IL--Springfield police warning people not to buy Kershaw/Onion "switchblades?"

[tango3065]

Guys that is stupid of them to consider it a swithblade which could most likely be faught in court. Now the bad news-if by some chance it is a swithblade and you are caught with it is a felony becuase they would charge you with a conceiled deadly weapon!

 

[Don Gwinn]

Bill Hook, yes. If, ten years from now, the switchblade laws in Illinois could be teetering on the brink like the AWB is now, I'd be overjoyed.

Mastinson, are you sure about the felony thing? The part of the Unlawful Use of Weapons statute that makes carrying a switchblade illegal also specifically makes it a misdemeanor. Is there some other statute I missed?

 

[Bill Hook]

If, ten years from now, the switchblade laws in Illinois could be teetering on the brink like the AWB is now, I'd be overjoyed.

It is teetering on the brink of being extended, IMO. Never mind the fact that it is useless. I mean, even if it expires, then there is nothing to stop it from being re-enacted in a few more years, or sooner.

If you don't think the Repubs will stick their finger into the air to see what gets them the most votes, then check some of W's latest nonsense out in the past 2-3 month's worth of L&P threads. Drug benefits and illegal worker benefits come to mind. Gun owners will be sold out for soccer mom votes if the polls say this is an advantage. The conservative fiscally responsible underpinnings of the Reps have been ignored

You should know, of all places, that IL Repubs are little better than Democrats, George Ryan being the premier example of a sellout who'd do anything to get and keep office, including the criminal. I wouldn't look to them to reverse the knife laws there. It really doesn't matter in the end whether the law is useful, as it makes the average voter FEEL safer.

 

[bad_dad_brad]

I have the Kershaw Whirlwind and Leek, and a SOG Flash 1.

I live in Illinois.

I think these knives are really cool, and I love to sit in my TV chair and mindlessly flick them open. But I would never carry them. Not worth the hastle of an LEO, district attorney, or judge's interpretation of what a switchblade is. The law is stupid and from the 1950's but who needs the grief? Thank you very little Sal Mineo.

Besides, todays modern one hand openers are so smooth and fast, mechanical assisted knives hold little, if any advantage.

 

[mr_dove]

It's probably gonna require someone to take this to court unless the Police and DA take their heads out of their butts.

 

[hso]

From Kershaw -


here is an excerpt right after the meeting. We still have some additional work to do, but it is looking better:
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"Our hired attorney, Jeremy Margolis and I, had a good meeting today with Stuart Umholtz, Tazewell County State Attorney.

We showed him the construction of the Chive and convinced him that it did not fit the definition of a switchblade. He is totally on our side and will not prosecute anyone arrested with a SpeedSafe knife. He has dropped all charges against Ryan Sisk.

Our next step is to convince the Sangamon County State Attorney, John Schmidt. We tried to contact him and "kill two birds with one stone" but he was not available. Springfield, located in Sangamon County, is where two Wal-Mart's have pulled our product off the shelf so it is critical we convince John Schmidt that SpeedSafe is not a switchblade.

Our attorney, Jeremy Margolis, will continue trying to contact John Schmidt. Tazewell County State Attorney, Stuart Umholtz stated he would help us with talking to other State Attorneys if need be."

 

[Don Gwinn]

Look, Bill, I'm not sure what you want me to say here. If you prefer to say "teetering on the brink of being renewed" instead of "teetering on the brink of not being renewed" that's up to you, but it means the same thing. Two years ago there was almost no doubt in anyone's mind that the AWB would be renewed with next to no debate. Now it seems pretty likely that it will be allowed to die, what with the leaders of both houses of Congress having explicitly stated so. Now, of course, I don't accept those things as certainty. I still write letters. Last week I started a strict regimen of calling Lane Evans, Peter Fitzgerald and Richard Durbin once a week. I'll call daily as the vote gets close. But I don't see the point of making up reasons to be depressed about gun rights. Good things are happening. Why deny that? Yes, we could certainly lose. In fact, it wouldn't be that hard to lose. But the fact that the fight is ours to lose at all is fantastic.

The switchblade laws in Illinois are as firmly entrenched as the AWB was a few years ago (honestly, probably more, but bear with me.) The turnaround on the AWB has been remarkable. Pulling off the same thing with the switchblade laws would indeed be wonderful. Maybe not absolute perfection, but it would be great. I don't demand miracles, I only ask for fighting chances.

The first step toward getting rid of that law is to make sure our elected officials, at least some of them, understand it. The next is to beat back attempts like this one to expand the law without benefit of the legislature. Of course it won't be easy, but I believe it's worth doing. People in Illinois will never own mufflers and machine guns if they can't carry a simple pocket knife. No matter what we do, the fight will take years. Now is the time to start. And every time we have an opportunity to ally ourselves with a company facing loss of livelihood, we owe it to ourselves to back them to the hilt.

This may not be what you meant, but the impression I got from your post is that you don't think it's worth doing anything about the problem. I hope that's not right.



I can't really address your comments on Republicans. I don't recall mentioning the Republican party or saying I put any faith in Illinois Republicans. Frankly, it's irrelevant in Illinois.

 

[lee n. field]

Today I was listening to WMAY AM radio when out of the blue I heard a news item stating that the Springfield police department is putting out public warnings that people who have purchased Kershaw/Onion Speed Safe knives ("at an unnamed Springfield store") were guilty of purchase and possession of switchblades, a misdemeanor in Illinois.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll see if I can't pick one up RSN. (Wally World carrys them here.)