Im just a Bill Im just a Bill but someday Ill be a law A1241
Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 7:18 pm
Once upon a time when TV was Black and white the title for this posting ( Im just a Bill ) was a ditty on a TV commercial which explained the process for getting a law passed or amended. I am afraid the actual process is a bit more convoluted than the cute little one minute TV explanation. This being said some of you may be aware of the battle ( is that word a bit to melodramatic perhapes it would seem so but not to me the beauracratic bull I have gone through in an effort to save a viable segment of american history has for me at least has been a battle ).
In NYS anyone having a valid state Hunting or fishing license as well as certain other special exceptions ie peace officer , military , ect may own , posess, or ( depending on circumstance ) carry an automatic or switchblade knife. This law has been misinterpreted and enforced upon individual whim by law enforcment agencys since its inception in the mid 1950tys.
The very fact that there is a law which allows ownership of these items by anyone with a valid hunting or fishing licence has often been disputed and then usually after an expensive court experience the charges dropped and sometimes, or sometimes not the item or items is returned to the owner with an apology often the item is mutilated with evidence numbers ect etched in the handle or blade.
There has been to this point no legal exception or way in which to publicly display these items or explain where they fit into the scheme of the cutlery history. These types of knives were especially important to the knife industry in the Hudson Valley. Walden NY at one time produced 50 to 80 percent of all the knives made or sold in this country. Automatics were there largest selling lines and patterns of Schrade and Walden Knife. Now all these companies are gone the Last being Schrade, the hudson valley had dozens of knife companies the fast flowing waters from the catskills peaks with names like the bierkill , Roundout, as well as the strange river which flows North from New Jersey ( Yes North ) called the Wallkill, to empty in the Hudson all served as source of energy for the cutlery industry yes the water was the blood but the bone and Muscle were the european immigrants who's fierce independence and demands for a right to a decent wage, work conditions, and religious freedoms drove them from there homes to a new land of hope these people were as tough as the steel they shaped proud people who made tools to last as long as the ideals of the new free land they had fled to. With every knife and every generation they forged there subborn ethics of work and freedom. Many carried the very steel forged by there fathers and brothers into many lands ( included our own civil conflict) to protect those very freedoms they coveted in there new homes. These were Americans who understood that sometimes just as steel is tempered with time, toil, and knowledge so to the mettle of men was cast in the furnace of adversity so that all might be allowed these freedoms we often take for granted.
It is this the story and legacy that I wish to save . To this end I have dedicated over 50 years of my life in trying to preserve these artifacts and history. It is rapidly disappearing the other day I was over at a friends place of business talking, he said let me show you something I just bought he said it's a Schrade. It was a fillet knife the box marked Schrade the end of the box declared made in China. ( thats communist China in case you were wondering a country that has vowed to destroy us and our way of life ) the side of the box had the american flag on it. He was very proud of the knife it had only cost 10 dollars . I did not explain what it had really cost.
All that being said I have been attempting for years to try to start a museum so that perhapes even though our industry is now gone perhapes our progeny might still be able to look with awe and respect upon at least some past generations. I have been approached in the past with the opportunity to commence such a project. Most of those who thought it was a good idea were the usualy pillers of the community self righteous, civic types who while endorsing there own agendas thought this would be a cutsie idea. They also had no idea of what this history was or meant. I was advised oh go ahead put your automatics in no one will say anything or do the displays and leave out this segment. My answer was usually something like how about I do a history of WWII and leave out a few things some people might find objectionable like Pearl Harbor, the Holacaust and the atom bomb. I would then usually add that as it is history is constantly being changed to what is in vogue. In fact the last i heard was that we really did not fight the mexican army in the Alamo oh yes and freedom of speech is fine but there are some words that can no longer be used.
No if I tell a story it will be the whole story and if my 26 years as a peace officer taught me anything it was that regarding the law nothing is implied it must be explicit. All this brings me back to the original reason for this posting. Even though we live in a world of dirty bombs , Anthrax and horrors beyond imagination. It seems a knife which ( sometimes has a blade of one inch long ) and may be over 100 years old is to dangerous to be allowed legally to be viewed by the public if it opens by a spring akin to a bobby pin. Well finally after years I have managed to have a bill introduced into the NYS legislature which would allow the legal display of these items so that they may take there rightful place in this segment of american history.
Last year this bill passed the Senate and died in the assembly. Even though everyone felt it was a positive law. I will not go into the reason at this point however it was political. This year on MAY 8th it passed the senate again. It does have some changes ( I mean they have made it as difficult as they could fingerprinting ect ) However it does make it possible and allows a procedure to do it. However after 5 years of battling ( can you imagine what it takes to get something big done if it is 5 years for this ) if it passes the assembly and the governor signs it. It would be the first change in the switchblade laws in 50 years. It is a step forward.
The Senate bill number is S423 the assembly number is A1241. If you wish to view these bills simply google over to New York State Legislature and plug these numbers into search. If you feel that is a bill which is of merit I am asking everyone ( no matter what state you live in ) to email your support. to
Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther
18 Anawanna Lake Rd.
Monticello, NY 12701
845-794-5807
e-mail [email protected]
(EXAMPLE) PLease support Bill A1241 to allow the public display of automatic knives in NYS. Thankyou ( SIGN)
I thank you all for taking the time to read this and if I can answer any related questions my email is [email protected] . It would be more than difficult to explain all that it has taken to even get this far. LT PS Please pass this information on to any other sites or organizations you might feel could help in getting emails or letters to the assembly person. The bill is the rifle the emails are the bullets. PPS If any of you belong to bladeforums and those related forums please advise them since I am no longer a member there also any others you might think of.
In NYS anyone having a valid state Hunting or fishing license as well as certain other special exceptions ie peace officer , military , ect may own , posess, or ( depending on circumstance ) carry an automatic or switchblade knife. This law has been misinterpreted and enforced upon individual whim by law enforcment agencys since its inception in the mid 1950tys.
The very fact that there is a law which allows ownership of these items by anyone with a valid hunting or fishing licence has often been disputed and then usually after an expensive court experience the charges dropped and sometimes, or sometimes not the item or items is returned to the owner with an apology often the item is mutilated with evidence numbers ect etched in the handle or blade.
There has been to this point no legal exception or way in which to publicly display these items or explain where they fit into the scheme of the cutlery history. These types of knives were especially important to the knife industry in the Hudson Valley. Walden NY at one time produced 50 to 80 percent of all the knives made or sold in this country. Automatics were there largest selling lines and patterns of Schrade and Walden Knife. Now all these companies are gone the Last being Schrade, the hudson valley had dozens of knife companies the fast flowing waters from the catskills peaks with names like the bierkill , Roundout, as well as the strange river which flows North from New Jersey ( Yes North ) called the Wallkill, to empty in the Hudson all served as source of energy for the cutlery industry yes the water was the blood but the bone and Muscle were the european immigrants who's fierce independence and demands for a right to a decent wage, work conditions, and religious freedoms drove them from there homes to a new land of hope these people were as tough as the steel they shaped proud people who made tools to last as long as the ideals of the new free land they had fled to. With every knife and every generation they forged there subborn ethics of work and freedom. Many carried the very steel forged by there fathers and brothers into many lands ( included our own civil conflict) to protect those very freedoms they coveted in there new homes. These were Americans who understood that sometimes just as steel is tempered with time, toil, and knowledge so to the mettle of men was cast in the furnace of adversity so that all might be allowed these freedoms we often take for granted.
It is this the story and legacy that I wish to save . To this end I have dedicated over 50 years of my life in trying to preserve these artifacts and history. It is rapidly disappearing the other day I was over at a friends place of business talking, he said let me show you something I just bought he said it's a Schrade. It was a fillet knife the box marked Schrade the end of the box declared made in China. ( thats communist China in case you were wondering a country that has vowed to destroy us and our way of life ) the side of the box had the american flag on it. He was very proud of the knife it had only cost 10 dollars . I did not explain what it had really cost.
All that being said I have been attempting for years to try to start a museum so that perhapes even though our industry is now gone perhapes our progeny might still be able to look with awe and respect upon at least some past generations. I have been approached in the past with the opportunity to commence such a project. Most of those who thought it was a good idea were the usualy pillers of the community self righteous, civic types who while endorsing there own agendas thought this would be a cutsie idea. They also had no idea of what this history was or meant. I was advised oh go ahead put your automatics in no one will say anything or do the displays and leave out this segment. My answer was usually something like how about I do a history of WWII and leave out a few things some people might find objectionable like Pearl Harbor, the Holacaust and the atom bomb. I would then usually add that as it is history is constantly being changed to what is in vogue. In fact the last i heard was that we really did not fight the mexican army in the Alamo oh yes and freedom of speech is fine but there are some words that can no longer be used.
No if I tell a story it will be the whole story and if my 26 years as a peace officer taught me anything it was that regarding the law nothing is implied it must be explicit. All this brings me back to the original reason for this posting. Even though we live in a world of dirty bombs , Anthrax and horrors beyond imagination. It seems a knife which ( sometimes has a blade of one inch long ) and may be over 100 years old is to dangerous to be allowed legally to be viewed by the public if it opens by a spring akin to a bobby pin. Well finally after years I have managed to have a bill introduced into the NYS legislature which would allow the legal display of these items so that they may take there rightful place in this segment of american history.
Last year this bill passed the Senate and died in the assembly. Even though everyone felt it was a positive law. I will not go into the reason at this point however it was political. This year on MAY 8th it passed the senate again. It does have some changes ( I mean they have made it as difficult as they could fingerprinting ect ) However it does make it possible and allows a procedure to do it. However after 5 years of battling ( can you imagine what it takes to get something big done if it is 5 years for this ) if it passes the assembly and the governor signs it. It would be the first change in the switchblade laws in 50 years. It is a step forward.
The Senate bill number is S423 the assembly number is A1241. If you wish to view these bills simply google over to New York State Legislature and plug these numbers into search. If you feel that is a bill which is of merit I am asking everyone ( no matter what state you live in ) to email your support. to
Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther
18 Anawanna Lake Rd.
Monticello, NY 12701
845-794-5807
e-mail [email protected]
(EXAMPLE) PLease support Bill A1241 to allow the public display of automatic knives in NYS. Thankyou ( SIGN)
I thank you all for taking the time to read this and if I can answer any related questions my email is [email protected] . It would be more than difficult to explain all that it has taken to even get this far. LT PS Please pass this information on to any other sites or organizations you might feel could help in getting emails or letters to the assembly person. The bill is the rifle the emails are the bullets. PPS If any of you belong to bladeforums and those related forums please advise them since I am no longer a member there also any others you might think of.
Lt; 10-4 
and good luck on the rest of the trip.