California law prohibited the concealed wearing of dirk or dagger. The dilemma was that the article was a modified British bayonet and, as the court noted, « there was no British Dirk. » Opportunely, their solution was to charge the accused Ruiz with two counts; The first claimed that he owned a Dirk, and the second claimed that he had a dagger. (No charges regarding the stolen copper wire were mentioned in the case, likely due to lack of evidence, outside of the circumstances.) Instead of trying to prove that the « British bayonet » was a Dirk or alternatively a dagger based on various aspects of the design, the jury was actually asked to « flip a coin » if it decided to convict. The jury`s verdict that the knife was a dagger was upheld on appeal. If the knife was not hidden, if it was carried in a sheath the size of the accused, or if the knife did not fall within the definition of a dirk or dagger, a defendant would not be guilty of this crime. A line chef in a restaurant finishes his shift and drinks with his colleagues before returning home. The chef has an office knife that he brings home and carries in his jacket pocket because he lives in a dangerous area and likes to have extra protection. The cook is arrested at a duI checkpoint on the way home and finally arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. During an incident searching for arrest, police found the automatic knife in his jacket, which the cook was wearing at the time of the arrest.

In addition to the DUI fee, the cook could be accused of carrying a dirk or a hidden dagger. The fact that he did not intend to use the knife as a weapon would not be relevant as long as he had knowingly concealed it from himself. If the cook had kept the knife in the front seat of his car or in the trunk, he would not have been guilty of this crime. Although the Statement of Legislative Intent claims to have resolved the dilemma presented, it has created an opportunity for confusion. The definition in § 265.00 5c for automatic knives should only be understood and applied in the unique context of the New York State Museum exception. Comments: Automatic knife is a term used to refer to a specific type of knife depending on the functionality. In the knife industry, « automatic knife » is the preferred term for what is often inaccurately and pejoratively referred to as the « switching blade. » The distinctive aspect of an automatic knife is that it uses only stored or potential energy to move the blade, which is usually preloaded or « spring-loaded » in the open position and held closed by a trigger-triggered mechanism. This energy is « stored » by compressing a spring when the blade is manually rotated into the closed position. The only manual force involved in the automatic opening process is applied to the trigger control – usually a push-button switch on the handle – which allows the blade to move.

Many folding knives, including manual sliding joint designs, can be opened by a « wrist-engage » kinetic movement. This fact was notoriously exploited by prosecutors in the greater New York Area for several decades until May 2019, when the knife ban on « gravity/centrifugal force » was lifted by the efforts of AKTI and others. It turned out to be evidence that the weapon in question was a bayonet, part of which was deposited that could be carried on the body; that it resembled a British bayonet; that there was no British Dirk; that the weapon looked like a dagger in every detail, except that a dagger is sharper and lighter. Despite the long-standing doctrine of emptiness for imprecision, admittedly imperfect and confusing definitions – applied to knives – have been maintained. Ortiz recognizes that the definition is flawed and condescendingly suggests that since only fishermen and hunters can « become victims » and can invoke an affirmative defence, imperfection is acceptable. Comments: Balisong and butterfly are used interchangeably and refer to a specific type of knife based on functionality. Butterfly knives are banned in Hawaii under this name. Restrictions on butterfly knives apply in New Mexico, where the state restriction « switching blade » was designed to apply to butterfly knives. The peculiarity of a butterfly knife is two handles, each with a pivot point. The distal ends are held together when closed or opened by a simple lock. Legislative intent.

The intention of the legislator is to facilitate the creation of certain museums dedicated to the cataloguing, inventory, exhibition or exhibition of cutlery and knives of the State of New York. In particular, this legislation will help interested communities and groups in the Hudson Valley, which has a long history of knife making, to establish a cutlery and knife museum that can be offered for public display or display of certain automatic knives, among other things. In the early twentieth century, Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster counties produced about fifty percent of all knives made in the United States. There are people who are interested in local history and are considering creating a local museum to exhibit all the different types of cutlery and knives made in the Hudson Valley and the United States. However, although some military and police officers and those who hold a hunting or fishing license may legally possess certain automatic knives, museums and other institutions established to promote art, education, history and science, it is not permitted by law to possess or possess such artifacts.