Sunday, April 30, 2017

Knife Check at the NRA Meeting in Atlanta



Weapons could be carried, openly or concealed, at the NRA Meeting in Atlanta in 2017. Except where the Secret Service had control of the venue for President Trump's speech. As you can see, knives and numerous other items that people would not think of as weapons, such as selfie sticks and backpacks, were prohibited.

This could have presented a major problem for people who had just walked a half a mile from parking to see and hear the first American President to address the NRA Annual Meeting since Ronald Reagan in 1983.  Fortunately, Doug Ritter of Knife Rights had arranged a compassionate solution.  Only a hundred feet from where attendees were being told they could not possess that treasured pocket knife, or bring their backpack into the venue Knife Rights had set up a complimentary Knife Check.

Doug Ritter at NRA Atlanta 2017

The Knife check did not just save people trouble and knives. They stored backpacks, walking sticks, flashlights, and holsters. About the only thing they did not check were firearms. A boy scout group volunteered to aid in the check in process. As people lined up to see President Trump, the place got busy.



This was the second year that Knife Rights had set up a complimentary knife check for a Secret Service venue at the annual NRA meeting. I asked Doug Ritter how long he expected to continue with the service.  He said that Knife Rights would do it as long as there was a Secret Service controlled event at the NRA Meeting. A friend of mine predicted that Donald Trump would serve for two terms, and that a President Pence would serve two more after that.

Doug Ritter said: "From your mouth to God's ears."

These events may continue for quite a run.

Knife Rights is a powerhouse in reforming knife laws across the nation. Chairman Ritter says that they have opened up a "Second Front" in the war to restore the Second Amendment. Their success has been phenomenal for such a small, underfunded organization.  Operating on peanuts, they have been able to successfully lobby to eliminate unconstitutional restrictions on the ownership and carry of knives in 16 states in eight years. They have succeed in creating Constitutional Carry for knives in Arizona, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Alaska, and Kansas.

They have eliminated bans on switchblades, daggers, bowie knives, dirks, stilettos, and belt buckle knives.

Knife Rights has been in the forefront of combating ivory bans and antihunting initiatives in numerous states and at the federal level.

It is hard to overstate their impact on knife law.

Knives are clearly arms protected by the Second Amendment.

This year lobbying is ongoing to reform knife law in several states.  A legal challenge to the ban on knives under a bizarre interpretation of knife law in New York City is at the appellate court.

If you own or carry a knife of any description, Knife Rights is fighting for your rights. The knife check is just one example of the work they are accomplishing.


©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.





2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I worked in a copper mine as a journeyman millwright lead man I had about 100 pounds of hand tools that went everywhere on the job with me. Many time I would leave those two tool boxes at a place near the work sight and carry in my pockets only the specific tools I would need for a specific job/repair. I had a lot of tools that would not fit in the tool boxes and they had to be carried to the job sight separately. numerous jobs required several different knives, screwdrivers, combination wrenches, different size crescent wrenches numerous power tools, air tuggers/chain hoists, comealongs, prize bars, clamps, pullers, One of the air impact wrenches we used the over head crane to move around,, it used 8 inch sockets and used several hundred pounds o cork, then there maybe hundreds of feet of air/electric lines and welding lead sand torches and gauges. Many times there were chains and steel cables up to two inches in diameter. I had uses for many types of small knives so I got used to carrying them in my pockets rather then have to run back to the tool box every time I needed a different knife. I haven't done that kind of work in over thirty years and I still carry four or five different knives in my pockets. I have knives up to thirty nine inches long. there are times when you need a multi blade folding knife or something as small as a two inch blade very pointed knife. the same as one time you may carry a shot gun with a 28 inch barrel and another time you may need a 20 inch barrel. the shortest barrel on a pistol I have is 4 inches up to nine and a half inches. the size of the tools you carry is your choice and are intended to meet the needs of what you are doing. I made those decision on the job and I'll make them for self defense. any time someone objects to my choice they can make their best effort to take them away from me.
I live very near the river and the California/ Arizona border. One side of the river / California a ten inch blade is legal on the other side/ Arizona a 12 inch blade is legal. with the same fishing license you can fish on both sides of the river. two hundred feet is the difference between being legal and breaking the law. down right ignorant and stupid. California likes to claim they have jurisdiction on the Arizona side of the river in several places. Federal law says the center of the river is the state line. many times I carry a pistol while fishing for snakes along the river. from time to time I have seen bob cats and mountain lions and coyotes. there used to be two little skunks that would beg for anchovies.

Anonymous said...

to continue, I was fishing at sandy cove once and two country deputies were standing behind me. I was 50 feet from what they believed was the state line. the California deputy wanted to take my 12 inch bowie knife and the Arizona deputy told him I was still in Arizona and to leave me alone. I used to carry a six inch Schrade Walden knife. It was sharp enough to shave with. I could cut a one by to wooden steak into with one pass. I trained as a meat cutter/ Butcher, I know how to sharpen a knife. tools are tools until you need to use them as weapons. a rock is a deadly weapon or a yard decoration. My ex wife's yard if bordered with polished river rocks that I gave her. A base ball bat is for sports. I have done CPR on a person killed with a base ball bat, they are not licensed. take the flags off of my flag poles and they would be great spears. so don't tread on me. what you carry for self defense is a freedom of choice protected by the un enumerated rights in the ninth amendment . government has no authority to tell you what You can carry or what you can afford to buy. even if I have a hundred knives or a hundred guns what I carry, where I carry, how I carry is my business. No body take responsibility for my death if I am unarmed. Putting some ass hole away for 20 years will not bring me back to life. to hell with their unconstitutional infringements