Fifth Circuit Court strikes down federal switchblade ban

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that the Federal Switchblade Act violates the Second Amendment. The court found that the law, which prohibits the manufacture, transportation, or distribution of switchblades across state lines, is unconstitutional because it infringes upon the right to keep and bear arms.

In the opinion for Knife Rights v. Blanche, Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod stated that the right to bear arms includes the right to acquire weapons. The court noted that the government failed to provide historical statutes from the founding era that would justify such a ban. The ruling emphasized that switchblades constitute arms that people have a right to possess for self-defense.

The Federal Switchblade Act was originally enacted by Congress in 1958. The court observed that the law was passed during a period of concern regarding juvenile delinquency but found it inconsistent with the nation's historical traditions of arms regulation.