Knife Rights

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Need To Cut Back On Sugar? M&M’s Doesn’t Consider Knives “Family Friendly”

June 2, 2014 by 5 Comments

In my email this morning was an alert from Knife Rights. It seems that they had placed a business-to-business order for packets of M&M candies with the Knife Rights logo on it. The candies were for an upcoming promotion which I assume is the Blade Show. The order was placed, the salesperson was very friendly, and all was good until four days later when the salesperson called back saying his bosses had declined the order because the word “knife” was not considered “family friendly”.

WTF?

I’ll let them continue the story.


The candy was ordered for an upcoming promotion through M&Ms’ customized Business to Business department.
The customer service representative, Christian, was very helpful and
the order was placed. Then four business days later we received a call
from Christian to let us know that they would not fill the order since
“the word knife is not family friendly.” That certainly came as news to
us! Christian apologized for the delay getting back to us, we had called
twice seeking confirmation the order would arrive in time, saying he
had argued hard for us, but that his bosses wouldn’t budge.
      
We
asked for a confirmation in writing of what he had told us, but when
that was not forthcoming, we sent an email to him confirming the
conversation we had and asking the company to correct anything that
wasn’t factually correct. Shortly thereafter, Christian’s supervisor,
Kathy, called. We had a similar conversation with her, to no avail, and
again asked that they confirm that they were rejecting the order for the
reasons both Christian and she provided, that the word “knife” was not
“family friendly.” Instead we received a totally disingenuous email:
  
“Thank you for your email and allowing us to respond to your concern.   
  
We
would like to confirm that we have received and processed your request
to cancel your order.  We are sorry to hear that you are cancelling your
order and hope to have an opportunity to make your next event more
special with personalized MY M&M’S® Chocolate Candies”.
   
To which we replied:   
  
Thanks
for this, but your email falsely states that this order is being
cancelled at my request.  Please note that I do NOT wish for the order
to be cancelled — it was your
company decision to cancel the order because you object to the name and
mission of our civil rights organization.  I have had several phone
calls with representatives of your company trying to save this order. 
Your cancellation notice falsely stating that the order was cancelled at
my request only adds insult to injury, and is outrageous.
  
With
that email they went from simply making what we view as a poor business
decision by irrationally discriminating against Knife Rights, America’s
knife owners and our many Second Amendment supporters, and moved on to
falsely describing the entire transaction in a outrageous attempt to
avoid responsibility for their actions. Knife Rights did not cancel the order; M&M’s did. 
  
We
just thought you ought to know. For ourselves, we intend to wean
ourselves from their products. Mars, Inc. is the parent company and one
of the world’s leading food manufacturers, that while perhaps best known
for its chocolate and candy brands (M&M’s, Milkey Way, Altoids and
Life Savers to name but a few) is also in food, pet care and drink
products with many brands you know, including Wrigley, Uncle Bens, Seeds
of Change, Pedigree and Whiskas. You can find lists of their products
at: http://www.mars.com/global/brands.aspx

Come
Halloween this year our family will carve our pumpkins using several
different knives, but instead of giving the children who come to our
front door M&M’s, Snickers and Milky Ways, as we have for many
years, they will be given a treat that will not bear the Mars, Inc.
brand. 

  
If
you’d like to let them know how you feel about the word “knife” not
being “family friendly,” you can contact M&M’s at: 1-908-852-1000
(M-F 9:00-5:00) or via email using the form at: https://www.mms.com/us/contact 

 You can also leave a comment on M&M’s Facebook page.

My doc has been after me to cut carbs and sugar so
eliminating products from Mars Inc. will become one way I’ll be doing
it.

I’m was surprised to find out that Seeds of Change, which I assumed was a small organic grower of seeds, is just another cog in a corporate conglomerate. I wonder how many back to the earth, Birkenstock-wearing, gardeners are aware of that. You might as well be telling them that it is owned by Monsanto.

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From Knife Rights On Their NYC Case Appeal

May 19, 2014 by

Knife Rights has appealed their case challenging New York City’s knife laws for their vagueness to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. US District Court Judge Katherine Forrest had ruled against them saying that they hadn’t specified the knives in question and thus didn’t have standing to sue. Given that the whole point of the lawsuit was the very vagueness of what was or wasn’t a “gravity knife”, this ruling was more than a bit absurd.

From Knife Rights including a link to their appeal:

Last week, Knife Rights filed an appeal of a U.S. District Court’s absurd ruling in its ongoing Federal Civil Rights lawsuit against New York City and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. The 62-page legal brief can be viewed at: www.KnifeRights.org/Knife_Rights_Appeal_Brief.pdf

The lawsuit challenges the City’s practice of treating common folding knives as prohibited “gravity knives,” then arresting and prosecuting law-abiding knife owners and intimidating retailers into paying large cash “sanctions” to avoid prosecution. Under the City’s vague and subjective approach, it is impossible to know whether any particular knife will be treated as legal or prohibited.

Last Fall, U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest ruled that the case could not proceed because Knife Rights and three other plaintiffs (who were falsely arrested or threatened with arrest for possessing common folding knives) did not identify specific knives being wrongly classified in their complaint, and therefore lacked standing to sue. Requiring identification of specific prohibited knives, in a case about the inability to know what is prohibited or permitted, turns the very idea of this lawsuit on its head.

Judge Forrest then added insult to injury by refusing a request to let Knife Rights amend the complaint to attempt to comply with her requirement that specific knives be identified. Briefing on the appeal will continue for several months.

UPDATE: Second Amendment scholar and attorney David Kopel has a good write-up on the case in the Volokh Conspiracy. You can read it here.

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Knife Rights’ Lawsuit About Vague Definitions Tossed

September 27, 2013 by 2 Comments

Knife Rights and an assortment of individuals are suing Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. and the City of New York over its vague definition of what constitutes gravity and switchblade knives. The case, Knife Rights et al v. Cyrus Vance, Jr., et al, is being tried in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. On Wednesday, US District Court Judge Katherine Forrest, a 2011 appointee of President Obama, dismissed the case stating that the plaintiffs lacked standing because they had not identified what was legal or not legal in their complaint.

Excuse me, Judge Forrest, but duh! The whole point of the lawsuit was to force New York to define exactly what knives were legal or not legal under their definition. The District Attorney has already agreed that the same make and model of a knife could be found to be both legal or illegal. If that isn’t vague, what is?


Another aspect of this case is that Vance was shaking down knife retailers for money with an efficiency that would make Mafia dons envious. He collected over $2 million from retailers trying to avoid prosecution.

Knife Rights says they plan to appeal this ruling. Their response to the ruling is below.

A U.S. District Court Judge has ruled that persons falsely arrested or threatened with arrest have no standing to sue in Knife Rights’ Federal civil rights lawsuit against New York City and District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Although every prior ruling in the case went our way under two previous judges, the case was recently reassigned to Obama appointee Katherine B. Forrest. Litigation always presents the risk that a judge (and especially a judge new to a case) will make an erroneous ruling.

On Wednesday the judge ruled that the plaintiffs in our case – who have been falsely arrested or threatened with arrest over common pocket knives – do not have standing to sue, in part because the case documents don’t identify specific knives that would be illegal under New York City’s interpretation of state law. The trouble is, it’s nearly impossible to identify them under New York City’s haphazard and inconsistent approach – which is the whole point of the case in the first place! Even the DA has admitted that different specimens of the exact same make and model knife could be simultaneously found to be both legal and illegal! Click to read the judge’s ruling.

So here we have a situation where we’re suing because we can’t know with certainty what’s legal or banned, yet the judge is saying we don’t have standing to sue precisely because we haven’t identified what’s legal or banned in our court papers. That’s simply absurd!

But even if the judge were correct – which she is not – she was required by well-established legal principles to allow us a chance to amend our papers to “correct” the supposed “defects.” Instead, she simply ignored these principles and declared the case over.

A similar situation arose in a recent lawsuit involving a U.S. District Judge in neighboring New Jersey. After straining to find supposed “defects” in the complaint that affected standing, the judge refused to allow the complaint to be amended to correct the “defects.” On appeal, the ruling was reversed and the appeals court criticized the judge, saying she had abused her discretion. The same thing could happen here.

But whatever happens, this ruling forces Knife Rights to spend more time and money to appeal the judge’s decision – all while Rome continues to burn. We still receive calls every week from innocent citizens whose lives have been turned upside down simply because they carried a basic tool, a pocket knife, in New York City. Thousands have been arrested on bogus illegal knife charges. In at least one instance of which we are aware, the result of the bogus arrest was that the victim’s entire knife collection was confiscated from his home. Gun owners have had their firearms confiscated based on bogus knife arrests.

We cannot let New York City succeed in its attempt to redefine “gravity knife” to include ordinary folding knives. This could become a model for other cities and jurisdictions across America, resulting in knife owners throughout the country being arrested for doing nothing wrong. We cannot let that happen! And, we will not!

Knife Rights is carefully planning its response to Judge Forrest’s ruling. We will never stop fighting for your rights, and neither should you. Please help us win this critical battle by contributing to Knife Rights Foundation’s Legal Fund today as generously as you can. We’ve led the fight to defend knife rights in the legislative arena and we are pioneering it in the courts. Please help us defend freedom!

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Vote On Switchblade Repeal In Texas

April 8, 2013 by 1 Comment

This weekend Knife Rights issued an alert regarding a repeal of the ban on switchblades in Texas. They are asking that those who reside, work, or travel to Texas contact the legislators below urging their support for HB 1862 which would repeal the ban.

I’m glad to see that Knife Rights is working so hard on the second front for the Second Amendment.


In Texas, Knife Rights supported HB1862 has been scheduled for a hearing this Tuesday, April 9, before the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence. HB1862, sponsored by Representative Harold Dutton Jr., will repeal the antiquated, senseless ban on the possession of switchblade (automatic) knives in Texas. Knife Rights lobbyist Todd Rathner is on his way to Austin to testify on this important bill and he needs YOUR help!

If you live, work or travel in Texas, PLEASE Call and Write EACH of the Committee Members TODAY and urge them to vote in favor of HB1862.

Chairman: Rep. Abel Herrero 512-463-0462 abel.herrero@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Stefani Carter 512-463-0454 stefani.carter@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Lon Burnam 512-463-0740 lon.burnam@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Terry Canales 512-463-0426 terry.canales@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Bryan Hughes 512-463-0271 bryan.hughes@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Jeff Leach 512-463-0544 jeff.leach@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Joe Moody 512-463-0728 joe.moody@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Matt Schaefer 512-463-0584 matt.schaefer@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Steve Toth 512-463-0797 steve.toth@house.state.tx.us

Whether writing or calling, all that is necessary is to simply ask them to vote in favor of HB1862. Keep it POLITE, short and to the point.

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Knife Rights Leader In NH Legislature Defeated

November 13, 2012 by 4 Comments

Hidden in among all the recent election news was the defeat of NH State Representative Jenn Coffey (R-Merrimack) who had led the successful fight to reform New Hampshire’s knife laws.

Coffey, the winner of Blade Magazine’s 2011 Publisher’s Award, had sponsored the bill that removed penalties for both possession and selling switchblades, dirks, daggers, and stilettos. Her bill which passed and was signed by the governor of New Hampshire changed the emphasis from the tool to the crime. In addition, Coffey is the National Legislative Director for the Second Amendment Sisters. She has written a book, Knives, Lipstick, and Liberty about the experience of going from an apolitical EMT to being recognized as a leader for knife rights.

Coffey lost to Democrat Mario Ratzki by approximately 200 votes. Mr. Ratzki, according to his website, had relocated to that area of New Hampshire a mere three years ago to retire after selling antique rugs in Boston. The voter guide from NH Public TV says that Coffey is a graduate of Lycee Henri Poincare (Nancy, France) and U. Cal. – Berkeley.

As to his position on the Second Amendment, he said in a letter to the editor, “We need to  balance gun rights with public safety.” An equivocating statement like that tells you everything you need to know.

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News From The Second Front

May 7, 2012 by 3 Comments

Knife Rights calls themselves the Second Front in the fight for the Second Amendment and they are correct. They scored a big win in the state of Georgia recently concerning preemption. Unlike in the firearms world where state preemption is the norm rather than the exception, it is just the opposite when it comes to knives. Such was the case of Georgia which is home to the Blade Show.

From Knife Rights:

With encouragement from your phone calls, emails and letters, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has signed the single most important bill for knife owners and the knife industry to pass this year. With his signature, Knife Rights’ drafted SB432 establishes knife law preemption in Georgia, effectively repealing draconian restrictions on knife ownership, sales and manufacturing in cities like Atlanta, home of BLADE Show, the world’s largest knife show.

For years the BLADE Show has literally been operating on the “knife’s edge”of the law because even though it takes place in Cobb County, where there are very few restrictions on knives, right across the street in the city of Atlanta, where many BLADE Show attendees go to eat, sleep and recreate, there are onerous laws against knives and knife owners.

These local ordinances banned the possession of all sorts of knives readily available and often carried at the BLADE Show including a prohibition against carry of any automatic or any knife with a blade longer than three-inches “readily available for use.” An attendee or exhibitor could easily have run afoul of these ordinances and faced fines and jail time. The potential existed to create terrible publicity that could have jeopardized the knife world’s most important annual show! With the signing of Knife Rights drafted Knife Law Preemption bill, those threats are now eliminated.

Our thanks to the members and supporters of Knife Rights who made their support known to the legislature and governor and to the bill sponsors, Georgia Senator Bill Heath and Georgia Representative David Knight. Also, a special thank you to Governor Nathan Deal for signing this important legislation.

Having said all that, one word of caution! Please note that this new Knife Preemption Law does not go into effect until July 1, 2012, so BLADE Show attendees should remain cautious this year as the old laws remain in effect until July 1st.

Congratulations are in order for Doug Ritter, Todd Rathner, and all who worked so hard to bring preemption to Georgia.

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Florida Knife Law Preemption Bill Filed

January 9, 2012 by 1 Comment

In news from the Second Front for the fight for the Second Amendment comes this from Florida. According to Knife Rights, Florida St. Senator Thad Altman (R-24) has filed a bill that would reserve regulation of knives to the State Legislature and pre-empt all municipal regulations of knives and cutting instruments.

As promised in our New Years message, we are pleased to announce that another Knife Rights bill is now in play. Florida State Senator Thad Altman (R- District 24) has filed a Knife Law Preemption bill developed by Knife Rights with cooperation of our friends at Florida Carry. We’d also like to acknowledge former president of the NRA, Marion Hammer, the executive director of United Sportsmen of Florida, who was very helpful in this effort. SB 1732 is “a bill…providing legislative intent to preempt the regulation of knives and weapons to the Legislature.” You can review the bill here: www.kniferights.org/SB-1732_Knife-Preemption_Altman.pdf

This bill builds upon the success of last year’s revised Florida firearms preemption law that provided for painful penalties to political jurisdictions that were previously ignoring the existing firearms preemption law. Our Knife and Weapons Preemption bill voids local laws and regulations and includes these same severe penalties if local jurisdiction were inclined to ignore this expansion of state preemption to cover knives. This puts real teeth into this bill, ensuring “the repeal of rules, ordinances, and regulations prohibited by the [new] section [of law].”

Two encompassing definitions are provided in the bill for “common pocketknife” and “knife” that are otherwise referenced in Florida law without constructive definitions. A “common pocketknife” is defined as “any knife that can be carried in a pocket, purse, handbag, backpack, briefcase, or sheath, or similar container.” “Knife” is defined as “a cutting instrument that includes a sharpened or pointed blade, including a sheath knife commonly used for fishing, hunting, outdoor recreation, or work activities.”

We are working diligently to get a companion bill filed in the Florida House of Representatives, which is generally required to assure passage. We will keep you posted.

It is interesting to note that Florida Carry and former NRA President Marion Hammer are assisting in their efforts. It is encouraging to see primarily gun groups working with knife groups to broaden protection across the board for the Second Amendment. This is the equivalent of hunting groups working with fishing groups to protect both game and fish from the PETAfiles.

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Knife Rights Report On Boston Hearing

September 9, 2011 by 1 Comment

The hearing on a proposed requirement that business that sell knives have a special license was held last night. Knife Rights was represented by Jim Wallace, Executive Director of the Gun Owners’ Action League.
The report on the hearing is below.

Boston City Council Holds Knife Control Hearing

On Thursday, September 8, 2011, the Public Safety Committee of the Boston City Council held a public hearing concerning the potential licensing of businesses that sell knives. According to the supporters of the proposed license, the action is needed as a means to address the “ever increasing knife violence in Boston.” Knife Rights was represented by Jim Wallace, Executive Director of Gun Owners’ Action League, who was also representing his own organization.

The politicians attending were clearly firm in their conviction that action must be taken, some scapegoat must be found. There were grieving parents and their genuine heart wrenching stories of lost loved ones. Public safety officials offered supportive testimony for the proposal. For anyone who attended the infamous Gun Control hearings here a decade ago, the only difference was that the word “guns” was replaced with “knives.”

The testimony and statements during the public hearing were frighteningly reminiscent of past gun control hearings. “Why would we allow any corner store to sell these dangerous weapons (knives).” “Selling knives does not support families.” “We must do everything we can to restrict access to these dangerous weapons.” “Why would anyone need a knife with a blade more than two inches long.””Knives are fine if you need them for work, but employers should require they be left on the job.”

To anyone who has been involved in the Second Amendment battle in the last few decades it sends a shiver up your spine, because this is exactly how gun control efforts were initiated. To make matters more frightening, law enforcement officials testified that “the modern way of approaching these issues is to go after the source of the items rather than the criminals themselves.”

Wallace urged the City Council to take careful and meaningful steps in addressing the problem of violent crime. “I urge the City Council to review what it is about to do and reflect on the failures of gun control,” said Wallace. “Over a decade ago I had to testify before committees in the state house with grieving families in the background. Now I sit before you a decade later with grieving families behind me again. If you proceed down this path and get it wrong again, ten years from now we will likely repeat this scene yet again.”

Wallace also reminded the councilors that these stores are already licensed by the city, for which they pay a fee and are subject to city oversight as to their compliance with the law, and that there is already an ordinance on the books that makes it illegal to sell a knife with a blade two inches or longer to anyone under age 18. He reiterated that there is no need for new regulation.

Even in high security of prisons rudimentary knives (shivs) are readily available, which shows the futility of trying to control the source of a such an easy to make weapon, as opposed to penalizing law-abiding citizens and making it more difficult for them to obtain the versatile tools used by millions every day at work, home and while recreating.

The City Council took no action on the matter during the hearing. It is likely that it will be some weeks before a draft ordinance is presented to the City Council as a whole.

In the meantime, we will work to try to ensure that history does not repeat itself. We have an unusual advantage in this situation to know what the future will bring if we follow this path of knife control proposed by Boston. We know without any doubt that citizens’ rights will be trampled. Most certainly grieving families will still be burying loved ones because politicians would appear to prefer going after the source of an inanimate object rather than the human criminal element – the source of the crime. The solution offered up today is no solution at all.

If you are a Boston citizen, here is a link to the councilors’ webpages where you can find a link to contact them and POLITELY express your outrage: http://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/councillors

We urge all Boston area Knife Rights members to contact the Boston City Council and express their opposition to this measure.

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Boston Holds Hearing On Knife Sales Licensing Proposal

September 6, 2011 by 2 Comments

Knife Rights issues the following alert regarding a proposal in Boston to license knife sales. You can find a link to a video interview with two of the City Council members pushing this here.

Boston Proposes to License Knife Sales

As we warned in our last News Slice eBlast, this Thursday, September 8, 2011, the Public Safety Committee of the Boston City Council will be holding a hearing with the intention of licensing the sale of knives in the city of Boston. Below is the official stated purpose of the hearing:

That the appropriate committee of the Boston City Council hold a hearing to examine requiring the sale of knives to be licensed by the appropriate police agency that would monitor, regulate and license businesses selling knives. Representatives from the Boston Police Department, Inspectional Services Department, and other interested parties shall be invited to attend.

The meeting will be at Boston City Hall, Ianella Chambers, 5th Floor on Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 10 am.

If you are a Boston citizen, here is a link to the councilors’ webpages where you can find a link to contact them and POLITELY express your outrage: http://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/councillors

We urge all Boston area Knife Rights members to contact the Boston City Council and express their opposition to this measure. Currently citizens need a license to possess pepper spray. In a year or so this measure could lead to licensing citizens to possess a basic pocket knife.

As noted in the article linked below, existing Boston law already prohibits knives with a blade two inches or longer from being sold to anyone under age 18. A number of stores were fined as a result of a recent sting operation for illegally selling knives to underage persons. There is no indication that there has been any factual connection made between violence committed with knives in the city and these retailers, or that licensing would actually help the situation any more than simply enforcing the existing law on the books.

Knife Rights has a representative in Massachusetts who will be attending this meeting, but if you live in the area and can attend as well, the stronger show of opposition we can generate, the better.

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But What About Gourmet Shops?

August 30, 2011 by 2 Comments

Knife Rights sent out the following on an attempt by two Boston City Councilmen to force retailers who sell knives to be licensed for “knife sale.” In other words, a local equivalent of an FFL for knives. These politicians don’t say whether it will apply to Target, Walmart, and gourmet shops which sell knives 10 and 12 inch blades.

Boston City Councilors Propose Licensing Knife Retailers

As previously reported, the Massachusetts legislature was looking at proposing a law that would make purchasing a knife nearly as difficult as purchasing a firearm, which to date has not gained any traction in part due to Knife Rights’ efforts. Now, anti-knife activists have turned to the city of Boston. Two Boston members of the City Council have proposed that knife retailers be licensed in a purported effort to prevent sales of knives to minors.

As noted in the article linked below, existing Boston law already prohibits knives with a blade two inches or longer from being sold to anyone under age 18. A number of stores were fined as a result of a recent sting operation for illegally selling knives to underage persons.

Knife Rights has a representative on the ground in Massachusetts and will be monitoring this proposed ordinance in case it grows legs. There is no indication that there has been any factual connection made between violence committed with knives in the city and these retailers, or that licensing would actually help the situation any more than simply enforcing the existing law on the books.

A link to the article referred to in the Knife Rights post can be found here.  For a video report see below: