Army – Navy – Air Force – Marine Corps – Coast Guard

There was a huge celebration over at ITS Tactical about the recent amendments in the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2892). And by huge celebration, we mean there was a post about it, and the its headline had two exclamation points. Alright!!

The bill, which was signed by the president on Oct. 28, amended the wording of the act in order to better explain the difference between folding knives and a switch blades.

The following wording was added to Sec. 562. Section 4 of the Federal Switchblade Act:

“…a knife that contains a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that requires exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife.”

According to the American Knife and Tool Institute, the amendment provides a permanent “fix” so that any folding knife with a bias toward closure cannot be declared a switchblade by U.S. Customs. Read more of AKTI’s statement here.

Established in 1958, the Switchblade Act, prohibits switchblade possession on Federal lands, Indian reservations, military bases, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and other protectorates as well as manufacture and sale of switchblades in interstate commerce. The U.S. government holds some restrictions when it comes to shipping knives, as well.