Pittsburgh, PA (January 29, 2015) – Several years of work culminated this week in the introduction of a bill to remove all references to knives under Pennsylvania state law Section 908 "Prohibited Offensive Weapon."
PA H 230 would delete "dagger, knife, razor or cutting instrument razor which is exposed in an automatic way by switch, push button, spring mechanism, or otherwise" from Section 2 Section 908 (c) of Title 18.
The only prohibition under existing law is for a knife with a blade exposed in an automatic way. If enacted PA would have no knife prohibitions and statewide uniformity or "preemption." The amendment to Section 908 is part of a broader bill also dealing with firearms.
As a native of Pennsylvania, lawyer, and knife expert, AKTI's legislative consultant Daniel C. Lawson has been working relentlessly to make his state free of knife laws.
"The American Knife & Tool Institute is making a huge difference state by state repealing or clarifying knife laws and I'm very pleased that legislators in Pennsylvania have listened to my request to introduce this legislation," said Lawson. "My own representative, John Maher, of Upper St. Claire, was very understanding of the problems created when types of knives used as valuable tools are classified as offensive weapons."
Joining Representative Maher as bill sponsors were Representatives Saccone, Dunbar, Maloney, Diamond, Krieger, Cutler, Kauffman, Reese, Roae, Saylor, James, McGinnis, Everett, Sankey, Hickernell, A. Harris, Readshaw, Metcalfe, Tallman and Cox.
“We’re extremely excited to get this legislation introduced and with such tremendous support,” said Jan Billeb, AKTI Executive Director. “AKTI is continuing initiatives in several states this year on pro-knife bills that will benefit the entire community including Virginia, Oklahoma, Nevada, Mississippi, Texas, New York, and others and we’ll report progress on our website at www.AKTI.org/news.”
For more details on the Pennsylvania bill, as well as other states visit www.AKTI.org
he American Knife & Tool Institute is the non-profit advocacy organization for the knife industry and all knife owners. Its mission is to ensure that Americans will always be able to make, buy, sell, own, carry and use knives and edged tools. Formed in 1998, AKTI is dedicated to educating, promoting and providing relevant and accurate information about knives and edged tools as important tools in daily American life.
