RES-2-23 OT:RR:BSTC:CCR H316726 MNM
Ms. Judith L. Haggin
Total Logistics Resource, Inc.
P.O. Box 30419 Portland, OR 97294
RE: Restricted Merchandise; Switchblade Knives; 15 U.S.C. §§ 1241-1245; 19 C.F.R. §§ 12.95-12.103; Battenfeld Technologies, Inc.
Dear Ms. Haggin:
This is in response to your request for a ruling, dated February 3, 2021. You requested a determination on behalf of your client, Battenfeld Technologies, Inc. (“BTI”), as to whether its spring assisted “out the front” (“OTF”) knife is admissible into the commerce of the United States pursuant to the Switchblade Knife Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1241-1245. Our determination follows.
FACTS
Battenfeld Technologies, Inc. (“BTI”) requests a determination as to whether the subject knife is admissible into the United States pursuant to the Switchblade Knife Act. The following facts are based on our examination of the prototype sample knife provided for examination, which was received at this office on February 24, 2021, your initial ruling request, and your March 17, 2021 response to our request for additional information. The knife is a folding knife composed of a two-piece, blue and black colored steel grip, and a tapered, single-edged blade that operates under spring pressure. The blade is sharpened on one side and tapers toward a sharp tip. The grip with the blade retracted in the closed position is approximately four inches long and one inch wide at its widest point. With the blade extended out in the fully opened position, the entire knife is approximately seven inches long. The blade of the knife in the opened position is approximately three inches long.
The following photographs of the sample knife were taken by this office.
Knife in closed position
Knife in opened position
Knife in closed position; view of the knife opening
Knife in closed position; view of the tab side
ISSUE
Whether the subject knife is admissible into the United States under the provisions of the Switchblade Knife Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1241 to 1245, or 19 C.F.R. § 12.95(a)(1).
LAW AND ANALYSIS
The admissibility of knives into the commerce of the United States is determined according to the Switchblade Knife Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1241-1245, as implemented by the Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) Regulations, set forth in 19 C.F.R. §§ 12.95-12.103. Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1242, “[w]hoever knowingly introduces, or manufactures for introduction, into interstate commerce, or transports or distributes in interstate commerce, any switchblade knife, shall be fined not more than $ 2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.” “Importations of switchblade knives, …, are importations contrary to law and are subject to forfeiture under 19 U.S.C. 1595a(c).” 19 C.F.R. § 12.97.
A “switchblade knife” is “any knife having a blade which opens automatically—(1) by hand pressure applied to a button or other device in the handle of the knife, or (2) by operation of inertia, gravity, or both.” See 15 U.S.C. § 1241; see also 19 C.F.R. § 12.95(a)(1). However, 15 U.S.C. § 1242 does not apply to “a knife that contains a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that requires exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife.” See 15 U.S.C. § 1244(5). This office has previously held that a certain knife contained a mechanism that was explicitly provided for within the statutory exception located at 15 U.S.C. § 1244(5). The blade of the knife in question in that ruling appeared “to be of a conventional lock-back design which exhibits a small, but noticeable, bias toward closure achieved through the mechanism of a spring inside the handle.” As such, that knife contained a mechanism that was designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that required exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife. HQ H251128 (May 2, 2014).
The sample knife has a grey metal thumb slider that protrudes from one side of the knife which operates in a semicircular track along the inside the grip. Applying pressure with one’s thumb away from one’s palm while holding the knife deploys the blade out of the grip into the fully opened position with ease and great speed. No additional exertion is needed to open the knife once the slider is moved. The blade is then locked open by a spring mechanism that prevents closure until the spring is moved and released.
The subject sample knife for which you requested an admissibility ruling does not operate in a manner that exhibits a spring detent system that operates while the knife is in the closed position or while the operator is opening the knife. There is a spring detent that operates only while the knife is being closed, which slows closure of the knife. Therefore, the subject sample knife provided by BTI does not fall within the scope of the exception to the Switchblade Knife Act found at 15 U.S.C. § 1244(5). Accordingly, the operation of the spring and detent system does not “…create a bias toward closure of the blade that requires exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife;” rather, when the knife is closed, it creates a bias toward opening of the blade which causes the blade to spring out of the grip into the fully extended open position with great ease and speed. See 15 U.S.C. § 1244(5).
Based our examination of the knife and all the above, we find that the knife, as described in the FACTS section above, falls within the scope of the definition of a switchblade knife at 19 C.F.R. § 12.95(a)(1), and within the meaning of the Switchblade Knife Act at 15 U.S.C. §§ 1241 to 1245. The knife, as described above, is a switchblade knife within the meaning of the Switchblade Knife Act and is not admissible into the United States.
HOLDING
The knife, as described above, is a switchblade knife within the meaning of the Switchblade Knife Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1241 to 1245, as implemented by the CBP Regulations, set forth in 19 C.F.R. §§ 12.95-12.103, and is not admissible into the United States. The subject sample knife provided will be retained by CBP and appropriately destroyed in due course.
Sincerely,
Austen M. Walsh, Acting Chief
Cargo Security, Carriers and Restricted Merchandise Branch
Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings
U.S. Customs and Border Protection