It is legal to carry switchblades in some states. In Oregon we are fortunate to have one of the strongest state constitutions with the regard to the right to keep and bear arms. A fellow successfully argued in court & won, that a switchblade is an armament. Benchmade, as you no doubt know is located in Oregon, and makes a lot of automatic knives.
When I was in the cutlery business (1980's and early 1990's) we sold automatics in our stores to the general public, over the age of 18 years. To the best of my knowledge that law has not changed. A quick perusal of Bernard Levine's site on knife laws,
http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/links.htm does not show any current laws restricting the carrying of switchblades in Oregon except by ex-felons and in certain buildings, like schools & court rooms.
I know the law varies from state to state and in some local municipalities.
I have heard that the federal law restricting the transportation of switchblades across state lines, was passed in the late 1950's, largely in response to the bad-boy image switchblades got from some Hollywood movies in the 1950's, specifically some of James Dean's movies. Prior to that time they had been an everyday knife, some were even sold as "safety knives" because they had locks on them to prevent them from opening in a pocket or purse. I am told that the smaller ones were often carried by little old ladies in their crochet bags to cut crochet thread. I expect that is because they were less likely to poke their finger on a closed "safety knife" when reaching into their crochet bag, than on a pair of small sharp pointed scissors. Makes be wish I knew what happened to my grandmother's crochet bag.
James, those are nice examples of early switchblades.
Dale
Right?
...very nice. 
How about another?
WHY ?
