A History of the Illegalization of Switchblade Knives in The United States

A wave of knife bans in the 20th century began in the US in the 1950s due to the rising popularity of Italian stilettos. The catalyst of which is widely attributed to Soldiers returning from World War II with automatic knives they acquired at war along with the revival of production in Italy and the efforts of a firm well known today in the switchblade knife collecting community called LATAMA to import Italian stilettos into the United States.

Italian stiletto knives become popular among young people, gang members, and knife enthusiasts and this happened to run concurrent with an increase in criminal activity among teens. US companies produced flick knives, but Italian stilettos were considered by politicians and many in the public to be more dangerous and useless in everyday life.

A media campaign fueled by Jack Harrison Pollack's article "The Toy That Kills" and Hollywood films further propagated the dangerous image of switchblades, resulting in the passing of New York's law banning their sale or distribution and the failed effort to pass a federal bill banning their manufacture and sale.

Politicians and media used the issue of automatic knives to gain political capital and increase circulation, respectively. In 1957, Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver attempted to pass a bill to ban automatic knives, but it failed due to opposition from the Departments of Commerce and Justice.

In 1958, Senator Peter F. Mack, Jr. introduced a new bill aimed at reducing gang crime. Hearings on the ban were marked by passionate speeches by politicians, including Frank J. Pino, James J. Delaney, Frederick G. Payne, and Sidney R. Yates. Police chiefs from various cities also backed the ban. The senators cited rising statistics on knife-related crimes committed by minors and the results of local ordnances in San Francisco as evidence of the need for a ban.

Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks wrote that the proposed legislation to control the use of switchblade knives as a weapon of assault is an indirect approach that addresses only one implement used by an assailant, casting doubt on its effectiveness in reducing crime. He also stated that the exemptions for government activities ignore the needs of those who derive livelihood from outdoor pursuits and that their needs must be considered. The Department of Defense endorsed the ban but with an exemption for itself and other government agencies.

The backers of the anti-switchblade bills believed that the ban was mostly symbolic and would not reduce crime. Despite this, the Switchblade Knife Act of 1958 was passed by Congress and made all automatic knives illegal, without distinction between blades of utilitarian purposes and such as bayonets or daggers. However, the sale and possession of fixed blade knives, stilettos, and other "assault knives" was still legal. The prohibition of automatic knives did not justify itself as a measure against violence and crime, as youth gangs still used knives and firearms.