New York Must Repeal Its Gravity Knife Ban
The ban is discriminatory and wasteful, and it must be eliminated.
Dear readers,
This week in the state legislature we’re addressing an issue that is indicative of the way poor people are treated differently by our justice system — in this case, the working poor who have some of the most difficult jobs. In New York state, it’s illegal to own a “gravity knife”, which, if you’re not familiar with the term, is any folding knife that can be opened with one hand by relying on gravity — a wrist flick for example. As you might imagine this includes many variations of modern pocket knives and a large number of utility knives, which are used by construction workers, electricians, other manual laborers, and people who work in trades that require easy access cutting tools.
I’m sponsoring a bill this week to eliminate this pointless and discriminatory ban — and not for the first time . The last two bills passed in legislature and were vetoed twice by Governor Cuomo. (You can read about the new bill here.)
If you’d like to see what D.A. Cy Vance’s office defines as a gravity knife, take a look at the model of knife artist John Copeland was arrested for carrying a few years ago:
He used it to cut canvases. He bought it at Paragon Sports, a retailer with a large store in Union Square.
Here’s a display of the knives they sell from just a few weeks ago:
Paragon has a settlement agreement with Vance’s office that they can sell what Vance’s own office defines as a gravity knife if it’s a specific kind of custom knife that’s expensive because the DA assumes those knives will not be used for crimes. And why? Because he assumes middle and upper class sports enthusiasts are the buyers. Vance gives people with money the benefit of the doubt, and assumes that working class people, who are disproportionately minorities, are potentially dangerous when equipped with cheaper versions of the same tools, which they use for work.
Are gravity knives especially dangerous? No. Legal Aid’s research indicates that they are used less often in the commission of crimes than common kitchenware, but no one’s trying to ban steak knives.
The ban is arbitrary, discriminatory, wasteful in its use of taxpayer money for enforcement, and rooted in stereotypes and cliches about switchblades (which are illegal federally) and criminals that should have been left in the 80s where they belong. It’s time for the DA’s office to modernize, and stop criminalizing something working class people need to do their jobs.
Please join us as we fight to get this ban eliminated.
Dan Quart
Publisher, New Yorkers for Justice
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