My best guess about the antique/curio part is so that a person can transport a historic artifact, or collection of historical artifacts from one place to another, or possess them temporarily in a place that is not under his control. I doubt a DA or judge will accept such a defense if circumstances appear that the possessor of said curio or antique is simply going about his daily routine when found with the item. This passage does give me the ablity to tell my rookie to let an otherwise law-abiding citizen go, because it looks to me like this guy is just transporting an artifact of his family history, and not out looking for trouble. Please do remember that a "defense to prosecution" DOES allow arrest and/or confiscation, until such time as the DA or judge can review the case!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------On the original subject, the best interpretation of the anti-switchblade laws, and prohibition on certain knives in general, is that much of the public believes knives are the weapon of thugs, while gentlemen carry guns. I can remember as far back as the 1960's and 1970's, when mosy folding knives were slipjoints, and the few folders with mechanisms that locked the blade open tended to look like switchblades from West Side Story. BTW, did y'all know that San Antonio, Texas, still bans the possession of folding knives that lock in the open position? Still on the books, since 1959. Yep, about the time switchblades were banned in other parts of the country. Yet, fixed-blade knives are legal in San Antonio and the rest of Texas, subject to the other statewide limitations such as blade length and number of sharpened edges.