Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Switchblades Are Arms Under 2nd Amendment – The Epoch Times

A switchblade knife (TheEpochTimes)

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Federal Switchblade Act (FSA), which regulates automatically opening knives, is unconstitutional.

A three-judge panel made up of Judges Jennifer Walker Elrod, Don Willett, and Cory Wilson on Oct. 22 found that the knives are protected arms under a plain reading of the Second Amendment, and that the FSA did not comport with U.S. history and tradition.

The case, Knife Rights, Inc. v. Blanche, originated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in September 2024. It was brought by advocacy group Knife Rights, Inc., two businesses, and five individuals.

The plaintiffs claimed the FSA violates their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. They asked the court to find the law unconstitutional and to stop its enforcement.

The District Court dismissed the case, and the plaintiffs appealed to the Fifth Circuit, which reversed the dismissal.

Plaintiff Doug Ritter, chairman and founder of Knife Rights, said that the decision will ripple through the legal community. He said the ruling reinforces the understanding that the Second Amendment applies to more than just firearms.

“The important part is this sets a precedent,” Ritter told The Epoch Times. “Anything people use to protect themselves is protected by the Second Amendment.”

The FSA, passed in 1958, did not outlaw switchblades, or automatically opening knives. Instead, it prohibited the interstate manufacture, transportation, and distribution of such knives. It also banned them on certain federal properties. So, the knives were legal under federal law, but they could not be manufactured or taken across state lines for sale.

Ritter, and the other plaintiffs, said this law made no sense. He said the FSA was passed in reaction to what he believes were baseless fears of crime committed by teen gangs. The Fifth Circuit Court’s decision describes the atmosphere that spawned the FSA.

In 1956, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee formed a Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency to deal with the perceived increase in violent crime involving teenagers. According to court documents, popular films like “Rebel Without a Cause,” featuring James Dean, stoked fears that gangs of violent teens were roaming America’s streets.

In those scenarios, the switchblade was the gang members’ preferred weapon. The FSA was an attempt to prevent juvenile delinquency by restricting access to switchblades.

Ritter said he founded his organization 20 years ago after reading a news article on the dangers of “tactical knives.” As an expert in survival gear and a knife designer, Ritter said the article made claims about knives similar to those made about certain semiautomatic rifles.

He said he could envision knife bans being proposed in Congress. He founded Knife Rights to protect the rights of knife owners.

The appeals court judges ruled that the standard set for firearms by the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen is the same standard to apply to knife regulations.

Under Bruen, a law is constitutional if the item or activity it regulates falls under the plain text of the Second Amendment and has a historical analog from the time of the amendment’s ratification.

The judges wrote that knives have been used for self-defense, hunting, and other legitimate activities throughout human history. They wrote that knives fit the definition of arms as understood by the founders, citing a legal dictionary published in 1771 that defined “arms” as “any thing that a man wears for his defence, or takes into his hands, or useth in wrath to cast at or strike another.”

1.1Many Legal Uses

According to the ruling, there are millions of switchblades used for lawful purposes such as hunting, fishing, camping, and hiking, today.

The ruling states that the FSA infringes on the right to keep and bear arms because it impedes the ability to manufacture and sell the knives. The Fifth Circuit found that having a right to bear an arm is moot if there is no right to acquire one.

“Our application of the Bruen analysis leads us to conclude that [the FSA] violates the Second Amendment,” the decision reads.

The appeals court has ordered the case back to the district court for further action.

As a Fifth Circuit Court opinion, it is binding only in federal courts in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

This ruling addresses only two sections of the FSA. Local laws, as well as rules for courthouses, airports, and other secure areas, are not addressed. Still, Ritter said the ruling sets an important precedent for Second Amendment advocates.