American Knife & Tool Institute Announces Senate Judicary Committee’s Passage of Legislation to Repeal Colorado’s Automatic Knife Prohibition
Cody, WY (PRWEB) January 31, 2017 -- The American Knife & Tool Institute (http://www.AKTI.org) today announced the passage of Colorado SB 17-008, which repeals the prohibition of automatic and gravity knives within the state, by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The legislation removes gravity and automatic knives (referred to in the legislation as switchblade) from the definition of illegal weapons under the Colorado Revised Statues. AKTI worked to conceive of and draft the language with the bill’s sponsor, Senator Owen Hill, R-10. From here, the bill moves to the Senate Floor. The House version, which should have a hearing in coming weeks, is sponsored by Representative Steve Lebsock, D-34.
“Ensuring that the laws of our state protects the rights of Coloradans using knives and edged tools for daily, professional, and recreational use is one of the most important things our legislature can do,” said Senator Hill. “I am pleased to sponsor SB 17-008, which will allow law abiding Coloradans to possess automatic knives, an important tool for daily life, without restrictions and government overreach.”
AKTI is a non-profit 501(c)6 organization that represents all segments of the knife industry and knife users, promoting reasonable and responsible knife legislation and enforcement. We believe that law-abiding citizens should be able to carry their essential and valuable tools without the fear of arbitrary, inconsistent and ineffective government restrictions.
“We are extremely pleased to that the Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB 17-008,” said AKTI’s Executive Director, Jan Billeb. “AKTI believes that Colorado’s overreaching prohibitions restrict law-abiding Coloradans from possessing critical tools that are used by tradesmen, hunters, veterans, and all citizens as a part of their daily life. AKTI thanks Senator Hill and Representative Lebsock for their leadership on the issue. We appreciate all of the efforts of AKTI supporter John Blodgood, especially for his excellent committee testimony.”
“As a 23 year combat veteran, and as law-abiding Coloradan, I was honored to work with the American Knife & Tool Institute, as well as Senator Hill, to further SB 17-008. Repealing the prohibition on automatic knives in Colorado is critical. I had to give back most of my gear and equipment when I retired from the Air Force, including any weapons the federal government deemed dangerous and illegal. Since automatic knives are not illegal to possess under federal law, I was permitted to keep and use my automatic knife. However, the state of Colorado decided otherwise and deemed me a criminal if I kept my automatic knife. It’s time for Colorado to get rid of this superfluous law and allow law-abiding citizens to carry their automatic knives,” said John Bloodgood.
About AKTI:
The American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) is a non-profit organization (501(c)6) representing all segments of the knife industry and all knife users. Formed in true grassroots fashion by concerned industry leaders after considerable discussion with individual knifemakers, knife magazine publishers, and a broad section of the knife community, AKTI has been the reasonable and responsible voice of the knife community since 1998. AKTI’s mission is to ensure that Americans will always be able to make, buy, sell, own, carry and use knives and edged tools. To learn more, please visit http://www.AKTI.org. and https://www.facebook.com/saveourknives
Liesl Grebenstein - ADS Ventures, Inc, American Knife & Tool Institute, https://www.AKTI.org, +1 (617) 775-0923, [email protected]
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