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47 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 167 (2013-2014)
Knives and the Second Amendment

handle is hein.journals/umijlr47 and id is 175 raw text is: KNIVES AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT David B. Kopel,' Clavton E. Cramer2 & Joseph Edward Olson3 This Article is the first scholarly analysis of knives and the Second Amendment. Under the Supreme Court's standard in District of Columbia v. Heller, knives are Second Amendment arms because they are typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, including self-defense. There is no knife that is more dangerous than a modern handgun; to the contrary, knives are much less dangerous. Therefore, restrictions on carrying handguns set the upper limit for restrictions on carrying knives. Prohibitions on carrying knives in general, or of particular knives, are unconstitu- tional. For example, bans of knives that open in a convenient way (e.g., switchblades, gravity knives, and butterfy knives) are unconstitutional. Likewise unconstitutional are bans on folding knives that, after being opened, have a safety lock to prevent inadvertent closure. 1. Adjunct Professor of Advanced Constitutional Law, Denver University, Sturm College of Law. Research Director, Independence Institute, Denver, Colorado. Associate Policy Analyst, Cato Institute, Washington, D.C. Professor Kopel is the author of fifteen books and over eighty scholarly journal articles, including the first law school textbook on the Second Amendment: NICHOLASJ. JOHNSON, DAVID B. KOPEL, GEORGE A. MoCsARY & MICHAEL P. O'SHEA, FIREARMS LAW AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT: REGULATION, RIGHTS, AND POLICY (Vicki Been et al. eds., 2012). Kopel's website is DAVE KOPEL, http://www.davekopel.org (last visited Aug. 20, 2013). 2. Adjunct History Faculty, College of Western Idaho. Mr. Cramer is the author of CONCEALED WEAPON LAWS OF THE EARLY REPUBLIC: DUELING, SOUTHERN VIOLENCE, AND MoRAL REFORM (1999) (cited by Justice Breyer in McDonald v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 3020, 3132 (2010) (Breyer, J., dissenting)), and ARMED AMERICA: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF How AND WHY GUNS BECAME As AMERICAN As APPLE PIE (2006), and co-author of, among other articles, Clayton E. Cramer & Joseph Edward Olson, What Did Bear Arms Mean in the Second Amendment?, 6 GEo. J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 511 (2008) (cited by Justice Scalia in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 588 (2008)), and Clayton E. Cramer, NicholasJ.Johnson & George A. Mocsary, This Right is Not Allowed by Governments that Are Afraid of the People: The Public Meaning of the Second Amendment When the Fourteenth Amendment Was Ratified, 17 GEo. MASON L. REv. 823 (2010) (cited by Justice Alito in McDonald, 130 S. Ct. at 3039 n.21, 3041 n.25, 3043). Mr. Cramer's website is CLAvrON CRAMER'S WEB PAGE, http://www.clayton cramer.com (last visited Aug. 20, 2013). 3. Professor of Law, Hamline University School of Law, A.B. University of Notre Dame, J.D. (distinction) Duke University, LL.M. University of Florida. Professor Olson is the author of a book on federal taxation, thirteen articles in various fields, and four amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court on Second Amendment issues, as well as co-author of Clayton E. Cramer & Joseph Edward Olson, What Did Bear Arms Mean in the Second Amendment?, 6 GEO.J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 511 (2008). The authors thank Michael P. O'Shea, Eugene Volokh, Robert Dowlut, and Rhonda L. Thorne Cramer for their comments and suggestions. 167

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