Fifth Circuit Rules Federal Switchblade Knife Restrictions Violate the Second Amendment

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that the federal Switchblade Act’s restrictions on the interstate commerce of switchblade knives violate the Second Amendment. In Knife Rights, Inc. v. Blanche, a case the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund provided financial support for, the court held that switchblade knives are “arms” protected by the Second Amendment and that the federal government failed to demonstrate that the law’s restrictions on their introduction, manufacture, transportation, and distribution are consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of arms regulation.

The Federal Switchblade Act (FSA), enacted in 1958, makes it a crime to knowingly introduce, manufacture for introduction, transport, or distribute switchblade knives in interstate commerce.

The Fifth Circuit concluded that switchblade knives qualify as constitutionally protected arms because they have long been used for self-defense and other lawful purposes, including hunting, fishing, recreation, and everyday utility. The court also explained that the right to keep and bear arms necessarily encompasses the ability to acquire them. Without the corresponding right to purchase arms, the court reasoned, the Second Amendment’s protections would mean little.

Applying the Supreme Court’s framework set forth in the NRA’s landmark victory, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Fifth Circuit determined that the government failed to carry its burden of establishing a historical tradition supporting the FSA’s restrictions. Although the government cited historical laws regulating the carrying of concealed weapons, the court explained that those laws did not establish a comparable tradition of restricting the manufacture, transportation, or distribution of such arms. Of nearly 200 historical statutes cited by the government, the court found only two that regulated bladed weapons in a manner comparable to the FSA—too few to establish a representative historical tradition.

The court therefore reversed the district court’s dismissal of the challenge to the Act’s interstate-commerce provision, 15 U.S.C. § 1242, and remanded the case for further proceedings.

The court separately affirmed dismissal of the challenge to 15 U.S.C. § 1243, which regulates the manufacture, sale, or possession of switchblade knives in certain federal jurisdictions and locations. The plaintiffs brought a facial challenge to that provision but failed, the court determined, to establish that it had no constitutional applications.

The decision reinforces that the Second Amendment protects more than the possession of firearms. It also protects access to non-firearm arms, such as knives and, as a New York district court held earlier this week, body armor.

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