No Stupid Questions

we have had a lot of laws against defense to like body armor or nonlethal weapons. its wierd. I remember watching a pbs round table with degerberg on it and he was talking about where are ll the murder corpses with shuriken wounds. H liked arnis because as he says there is no government in the world that can outlaw sticks.

My opinion is that it comes down to people not caring as much.

Yeah, that seems obvious, but bear with me here.

Know what the biggest difference there is between knives and guns? It ain't how they do the job as weapons, though that is a big one. It's that guns all work the same, so if you start banning one kind, it ends up applying to far more than anyone that thinks of firearms as an extension of the right to defense, a core human right, is willing to accept.

You ban switchblades, and there's still fixed blades, slipjoints, lockbacks, etc. Nobody has ever tried to make the kind of laws you see around knives in other countries, but if there was an attempt, I don't think there would be as much passion against it as there are with guns because there's just not as much concern about knives as part of the right to defense because guns exist. Range > melee 90% of the time.

Firearms are the gold standard for personal weaponry. So out of the peeps that care about the enumerated right to keep and bear arms simply don't think about knives as much. Same as they don't think about bows, or swords or halberds. They don't care because the fight isn't as relevant to them.

And, on the other side of things, because guns are the gold standard, you don't have as many people targeting knives. There's less to fight against

Now, if guns disappeared, see how quickly crossbows and swords started being the target as people shifted to them instead of guns. That's where the fight would go to. Ban those, and there's going to be steps all the way down until the debate is about how big a rock you are allowed to have.

Also, because of that lack of give-a-shit, knife laws aren't draconian everywhere. There's some states where you can own and carry any knife you want. Others only ban knives that can shoot across the room, or other specific, niche types

Also, I think you're underestimating how easy it is to get a pistol. If you go in without the work done ahead of time, you ain't buying a pistol in half an hour. I don't think even Texas is that loose. Background checks take at least that long. Maybe I'm behind the times om something, but even "shall issue" permit states, you have to count getting the permit in the time factor, imo.

Because so-called second amendment advocates are really just gun nuts, and so over the years they have worked hard to maintain the right to keep and bear guns, rather than arms.

Thus knives, swords, halberds, maces, and all other 'arms' have had restrictions go unchallenged, or at least, not challenged by an extensive and well funded network of advocacy.

Because knives are the weapon of choice of poor people and abuse victims that are lashing out while guns are favored by the white dudes

Well there are such restrictions on guns, try and get a short barrel rifle in under 30 min, the paperwork alone will take that long.

But also yeah those laws suck and shouldn't exist. Much like the original intent behind CCW permits where the theory was "concealing is for criminals," those knives were also seen as "for criminals." It's just old outdated bullshit that goes largely uncharged but can be used if they want to fuck with you. In some cases "criminals" was also synonymous with black people or even italians depending on the year lol, and were passed for racist reasons.

Just line up the gun parallel to the tape so that the bullet rips it open

Very old laws on the books that no one has bothered to change in some states. Federally, they aren't illegal. Federally, knives weren't protected under the 2nd amendment so states had an easier time putting rules in place against them, and many did. My state just legalized otf and switch blades for everyone a few years ago. Mainly because unassisted knives were able to become just as quick and easy to open, it was a bit silly to leave assisted open knives not legal.

As an added note just for you: cardboard is hell on knife blades and they'll dull them very quickly. I'd get yourself a box knife and blades f9r it if you open a lot of boxes, unless you want to sharpen a knife like twice a week.

The workaround is to buy a small handgun for concealed carry and then attach a small switchblade bayonet.

Your right to open boxes shall not be infringed

Depends on the state. Down here there are pretty much zero restrictions except with an asterisk that it's illegal to harm someone with them... AKA, an extra charge of you're a dick and stab someone.

I've been carrying an "out the front automatic" for the last few years.

I suspect it is because knives are not included in the second amendment of the constitution. That is a pretty easy argument for people to use against gun regulation (whether or fair or not), but there is no such thing for knives.

You don't need a switchblade to open boxes. A box cutter (hence the name) works just fine.

If you think box cutters are too blue-collar, get a multitool with a knife on it (a "pocketknife" with other gizmos).

They aren't: This is 100% state dependent. Some states have extremely permissive laws allowing you to carry anything from a switchblade to a greatsword if you want.

You definitely need to start shooting open your Amazon boxes

When a moral panic happens, a lot of things get blown out of proportion. A good example was the panic relating to D&D and satanism. There was a huge panic sometime in the 50s or 60s about the police dealing with young thugs with concealed switch blades, which could be hidden, and then deployed one handed so fast a cop couldn't draw his weapon fast enough. So this panic got a lot of laws drawn up to ban any switch blade.

Since then, the there are knives that skirt the law by not having a spring which force the blade open, instead a tension bar. There are still types are illegal to carry if a Cop would find out you have it, like "Out the front" switch knives.

The stupid part is, there are plenty of "one hand deployable" knives on the market that are 100% legal. But the laws never get revisited. In my state it's illegal to have a out the front switch blade, yet a bunch of high end OTF knives are for sale at a sporting store. They just post a sign that says "Know your local laws", which some how makes it okay to sell.

If anyone has more to add, or corrects, let me know.

The US has strong knife laws? I carry a knife almost everyday and this is the first I’m hearing of this. The only time I can’t take my knife somewhere is if no weapons at all are allowed there, like government buildings.

Because knife doesn't have NKA to lobby for it.

The corrolary is that there's essentially no knife control in Canada. There's no length limit or anything. The law just states that you can't carry a weapon. But if you have a reasonable reason to be carrying a machete (like going bushwacking) you're good.