Did you know that Second Amendment-protected rights cover not just firearms, but also knives? Andrew Teter and James Grell are peaceable residents of Hawaii who wanted to own folding pocket-knives with split handles, also known as butterfly knives. But this type of knife was banned years ago by the State of Hawaii. Mountain States filed an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Andrew and James, arguing that Hawaii’s prohibition violates their Second Amendment protected rights to keep and bear arms, since the word “Arms” applies to all arms, including knives and other bladed weapons.
The Ninth Circuit just handed down its judgement: Andrew and Grell won! In its opinion, the appellate court said,
Because the plain text of the Second Amendment includes bladed weapons and, by necessity, butterfly knives, the Constitution “presumptively guarantees” keeping and bearing such instruments “for self-defense.”… Having rejected Hawaii’s arguments to the contrary, we conclude that the possession of butterfly knives is conduct covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment.
This is an important victory in the ongoing effort by Constitution-minded organizations to apply the historic Bruen decision in protecting the Second Amendment as a first-class right of all Americans. Mountain States is proud to have been a part of securing Andrew’s and James’ right to keep and bear arms—even the ones that don’t fire projectiles.
