May 10, 2017

Senators introduce bipartisan bill to protect law-abiding knife owners

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., introduced legislation today to ensure that those traveling with a properly secured knife are not prosecuted under local or state laws which ban certain knives.

 “The Interstate Transport Act provides common-sense protections for knife owners traveling through the United States,” Wyden said. “Our bipartisan bill would protect public safety, respect states’ rights and ensure knife owners who are following the law are not punished for traveling between places where knives are legal.”

“Growing up in Wyoming, I know that knives are an essential tool for hunters, ranchers, farmers and other various everyday uses,” Enzi said. “But with conflicting knife laws across the country, it can make it difficult for responsible knife owners to know if they are violating the law if they are travelling with a knife. This bill would help fix that by ensuring that if you’re traveling from point A to point C with a knife that is legal in both locations, you shouldn’t have to worry about being charged with a knife possession crime in between at point B.”

The Interstate Transport Act would provide safe harbor to individuals travelling with a knife where it is lawful for the knife to be possessed at both the points of origin and destination, so long as the knife is transported in a locked container or is not directly accessible from the passenger compartment of a mode of transportation. This legislation is based on the Firearms Owner Protection Act of 1986 which provides the same protection to law?abiding gun owners.

Other cosponsors of the legislation include U.S. Senators Steve Daines, R-Mont., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., James Risch, R-Idaho, and Joe Manchin, D-W.V.

The legislation is also supported by the American Knife and Tool Institute.

"On behalf of the American Knife and Tool Institute (AKTI), I want to thank Senators Enzi and Wyden for their bipartisan introduction of the Interstate Transport Act," AKTI President CJ Buck said. "One of the biggest complaints and points of confusion AKTI hears about from lawful knife owners involves the interstate transport of knives. While citizens are making every effort to comply with patchwork state and local laws, it has become clear that there is the need for a federal protection for sportsmen, hunters, and other law-abiding knife owners that does not interfere with state and local restrictions on knife use. We thank Senators Enzi and Wyden for leading the efforts to correct this.”