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Happy New Year From Knife Rights - Looking forward to a new year.

KnifeRights.org

Gilbert, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- All of us at Knife Rights hope this post finds you in good spirits to start the new year.

This year promises to be crucial in the fight to retain our freedoms and we are excited at the prospect of continuing our successful campaign to defend and expand our right to own and carry the tools we find so useful.

There is no getting around the fact that our rights are under attack in many places by those for whom personal freedom is something to be feared, something to be restricted as a scapegoat for those unwilling to address fundamental causes of criminal behavior. On the other hand, election years also present unique opportunities to advance our cause and Knife Rights has positioned itself to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise.

From the perspective of making progress on knife issues, 2011 was improved over 2010 and we expect 2012 to be much better yet. We definitely advanced the cause in the vast majority of issues we engaged last year and with your continued support we can count on making even bigger progress this year.

Last year saw us pass Knife Law Preemption in two more states and blocking anti-knife laws from being passed in two others. We filed a Federal Civil Rights lawsuit against New York City and DA Cyrus Vance, Jr., to stop their persecution of knife owners and retailers and we supported legal battles in three other states.

As the new year just dawns we have a Knife Law Preemption bill running in Pennsylvania that will also eliminate bans on switchblades and other banned knives and in Indiana we have a bill filed to repeal the ban on switchblades. We are close to filing bills in three other states and we are working with legislators in four more states on pro-knife legislation.

All this and the new year is not even a day old.

This is just the hint, really, of what’s in store for this year. We have big news coming in the next few weeks and months as plans we have been working on for many months come to fruition. Knife Rights is poised to take a big slice out of our opponents this year, and it is your support that makes this possible.

We wish you and yours the very best for this new year; may you enjoy health and prosperity. May your edges never dull and may you and your tools enjoy the respect and freedom they are both due.

About:
Knife Rights (www.KnifeRights.org) is America’s Grassroots Knife Owners Organization, working towards a Sharper Future for all knife owners. Knife Rights is dedicated to providing knife owners an effective voice in public policy. Become a Knife Rights member and make a contribution to support the fight for your knife rights. Visit www.kniferights.org

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Knife Rights Files Response to NYC DA Vance’s Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit

KnifeRights.org

Gilbert, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- Knife Rights filed its response to NYC District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr’s Motion to Dismiss in our Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit against New York City and DA Vance.

The DA’s motion was expected and is pro forma in a case such as this. The Knife Rights legal team, led by attorney David Jensen, have done an exemplary job blowing the DA’s arrogant, ill-conceived and baseless motion to pieces.

To quote from the introduction: “Defendant District Attorney Vance (the “DA” or “DA Vance”) seeks to dismiss the Complaint for lack of standing and failure to state a claim. However, Plaintiffs clearly have standing because the DA’s actions result in substantial impairments to Knife Rights’ resources, and also because they impact the individual Plaintiffs’ ability to purchase lawful knives.

Moreover, the Complaint plainly states a claim, and consideration of the merits (as the DA implores) shows that the “standard” that Defendants use to apply the State laws at issue to common folding knives is wholly subjective and indeterminate. It is literally possible for one knife to be simultaneous legal and illegal, and a person has no means of conforming his or her conduct to the law’s expectations. While the DA’s motion necessarily fails because it relies on selectively construing the facts in the DA’s favor, rather than in the Plaintiffs’ favor (as Rule 12(b)(6) mandates), a consideration of the merits shows how far off the mark the DA’s self-serving characterizations are.”

The two documents make for interesting reading, if you are so inclined.

• Knife Rights Response in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
  
• DA Vance’s Motion to Dismiss

Bear in mind that each side is limited to 25 double-spaced pages in the body of the document, and the manner of doing so is strictly prescribed in many respects, so crafting a response is a challenge when there is so much that could be said, but only limited space to say it. A special thanks to those companies who have been major donors to the Sharper Future Legal Fund and who also submitted declarations in support of Knife Rights’ standing as a plaintiff: Benchmade, Columbia River Knife & Tool, KA-BAR, KnifeWorks and Taylor Brands.

This is but the first step in the first round. There is a whole river of water to pass under this bridge and many hearings to be held as this lawsuit slowly works its way through the process. You can help support this effort to protect our rights with a tax-deductible contribution to the Sharper Future Legal Fund.

If you are arrested for possession of an “illegal knife” in New York, please contact Knife Rights at: nycity@KnifeRights.org

About:
Knife Rights (www.KnifeRights.org) is America’s Grassroots Knife Owners Organization, working towards a Sharper Future for all knife owners. Knife Rights is dedicated to providing knife owners an effective voice in public policy. Become a Knife Rights member and make a contribution to support the fight for your knife rights. Visit www.kniferights.org

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