since 2006
Rewriting Knife Law in America
- Doug Ritter, Chairman
- 30 legislative victories in 22 states
- Our Knife Owners’ Protection Act
- Knife Rights is really two organizations.
– Knife Rights, Inc. is the 501(c)(4) member advocacy organization which promotes pro-knife legislation and opposes anti-knife legislation.
– The Knife Rights Foundation, Inc., is the 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization that also pursues litigation in support of knife owner civil rights.
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Knife Rights
P.O. Box 657
Gilbert, AZ
85299-0657
866-889-6268
About Knife Rights
Knife Rights is a national advocacy organization focused on the legal rights of knife owners, led by Chairman Doug Ritter and based in Gilbert, Arizona. It works through two arms: Knife Rights, Inc., a 501(c)(4) that lobbies for pro-knife legislation, and the Knife Rights Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that handles education and civil rights litigation. The group borrowed much of its playbook from the gun rights movement, pursuing state-by-state repeal of switchblade and other knife bans along with knife law preemption, so that a knife legal in one part of a state is legal everywhere in it.
The results have been significant. By January 2017 Ritter reported switchblade bans repealed in 11 states over the prior seven years, and by mid-2017 the group counted knife ban repeals in 17 states. At the federal level, Knife Rights conceived and wrote the Knife Owners’ Protection Act (KOPA) in 2010; it was first introduced in 2014 and reintroduced in January 2017 by Rep. Andy Biggs. KOPA would repeal the 1958 Federal Switchblade Act and give travelers safe passage with lawfully owned knives. The group has also pursued federal litigation, including a challenge to New York City’s gravity knife enforcement.
Key Facts
- 1958: Federal Switchblade Act, a long-time repeal target, enacted
- 2010: Knife Rights drafts the Knife Owners’ Protection Act
- 2014: KOPA first introduced in Congress
- January 4, 2017: KOPA reintroduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ-05)
- July 2017: knife ban repeals reported in 17 states and anti-knife bills blocked in 6 more
Sources
- Knife Rights: Repeal Federal Switchblade Act Introduced in Congress (Rep. Andy Biggs)
- Lobbyists Turbocharge Knife Rights’ Federal Agenda (AmmoLand)
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