Quote Originally Posted by Truegiant View Post
Switchblade knives are illegal because they come straight out the end if I remember correctly. Spring assisted knives are not illegal, atleast in GA. Anything that comes straight out is considered a projectile if I remember the class I took 10 yrs ago.
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Switchblade knives do not only come straight out the end, the blades can come out either way. The ones that come Out The Front are called OTF knives.

The difference in what seperates a switchblade from an assisted opening knife is an AO takes a bit more effort, all the ones I have seen you have to move the mechanism a distance equal to about 20% of travel before the spring kicks it out. On a full auto knife, the blade comes out with much less "push".

Basically, switchblades and butterfly knives are illegal because in the 1950's politicians who were shocked by Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story saw them as symbols of gang violence and juvenile delinquency.

By the time people realized you could just flick out the blade with a thumbstud, people also had sense enough to know that:

1.) Knife fighting is not really that big of a social problem anymore thanks to the increased availability of handguns.
2.) People who are going to fight with knives are probably going to fight with knives no matter how said knives open.

Maybe the laws will change, maybe not. There are exemptions for military, first responders, and the disabled to use auto knives. The rest of us have to wait the extra .002 that it takes to deploy the blade with a thumbstud or assist. Changing laws about weapons is almost as hard as changing laws about drugs or sex, so auto knives will certainly be prohibited for a while longer.