Buying automatic knife from Australia! Help!

August 20, 2009 07:15

Check with your local law enforcement there. Here they are legal in most of the states. I live in Ohio where it is legal to own but not to carry.
Go to www.knifeforums.com the guys there might be able to help you more.

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beantownshootah

August 20, 2009 12:58

Without knowing jack about Australian law, experience suggests that if you can't find them anywhere in Australia and you've looked, that's probably a good sign that they aren't legal there.

And so says Wiki on this topic:

quote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchblade
In Australia, switchblades are banned by the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations as a Prohibited Import.

At a state level, most jurisdictions declare them to be prohibited weapons in their respective acts, codes and regulations. Persons residing in states which do not have specific weapons legislation covering switchblades (e.g., Tasmania) are still covered by Federal Customs legislation, but in circumstances where the state has no legislation against such items, an exemption may be applied for, after approval by the Head of the Police service in that state.

Some states which have specific legislation against switchblades allow individuals to apply for an exemption from this legislation if they have a legitimate reason. For example, in the state of Victoria, a member of a bona fide knife-collectors' association, who is not a prohibited person (per the Firearms Act 1996), and meets other guidelines and conditions may apply to the Chief Commissioner of Police for a Prohibited Weapons Exemption, to possess, carry, or otherwise own such a knife.

This exemption may then, in turn, be used to apply to the Australian Customs Service for an import permit.[7]

Australian Customs refer to all Switchblades as Flick Knives

Australian Legal Definition: A flick knife (or other similar device) that has a blade which opens automatically by gravity or centrifugal force or by any pressure applied to a button, spring or device in or attached to the handle of the knife.

So it looks like unless you are related to a Chief of Police, or want to become a bona-fide collector of knives, you can't have one of these.

Some US states that otherwise ban switchblades permit them to be owned by people who have a disability in one hand. Probably doesn't apply to you. . .

Also, for what its worth, the "spring assisted" knives like the various Kershaw ones (eg "Blur", "Onion", etc) seem to skirt the definition of a switchblade in most of the USA since you have to push/pull on the actual blade to open them, not the handle.

These knives are legal just about everywhere here, and are just as useful as actual switchblades.

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babun

August 20, 2009 14:23

The laws are very hazy on the subject of true switch blades. Almost all
of the "normal" states {thats not you, NYC, Kalif, NJ !} TEND to treat them on a case by case item.
If you use it to hold up a 7/11 store, you're in deep trouble. If you have them in a collection....who cares?
Sort of like, if you are caught stealing a car with a screwdriver and
a slap-hammer, you ARE charged also with possession of "burglary tools".
But yet every mechanic and body/fenderman has the same tools bought from Snap-on.

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varian

August 20, 2009 16:16

my kershaw "onion" opens automatically with just a touch on the back of the blade. not sure if a ban on automatic knives is fact or fiction, suspect a little of both depending upon local law.

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Spartacus

August 20, 2009 17:12

quote:or want to become a bona-fide collector of knives

even being a collector involves alot of paperwork and time if customs holds up the knife.
I sent an out the front automatic to someone in australia who IS a collector, and he's still trying to get it out of customs!

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beantownshootah

August 21, 2009 09:22

quote:Originally posted by varian
my kershaw "onion" opens automatically with just a touch on the back of the blade. not sure if a ban on automatic knives is fact or fiction, suspect a little of both depending upon local law.

This whole question is getting off the subject. The bottom line is that switchblade-type knives are heavily restricted in Australia, and for practical purposes aren't legally obtainable by most people there.

I'd issue another caveat here, that if all you want is an Italian stiletto knife (and I can see why. . .some of them are quite nice), you probably CAN legally get any number of them that AREN'T AUTOMATIC. The manual ones aren't as "cool", maybe, but they still can be quite nice and are worth thinking about.

Back to the legality issue in the USA, this is not a fiction at all.

"Switchblade" type knives are explicitly defined and banned in various states and local jurisdictions within the USA. While maybe some of the various State or local law is ambiguous, it certainly isn't all that way. Here is ONE example of a law banning them in NY State:

quote:
New York Penal Law
Article 265
265.00 Weapons Crimes - Firearms and Other Dangerous Weapons
Definitions
As used in this article and in article four hundred, the following terms shall mean and include:
...
4. "Switchblade Knife" means any knife which has a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in the handle of the knife.
...
265.01 Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree
Class A Misdemeanor
A person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree when:
(1) He possesses any ... switchblade knife
...
265.10 Manufacture, Transport, Disposition and Defacement of Weapons and Dangerous Instruments and Appliances
Class D Felony and Class A Misdemeanor
1. ... Any person who manufactures or causes to be manufactured any switchblade knife ... is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
2. ... Any person who transports or ships as merchandise any ... switch-blade knife ... is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
...
4. Any person who disposes of any of the weapons, instruments or appliances specified in subdivision one of section 265.01, except a firearm, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor, and he is guilty of a class D felony if he has previously been convicted of any crime.
...
265.15 Presumption of Possession, Unlawful Intent and Defacement
...
3. The presence in an automobile, other than a stolen one or a public omnibus, of any ... switchblade knife ... is presumptive evidence of its possession by all persons occupying such automobile at the time such weapon, instrument or appliance is found, except under the following circumstances: (a) if such weapon, instrument or appliance is found upon the person of one of the occupants therein ...
4. ... The possession by any person of any ... dangerous knife or any other weapon, instrument, appliance or substance designed, made or adapted for use primarily as a weapon, is presumptive evidence of intent to use the same unlawfully against another.

I don't see any confusion or ambiguity there.

In NY State, you are not allowed to POSSESS a switchblade knife, you're not allowed to BUILD one, TRANSPORT one, SELL one, or even DISPOSE of (eg give away) one. You can't legally have one, period.

Parts 3 and 4 are particularly noteworthy: If you're found in a vehicle that has one inside, you are presumptively guilty of possessing it, even if it isn't on your person. If you are found with an illegal weapon, that BY ITSELF is legal proof of intent to commit a crime with it. In other words, if you EVER threaten or hurt someone with one, or even have one in the "wrong" place, no matter what the circumstances (eg even in legitimate self-defense), the bar is that much lower for you to be criminally prosecuted for it.

Your Kershaw is legal because it isn't a "switchblade" by the legal definition. That is to say, it doesn't have a separate button on the handle that opens or releases the blade. Although the Kershaw knife "assists" you by opening the knife blade the rest of the way if you partially open it, you still have to manually open it yourself. As I said earlier, its effectively a legal "switchblade". Whether or not its an "automatic" knife depends on your definition of that term.

Now, whether or not any of these knives "should" be banned is a whole other issue.

IMO, the banned knives are no more intrinsically dangerous than any other common folding knife, almost all of which nowadays have thumb studs to allow quick one handed opening. They're certainly not any more dangerous than the "manual assist" type knives which are perfectly legal. In fact, arguably, these "switchblade" knives are actually *LESS* dangerous than many other folding designs because of a propensity to jam and/or weak locks. To put it differently, they're only more dangerous TO THE HOLDER OF THE KNIFE.

Historically, these knives weren't banned because of their intrinsic danger, but because of the strong association with violent youth gangs in the 1950s. (EG see "West Side Story"). Its not that different than so called "assault weapons" being banned because of they way they look.

The political reality here is that nobody "needs" these automatic knives badly enough to get silly laws like this revoked. The "pro-switchblade" (ie knife collecting) lobby isn't powerful enough to overcome the public's distaste for these things.

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Buying automatic knife from Australia! Help!

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