Missouri recently passed legislation making possession of an automatic opening folder legal. Today I found this very positive article in the very leftist St Louis Post Dispatch:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_b39c3370-ab09-5e61-b759-d5b6b10634db.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_b39c3370-ab09-5e61-b759-d5b6b10634db.html
Pocket knife sales soar on renewed popularity
By MICHAEL D. SORKIN [email protected] 314-340-8347
Americans are walking around with more knives in their pockets, although not for the same reasons they are rushing to buy guns.
Scouts, hunters and anglers, collectors and office workers who just want a tool for opening packages are boosting pocket knife sales. For a decade, airline safety rules and the Great Recession had cut into sales.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, airplane passengers accustomed to traveling with a pocket knife found that they had to leave it in checked luggage. Even then, TSA agents sometimes confiscate a blade.
Sales now are rebounding, due partly to a growing desire for preparedness in the aftermath of disasters such as the Joplin tornado and Hurricane Sandy.
In Missouri, sales got an additional boost this year when the state legalized certain knives.
In July, Gov. Jay Nixon signed a law repealing the ban on possession, sale and manufacture of switchblade knives. A switchblade snaps open with the push of a button.
Now, just about anyone can legally own a switchblade under Missouri law. (But check with police to make sure switchblades are legal under local laws.)
After the state law change, customers flocked to stores to shop for switchblades, which had been banned for years. Some walked out with switchblades, which can cost $200 or more for top-of-the line models. Other, more frugal customers, bought less-expensive manual knives instead.
That has helped drive up sales of all types of knives by “a solid 10 to 15 percent,” said Al Rothweiler, one of the owners of Mid America Arms in south St. Louis County.
While Rothweiler also sells guns, he and others say that most knife buyers aren’t looking for a weapon.
“A knife is simply a very useful tool,” says Doug Ritter. He is founder of Knife Rights, a nonprofit he calls “the NRA for knife owners.” His organization worked with the National Rifle Association to legalize switchblades in Missouri.
“For a part of America, putting a knife in your pocket when you get up is simply a part of getting dressed,” says Ritter. “It’s like putting your keys in your pocket — it’s normal.”
WHO NEEDS 100 KNIVES?
Paul Beretta is among the most active collectors and has his own website, www.paulberetta.com. The retired computer programmer has more than 500 knives, mostly Spydercos. He has 70 versions of one model, the Kiwi.
“I collect knives I don’t use because they are pleasant and interesting to look at,” he explains.
He adds that, “Nobody needs a hundred shot glasses or thimbles, or a dozen beer company clocks on their wall.”
Those who claim their collections are investments are “either deluding themselves,” he says, “or just trying to placate their wife.”
Beretta is single.
Besides the beauty of design and the craftsmanship, a knife’s basic utility is what draws aficionados.
Jared Karlin, 30, a sign language interpreter in St. Louis, began collecting knives when he was about 12. He now has nearly three dozen fixed and folding blades for which he paid a total of about $5,000.....read the rest at the link