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I got this in an email.

[Date]

Dear Senator or Representative [insert name]:

I am asking for your support to oppose U.S. Customs’ proposal to re-interpret the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958 – Customs proposes to criminalize modern assisted-opening knives by defining them as “switchblades” under the federal law. Criminalization of these tools is unconscionable. These convenient modern tools are used by active and reserve military, EMTs, police, firemen, sportsmen, handymen, hikers, bikers, hunters, and fishers and have been commonly sold for years in any number of retail outlets such as AAFES, Wal-Mart, Target, Dick’s, Big-5, Cabela’s, Gander Mountain and Bass Pro, as well as thousands of independent retail outlets all over the United States. Although the law is more than 50 years old, these types of knives have never before been considered switchblades.

I am a knife owner. I am not a criminal. I use a folding knife for utilitarian purposes. [Your personal story.]

When Congress drafted the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958, it defined “switchblades” narrowly to outlaw a very specific set of knives that open “automatically” because they have a bias toward opening. In these knives the blade is released at the instant the release button is pressed.

Assisted-opening knives do not open automatically, but rather have a bias toward closure that must be overcome with a significant manual maneuver.

Customs proposes to re-interpret the meaning of the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958. This artifice quite simply contradicts the intent of Congress. Assisted-opening knives are legal in 50 states. Indeed, state court cases in California, Texas, Illinois and Michigan have explicitly ruled that assisted-opening knives are not switchblades. On May 29, 2009 Texas lawmakers unanimously approved a new state law protecting one-hand-openers and assisted-openers as legal tools.

If the proposed revocation goes into effect, businesses will close, jobs will be lost and millions of law-abiding Americans will be put in jeopardy for carrying their knives across state lines or arrested for mere possession of such banned items. The change in classification would make the mere possession of such knives a felony; thus rendering thousands of US citizens criminals under the federal law.

According to the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI), an association serving all segments of the sporting knife industry, the U.S. sporting knife industry has a $5.9 billion total annual economic impact on the U.S. economy. Approximately 19,405 related jobs and 3,881 direct U.S employees at 61 companies would be affected. AKTI estimates that sales of assisted-openers and one-hand-opening knives have been 80 percent of total U.S. knife sales during the past five years. Our current economic crisis cannot afford even a minor ripple due to a negative Customs’ decision.