[Mongojoe]

October 21, 2009 (Washington, DC) - The United States Senate approved Tuesday the FY2010 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill Conference Report, which includes an amendment to protect the use of pocketknives.
"We have been working hard to defeat this reclassification of assisted-opening knives since the potential rule change was proposed and we are very pleased that the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus won this fight to protect the millions of law abiding knife owners, manufacturers and ancillary industries from overzealous regulation," said Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation President Jeff Crane.

The amendment, inserted into the bill in July by Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, successfully blocked the attempt by the Office of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to alter their interpretation of the definition of switchblade knives to include spring-assisted or one-handed-opening knives as defined under the 1958 Switchblade Knife Act.

The U.S House of Representatives passed the conference report last week, and now it goes to President Obama for signature into law.

"In these perilous economic times, the last thing the federal government should do is take any action that will adversely affect job creation. This legislation ensures thousands of Texans and tens of thousands of Americans in the sporting goods manufacturing and retail industry will not lose their jobs. It will also ensure that the 35 million Americans who own pocketknives are free to continue using them without the threat of federal agency intrusion. I'm hopeful that President Obama will sign this important measure into law without delay," said Sen. Cornyn.

Earlier this year, the CBP proposed amending and expanding the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958 to include spring-assisted or one-handed-opening knives. The amendment clarifies that assisted-opening pocketknives are exempt from regulation.

"Customs and Border Patrol missed the mark with their interpretation, inadvertently banning ordinary pocketknives. In Arkansas, I heard from firemen, construction workers, farmers, policemen, electricians, hunters and fishermen who all took notice. A pocketknife for many people can serve as an entire toolbox, and the government really has no business taking that away from them. I'm pleased we could prevent this unreasonable ban from advancing," said Sen. Pryor.

"Without this amendment, there was a real danger that 80 percent of the pocketknives sold in the U.S. would have been reclassified as illegal switchblades, which would not only hurt knife and tool manufacturers across the nation but infringe on American's knife-carrying rights," said Sen. Hatch. "I am very pleased to see the amendment sponsored by myself and Senators Pryor and Cornyn was accepted by the DHS appropriations conference to ensure that knives used every day by men and women who are craftsmen, sportsmen and tradesmen are not wrongly categorized as a switchblade."