File this away under Things I Didn’t See Coming.
The 9th Circus Court of Appeals made a good decision.
Ninth Circuit overturns butterfly knife ban, citing Supreme Court guns ruling
Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling that severely limited states’ authority to regulate guns, a federal appeals court on Monday struck down Hawaii’s ban on butterfly knives, pocket knives with folding blades that can be quickly joined into a single blade and used as a weapon.
The ruling, if it stands, could also be used to overturn California’s prohibition on carrying butterfly knives in public that have blades longer than 2 inches.
When the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last year that Americans have a constitutional right to carry concealed firearms in public — a decision that struck down laws in New York, California and other states — the court also declared, in the words of Justice Clarence Thomas, that any restriction on gun possession was unconstitutional unless the government could show it was “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation,” dating back to the country’s founding.
On Monday, a conservative panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the same standard applies to restrictions on knives, including butterfly knives.
Although those cases have involved guns, the same standard should apply to restrictions on other types of weapons, the appeals court said Monday.
“Like firearms, bladed weapons fit the general definition of ‘arms’” under the Constitution’s Second Amendment, Judge Carlos Bea said in the 3-0 ruling, citing a dictionary published in 1774.
And while Hawaii contends butterfly knives are commonly used by criminals, Bea wrote, evidence shows they are “commonly owned for lawful purposes. … Hawaii has submitted no evidence that butterfly knives are not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for self-defense.”
Seeking to satisfy the Supreme Court’s “historical tradition” standard, Hawaii said that as far back as the 1830s, states had restricted or banned weapons like the Bowie knife, which has a single-edged blade longer than 9 inches. But Bea said those laws were “outliers,” not shared by most states, and were nowhere near as restrictive as Hawaii’s current law.
In the nation’s early history and tradition, there are “no analogues in which Congress or any state legislature imposed an outright ban on the possession of pocket knives to remedy this (crime) problem,” Bea wrote. He was joined by Judges Daniel Collins and Kenneth Lee.
Hot damn!
My biggest complaint about the way the Second Amendment is enforced, when it is enforced, is limited to guns.
I’m a big believer that the Second Amendment applies to all weapons.
I’ve posted a myriad of videos of assaults from inside train cars and other close packed situations where a gun and pepper spray are both bad ideas. Either over penetration of bullets or gassing yourself in an enclosed area.
Collapsible batons, blackjacks, brass knuckles, all are effective intermediate weapons for extreme CQB.
Some asshole gets in your face and starts manhandling you on the subway, a quarter of a pound of brass to the forehead will generally change his tune without breaking your hand.
I often carry an ASP Protector concealable baton. During the summer of love it went with me everywhere in case of protesters. Pepper spray and a baton were a good combo.
But there are many places that put restrictions on non-firearm weapons.
Tennessee for example, has permitless firearm carry but requires training and a license for a baton.
I want to see this decision used to challenge all weapon laws everywhere in America.
I’m a law abiding citizen, I should be able to carry any weapon I want to defend myself.
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