Thursday, April 7, 2011

Arms Race

Maine lawmakers on Wednesday approved legalizing switchblades for people with one arm, moving close to becoming the first state to make such an exception to laws that ban use of the spring-action knives.

Backers of the measure say legalizing switchblades would eliminate a need for one-armed people to be forced to open folding knives with their teeth in emergencies.

The bill to allow amputees and other one-armed people to carry the quick-opening knives cleared Maine's Senate on Wednesday after passing the House on Tuesday, Senate officials said.

Until now, Maine banned the use of switchblades by anyone.

In most states, carrying switchblades is illegal in most circumstances, though owning the knives may be allowed in some states.

Federal law allows their use by a person with one arm only on federal property if the blade is shorter than three inches.

The Maine bill requires that the knives have a blade that is three inches or shorter.

Gov. Paul LePage is expected to sign the measure into law in the next couple of days, said spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Lucky Maine. The whole state at full employment, budget balanced, roads paved, & not much for the legislature to do but file their nails, apparently.

And what inane drone made this a Federal deal as well? The One-Armed Peoples Self-Defense lobby is a new one on us, but they seem powerful. Maybe The Fugitive got them worried, & they've been carefully insinuating themselves into the halls of power for the last forty yrs.

2 comments:

Hunger Tallest Palin (or whatever handle I posted under the last time) said...

Switchblades are illegal?

I'm asking on behalf of a friend, of course.

And yes, the title of this post proves are a very bad man.

M. Bouffant said...

Slicing & Dicing Editor Advises:

Sez in some areas you can own them, just not carry them. See? Vital diff.

And we debated the title for a good 10 secs. (Just couldn't come up w/ anything stupider or more offensive.)