A Second Front on the Second Amendment

Quietly, with almost no attention from the old media, a strong second front has been opened in the fight to restore the Second Amendment.

There can be no doubt that knives, tomahawks, and other edged weapons were meant to be included as arms protected under the Second Amendment. They were commonly used weapons in the militias of the Revolutionary War, and had been part of military equipment since the dawn of history.

Opponents of individual rights have been able to dig up a few town safety ordinances regulating the storage of gunpowder or the firing of guns in urban centers.

I have yet to see one that forbade the carrying of knives, tomahawks, or other edged weapons. Swords were specifically mentioned during the debates about the ratification of the Constitution.

Laws limiting the carrying of knives have proliferated after the War between the States, and especially in the last half of the 20th century. Now a small but extremely effective organization is fighting to restore the Second Amendment protections to edged weapons by rolling back silly, ineffective, and unconstitutional bans on them.

A plot in Customs to redefine "switchblade" to include most pocket knives was defeated in Congress in 2009.

In the last few years, New Hampshire(2010, 2011), Utah(2011), and Arizona (2010) have removed most of the bans and restrictions on carrying edged instruments. Knife preemption, eliminating most local restrictions, was passed in Georgia in 2012. A Missouri ban on switchblades was repealed in the same year.

Now, in 2013, a vertible flurry of knife law reforms have been successful in the states.

Kansas started the year with a repeal of the ban on switchblades, dirks, daggers, and stilettos, and by enacting preemption legislation to do away with a patchwork of local laws that were impossible for any sane traveler to keep up with.

Alaska soon followed with a repeal of the ban on switchblades and statewide knife law preemption.

Tennesee followed just a few days later with knife law preemption, and plans to repeal bans on switchblades and others next year.

In May, Indiana eliminated the state's ban on switchblades, with Texas to follow just a few days ago in June.

With the national focus on semi-automatic firearms, standard capacity magazines, and incipient national registration disguised as background checks, little attention has been focused on the success of much needed reforms on the carrying of edged weapons clearly protected by the Second Amendment.

Surprisingly, a reasonably fair article was published in Mother Jones, not know for its concerns about upholding the Constitution. Knife Rights even awarded the author, Richard Grant, with a Freedom's Voice award.

The passage of significant reforms in five states in the first half of 2013 indicates that times are right for rolling back infringements of the individual right to carry and use these time tested tools.

©2013 by Dean Weingarten Permission to share granted as long as this notice is included.