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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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Boston Proposes Anti-Knife Ordinance
The proposed Boston ordinance “PROVIDING FOR THE LICENSING OF STORES THAT SELL CERTAIN KNIVES” has been presented to the city council.

KnifeRights.org

Gilbert, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- We might wish it were just a silly Halloween prank, but these politicians are serious, and that makes it a scary issue.

This proposal to license so-called “convenience stores” in order to be able to sell knives two-inches and longer doesn’t accomplish anything but to cost businesses additional hassle and money, which might well succeed in their ultimate goal of making it impossible for law-abiding citizens to buy a knife at their local convenience store.

That is discriminatory against both citizens and these businesses. These businesses may well decide it is too much trouble and expense to bother with knives anymore, which is obviously what these politicians want. But, this will not make a dent in crime or violence, their supposed excuse for this stupidity. This proposal is wrong on so many levels. You can review the poorly conceived and drafted proposed ordinance here: www.kniferights.org/BostonOrdinance.pdf. Try not to choke upon reading it.

You can pretty much guarantee that when politicians are talking about blaming inanimate objects for crime, that it is only the honest citizens and businesses that will be impacted by their proposed solution. Nobody wanting a knife will have much difficulty buying one someplace else, either at non-convenience (inconvenient?) stores, because most other stores except ill-defined “convenience” stores are exempted from this licensing (or perhaps not), or via the internet or from a somewhat less convenient convenience store across the city line. I recall living in a dry town some years ago. It was easy to find the town line; you just looked for the liquor stores with the big parking lots. No matter what these politicians do, they cannot and will not stop knives from being sold to those who might use them in criminal activity and no regulation of knife sales will stop violence.

Boston code already restricts sales of knives over two-inches long to minors and these, like all retailers, already must be licensed to do business in the city. Knife Rights continues to lead the fight against this absurd and unnecessary proposal. Our lobbyist is working hard to prevent what has happened with guns in Boston to be repeated with knives.

When Knife Rights stands up against an anti-knife proposal like this, even if it is not in your backyard, we need your support because if we lose, then we all lose, and when we win, we all win. No matter the result, the other side has to understand there will be no more easy rides when they try to take away our knives and our rights. Standing up for our rights does not come free, please consider donating to help pay for this effort. We need your donations and we need your voice to be heard by the Mayor and City Council of Boston.

If you are a Boston citizen, now it time to contact your Councilor and POLITELY express your opposition to this unnecessary and discriminatory proposal: www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/councillors or you can call 617-635-4500 and ask for your Councilor. Additionally, you can email Mayor Tom Mennio at mayor@cityofboston.gov or call his office at 617-635-4500.

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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