.

I remember a tale about an arms show in the UK.
Guy goes up to a dealer and from under his coat shows him an illegal pistol.
"How much is this worth?"
The dealer replied "About five years"
Talking about automatics, how does the law in the US deal with things like a "levrlock"?
Or is that an "assisted"?


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Old 04-09-2011, 09:39 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chippychap View Post
I remember a tale about an arms show in the UK.
Guy goes up to a dealer and from under his coat shows him an illegal pistol.
"How much is this worth?"
The dealer replied "About five years"
Talking about automatics, how does the law in the US deal with things like a "levrlock"?
Or is that an "assisted"?
I believe at least one US state has recently made a specific provision in their laws stating that "assisted" openers are in fact different than an auto, and therefore legal. Here in Indiana, you can pick them up in any sporting goods shop or Walmart, and as far as the law goes, they are not "specifically" restricted.
We do have the same provision about automatics (can't carry, make, sell, buy, etc...) however.

That being said, many states do have provisions for "collectors" to allow them to own or buy autos. I'm not sure that it's explicitly stated in the knife laws though. Now, what makes you a collector (or if this provision applies at all) may vary from state to state, or country to country.

Now all that being said, it seems like these laws are more in place for the "trouble makers" or people who might willingly commit crimes with these knives. I say that because I see hundred of autos being sold at local gun shows every month. As long as you're behaving and not calling the wrong kind of attention on yourself, you'll likely never have an issue. It's your decision on whether to take that risk though. And don't get me wrong; I'm strictly talking about collecting, purchasing (or maybe making them) in the privacy of your own home. I wouldn't suggest carrying, as you don't know where your day might lead you. Piss off the wrong cop, and you're toast if he finds it.


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Old 04-09-2011, 10:06 AM
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And since it's been brought up already, I think knife laws in general are absolutely ludicrous.
Here in Indiana, I can apply for and receive a Concealed Carry Weapons permit, (without needing classes or really anything but fingerprints, money, and a clean record) which would allow me to carry all but a small cannon in my pocket. I believe it even allows open carry for that matter.

Now, if my choice of carry is my Glock 19, I initially have 16 opportunities to harm or kill 1 to 16 people without doing anything but pulling the trigger, plus an additional 15 for each magazine that I carry.
A concealed handgun has one of two purposes: Defense or Offense.

But if they catch me with an auto (even if I have a CCW), I'm a criminal.
A knife is first and foremost a tool for 99% of users. How quickly or easily it opens should be utterly irrelevant. I gaurantee that several of my linerlock (and even my lockback) knives can open as fast (and in many cases faster) than any auto knife on the market.
Sure they can all be deadly, but an auto is no more deadly than any other knife, including a slipjoint or friction folder.
Heck, you can kill somebody with a stick with about as much effort as it takes to kill them with a knife.

The law should simply state a maximum punishment for a crime committed with a knife, regardless of opening mechanism. Making an object itself the crime is asenine.

Now the other thing to think about and realize is this: A true criminal doesn't care about laws, and he's gonna carry whatever he wants: a gun, a knife, a grenade launcher...


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Last edited by ARCustomKnives; 04-09-2011 at 10:09 AM.
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Old 04-10-2011, 12:11 AM
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It's a slippery slope, you ban a certain type of knife because one like it was once used in a crime.
Like it was said in this thread a spring never killed anyone. My automatic has a blade less than three inches long and is illegal yet I have owned knives with blades many times longer.
I think the lawmakes sometimes makes rules to cater for newspaper headlines.
In the UK you can be jailed for owning the wrong type of dog.
Woof.


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