Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Two Courts Give Opposing Rulings On Second Amendment Protections For Switchblades

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Two different rulings in California and Massachusetts in the past week came to different conclusions on the legality of carrying switchblades, according to court filings.

U.S. District Judge James Simmons Jr. in Southern California ruled on August 23 that the state’s regulation outlawing the public carry of switchblades over two inches in length without a “safety mechanism” was constitutional, but the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state’s ban on carrying the knives was unconstitutional. Both of the cases use different applications of the precedent laid out in the 2022 landmark Supreme Court case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, with the Massachusetts court saying switchblades enjoy Second Amendment protections while Simmons says they do not because they are not commonly used for self-defense.

“The district court added conditional language into the Supreme Court’s textual analysis of the Second Amendment that is not there,” John Dillon, Attorney for Knive Advocacy Group and a plaintiff in the California case Knife Rights, wrote in a statement according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “In doing so, the Court came to the shocking conclusion that … switchblades are somehow not ‘arms.’ There is no question that knives are arms under the Second Amendment. And we will prove this obvious fact on appeal.”

Switchblades are legal to possess in 46 states, with 38 states having no restrictions for everyday carry while 30 states allow concealed carry, with New Mexico, Washington, Minnesota, Washington, D.C., and Delaware outlawing possession entirely, Knife Rights told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Massachusetts case, Commonwealth v. Cajura, was argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2023, with the plaintiffs also arguing that the Second Amendment protected switchblade carry. The state’s Supreme Court ruled that since Supreme Court case D.C. v. Heller included all “arms” under Second Amendment protection, Bruen’s protection for lawful carry of an “arm” also applies, according to the court filing.

Knife Rights, along with five other plaintiffs, sued the state of California in March 2023, alleging California’s laws on switchblades infringed on the Second Amendment, according to the court filings. Simmons ruled that switchblades are not “commonly used today for self-defense,” meaning they are not protected under Bruen’s precedent.

“That is about the opposite of the ruling we could get on the exact same issue,” Doug Ritter, chairman of Knife Rights, told the DCNF. “We were pretty excited about the Massachusetts decision, but not surprised about the decision by the San Diego Court. We’re getting there, we’ve repealed bans in 17 states through legislative means, we’re starting to get court rulings that are repealing the bans. It’s been a long fight, but we’re moving past the influence of West Side Story.”

Knife Rights is confident in appealing the California case, saying the court’s “flawed opinion” gives them grounds for a “strong appeal,” according to an August 24 press release. The group says the court’s rejection of classifying switchblades as “arms” under the Second Amendment was “irrational and ludicrous.”

The Massachusetts governor’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.