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Knife Rights News Slice Vol. 2 Number 5

Breaking News: We have received word that U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has DENIED the numerous requests for extension that it had received from Knife Rights, AKTI, manufacturers and citizens like you, and is planning to stick with the June 21 deadline for comments.

CBP’s denial of an extension seems to be a clear indication that they do not intend to act in a fair and reasonable manner on this issue and have already made their decision to go ahead. That may be a somewhat cynical viewpoint, but given the history of CBP, it seems like a good bet. That means we have to set the stage for the next act, which will likely be conducted both in court and in Congress. The battle is far from over; your comments will play a key role in both efforts. If you haven’t yet submitted comments, you need to do it NOW! Your comments on the record will make a difference and the more the better.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this News Slice newsletter for important developments.

In light of the denial, Knife Rights has re-written our Model Comments letter for concerned knife owners to send to CBP. If you have not already sent your letter to CPB, please do so TODAY! If you want to send another letter, it couldn’t hurt. The comments cannot be emailed, they must be mailed or sent by FedEx/UPS, etc. and they must be received in Washington, DC, no later than June 20, 2009. (The deadline is Sunday, June 21, but there’s no mail delivery on Sunday).

To all of the hundreds of you who have already sent letters, thank you very much. It will make a difference in the end.

A number of emails have asked where it explicitly says in the CBP’s document that they are going after almost all pocket knives. If you are looking for explicit language to that effect, you won’t find it. That would be too easy, and CBP had no interest in a direct confrontation of that magnitude. They were, after all, trying to slip this one through in the first place as just a minor ruling change. One has to take the logical next step based on the rationales provided by Customs in expanding the interpretation of a switchblade to assisted openers to see where that is headed. It is not even a small leap from assisted openers to one-hand openers, if they succeed. From there to slipjoint folders that can be opened using various tricks one-handed is only another very small step.

If their new ruling is accepted and put in place, the next step will be seizing a warehouse full of imported one-hand openers, which they can legally do, declaring them to also meet their now very broadly defined interpretation of what a switchblade is. They came very close to doing that a few years back in a seizure involving Columbia River Knife & Tool. With this ruling in place, they would succeed. Then the definition of what is a switchblade is expanded even further. It is this that has knife owners and the knifemaking industry up in arms, because our lawyers understand how these bureaucrats use these rulings and language games to get well beyond what it appears at first glance they are reaching for.

For those who are just now hearing of this, CLICK HERE to find our original News Slice with an expanded explanation of the issues and links to the original CBP document, etc.

We need you to write CBP NOW! Their 30 day deadline is fast approaching and these letters must go via postal mail (or Fedex/UPS). CLICK HERE for a Model Letter you can send to CBP. You MUST write TODAY!

We also want to continue efforts to bring this absurd proposal and CBP’s efforts to take our pocket knives away to the attention of Congress. Based on feedback already received from some more gullible Members who have swallowed CBP’s story hook, line and sinker, we have revised our Model Letter to Congress to emphasize the far reaching effects that this ruling will have, both on millions of law-abiding citizens and by destroying the vibrant knifemaking industry. This is clearly NOT just about imported assisted openers, no matter how much CBP wants us to believe that.

We must flood Congress with letters so they understand the gravity of the situation. This will be a huge help going forward, so please get your emails out today. CLICK HERE for a Model Letter you can send to Members of Congress. Only your efforts will stop this and save our Knife Rights!

We are not about to roll over for this clearly out-of-control government agency. But, we need your help to stop them. Your letters and emails will make a difference!

Knife Rights Retains Nappen Law Firm

With the denial of an extension, our primary attention now shifts to submitting comments on the proposal by the deadline. Towards that end, Knife Rights has retained the law firm of E.F. Nappen Attorney at Law, PC. Evan and his associates specialize in gun and knife criminal cases. Evan is a leading authority on the Federal Switchblade Act and has authored numerous articles on the subject.

As you might suspect, such expertise does not come free. The good news, such as it is, is that with such a tight deadline, the cost is limited, if not insignificant. We need your support to do this; we don’t have a large cash horde or the financial resources of some larger organizations. Please consider becoming a member at the Benefactor level to help pay for this defense of our knife rights.

We’re also setting up a contributions page, but it has been delayed due to technical issues and it will be a day or so before it is up and running.

SAF and CCRKBA Joins with Knife Rights

The Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms have joined with Knife Rights to help fight this unwarranted knife grab by Customs. They are supporting us with Email Alerts to their membership and additional resources. SAF founder, Alan Gottlieb, noted, “we stand with Knife Rights in their support of Americans’ right to own and carry the knives of their choice.”

And, just a reminder, the Second Amendment doesn’t say “Firearms,” it says “Arms.” Clearly the founding fathers expected that knives would be included.

NRA Joins the Fight

We have also been working with the National Rifle Association in recent days and they have officially taken this issue up and you should soon be seeing evidence of their involvement if you are an NRA member. NRA recognizes that this ruling will not only affect virtually every NRA member, but that the precedent it would set would not be good for supporters of the Second Amendment.

Again, the Second Amendment doesn’t say “Firearms,” it says “Arms.” While we primarily focus on our knives as essential tools, mankind’s oldest, our essential rights to own and carry knives are enshrined in the Second Amendment.

Spread the Word!

Please, forward on this email to all your friends, email list servers, post it on forums and encourage everyone you know to get on board. Remember, regardless of where you are active online, a significant proportion of your fellow online participants and contacts use and carry a pocket knife. They will be impacted. They need to know. And, that’s the point. It’s not just a few knife enthusiasts.

You can also add a sig line or button to your email or forum signatures or a banner to your web site to help spread the word about Customs’ rulemaking.

Knife Rights on Twitter

Knife Rights is now on Twitter and we’ll issue critical updates and notices on Twitter as this issue evolves: http://twitter.com/KnifeRights

Join Knife Rights

Your membership dues help support our efforts to protect your rights. Invest a modest sum in A Sharper Future™. Join at the Benefactor level to help us even more. JOIN NOW!

Copyright 2009, Knife Rights, Inc.
This may be reproduced. It may not be reproduced for commercial purposes.

H/T SUSPENDEDKUFFAR

A collection of random –juicy tid-bits that caught my eye –Tweets from my fabtastic Tweeps at Twitter.

CNN co-founder Reese Schonfeld – There’s tears in my Kool-Aid. Obama hate props up Fox News  causing  CNN to “wilt”? Cry baby cry. No one is listening. Or… um… dude you would not be fading into obscurity.

Islam Religion of pieces. The centuries old barbaric Islamic act of beheading passed down from generation to generation.  It’s a family tradition! Whatever happened to pop and son playing catch out in the yard? Oh my bad, I was thinking of civilization. Wrong page. Moral relevance is such a load of crap. Whack is whack and Islam is whack to the 9th power.

Knee jerk vs fact check. The left is so ideologically blind they were not aware they were pointing fingers at themselves as they blamed conservatives for the Holocaust Museum shooting. From Rob of Red Alerts: “James von Brunn was an Admitted Socialist with Connections to Noam Chomsky” Look out leftards! The web you have spun is becoming undone.  The Holocaust shooter “James von Brunn” may be a  fellow ideologue. And as Jake Tapper (Sr White House Correspondent for ABC News) points out “statement of fact: in the last few days both James von Brunn and Rev Wright have claimed POTUS is controlled by Jews.” Facts are facts. Can’t argue that.

From Jenn Q. Public (Rob’s other half  –what a dynamic duo they make.) asks “What gives Dave Letterman license to repeatedly troll the gutter without ever dirtying his Worldwide Pants?” No worries she answers her own question with a slam dunk I might add!

Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (Mn-R): Obama Running A “Gangster Government” I expect no less from an admin which is headed by a “trash talking punk turned Chi-Town dirty pol” who during his campaign “incited his loyal Obots to argue & get In your face” (Shock troops) and recruited both civilian and Missouri Law Enforcement as “Storm Truthers”. You were warned!

Good God! Quick! Somebody throw NPR a life preserver. They have gone off the deep end and are drowning in their own muck.

Charles Krauthammer doing what he does best. Slicing, dicing and cutting through the crap. Obama and his sycophants may think butter would not melt in The Cool One’s mouth but “For all of his philosophy, the philosopher-king protests too much. Obama undoubtedly thinks he is demonstrating historical magnanimity with all these moral equivalencies and self-flagellating apologetics. On the contrary. He’s showing cheap condescension, an unseemly hunger for applause and a willingness to distort history for political effect. ” Bam! Chop Suey!

Speaking of crap “screw ball” MSNBC crap slinger the certifible Chris Matthews ponders if “Palin [is] Talking the Language of Far Right Nuts?” Chrissy you are so enamored of the O you do not know which end is up. Look up away from your naval for a second and the truth might smack you in the face. And as I live and breathe I pray there is a God Smack coming y’all’s way in 2010 & 2012.

Michell Malkin reports trouble in Obama Community Organization Land. “Obama’s Americorps scandal — and the First Lady’s meddling”. It seems Obama’s Bitter Half Michelle may have stuck her nose in where it didn’t belong and it may come back (By all rights. But we are talking about the CorruptOCrats) and bite the O Admin in it’s rear. “With intervention from Michelle Obama, the Americorps inspector general was given the boot and replaced — for doing his job too well, it seems, and uncovering squandering of funds by favored contributors, educational institutions, and left-wing groups.” Tsk-Tsk

Last but not least! Happy Birthday to Vanderleun at American Digest! He rocks my socks. You got to love a blogger who posts a “Dirty Harry” vid in celebration of the auspicious occasion.  “Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”

H/T’s VondelaG RickGonz infidelsarecool johnsykes1035 yidwithlid

#followfriday

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In as I am so fortunate to have so many great followers. It is impossible to list you all. But please remember I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you for putting up with me.

Note: Instead of quote blocking others words. I chose to write in paragraph style. All quotes can be seen between quotation marks.