Bearing other arms: Lawmakers take stab at loosening knife laws

Kyle Roerink

Daniel Lawson, a lobbyist for the American Knife and Tool Institute, holds a knife with a two-inch blade that he says is much more of a tool than it is a deadlyweapon.

By Kyle Roerink (contact)

Wednesday, March 4, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Carson City

Its the other Second Amendment debate dividing the Legislature.

And it has nothing to do with guns.

Two bills aiming to relax current knife laws are raising new questions about the right to bear arms in a legislative session embroiled by gun legislation, setting up a battle between law enforcement and pro-knife advocates.

Lobbyists representing knife makers and owners are pushing the legislation as a civil rights matter and say murky descriptions in state law are unjustly limiting knife constitutional rights in the state. Law enforcement says loosening knife laws could prove lethal for police and the public.

The proposed laws would allow the manufacture and sale of switchblades, currently an illegal knife, in Nevada. They would also legalize the concealed carry of machetes, switchblades, dirks and daggers while eliminating a permit requirement for openly carrying them.

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Bearing other arms: Lawmakers take stab at loosening knife laws