Exclusive: Andy Biggs, Mike Lee reintroduce legislation protecting knife owners



Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah reintroduced the Knife Owners Protection Act, which protects knife owners traveling from one state to another against vague and restrictive state and local laws.

The legislation details that so long as possession of the knife is legal in the states an individual travels to and from, and so long as the knife is secured based on the KOPA requirements, a knife owner can't be arrested for simply traveling across state lines.

"The government must not discourage interstate travel and commerce by subjecting law-abiding knife owners to the fear of prosecution under the myriad patchwork of state and local knife laws," Biggs said in a statement obtained exclusively by Blaze News.

'Enforcement is not uniform even with jurisdictions and is too often subject to the vagaries of political expediency.'

"Americans are guaranteed the right to protect themselves, their families, and their businesses by the Second Amendment, and we must ensure that those rights are protected," Biggs continued. "I'm thankful for Senator Lee's leadership on the issue in the Senate and for the support of my colleagues as we work to move this bill through Congress."

The bill was originally drafted in 2010 by an organization known as Knife Rights and was officially introduced in 2013, making KOPA the first proactive federal legislation protecting knife owners in our nation's history.

Congress enacted a similar law in 1986 known as the Firearm Owner Protection Act, which protected law-abiding gun owners from the patchwork of local and state laws. Although FOPA was already passed, knife owners have not yet experienced the same protections.

"Those who travel across the country with knives for work, recreation and self-defense are presently subject to arrest and prosecution under a confusing patchwork of inconsistent state and local laws," Doug Ritter, chairman of Knife Rights, said in the statement.

"What is perfectly legal in one place may be a serious crime in another, resulting in forfeiture of the knife and carrying significant penalties including jail time," Ritter continued. "Enforcement is not uniform even with jurisdictions and is too often subject to the vagaries of political expediency."

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Maryland House Democrats introduced a bill last week banning gun owners from carrying without $300,000 of liability insurance.

What are the details?

WBFF-TV reported that Del. Terri Hill introduced the legislation, which reads, "A person may not wear or carry a firearm unless the person has obtained and is covered by liability insurance issued by an insurer authorized to do business in the State under the Insurance Article to cover claims for property damage, bodily injury, or death arising from an accident resulting from the person’s use or storage of a firearm or up to $300,000 for damages arising from the same incident, in addition to interest and costs."

While the bill's language exempts members of the military and federal law enforcement officers from the insurance requirement, WBFF noted that the bill does not exempt state and local law enforcement officers.

Largo-based criminal defense attorney Vernon Brownlee told the station that he believes the bill may hold law enforcement officers accountable: “[This] legislation aims to enhance accountability among police officers, particularly addressing the disproportionate impact of their misuse of deadly force on the black community. In essence, the legislation introduces a mechanism whereby repeated violations of the statute could lead insurance carriers to consider an officer a liability, rendering them uninsurable.”

WBFF said it asked Hill why state and local law enforcement officers aren't exempt from the insurance requirement, and the station said Hill replied that she would be making corrections.

Del. Cheryl Pasteur, a co-sponsor of the bill, told WBFF in a follow-up email after Hill's phone interview that "the exception is in the bill."

“[Del. Hill] noted she would go back, however, and make sure it is clear before going to a hearing,” Pasteur added to the station.

Maryland Fraternal Order of Police President Clyde Boatwright told WBFF that state and local law enforcement officers should have the same exemption as federal officers: "We would appreciate if our Maryland law enforcement officers received the same rights as federal officers. If our federal partners are exempt, state and local officers should be afforded that same right."

Hill told WBFF that the idea for the legislation came from a constituent who told her that gun owners should “bear some liability in cases where there is damage because of guns being used in ways that cause harm.”

Gun advocate Frank Duffy noted to the station that the legislation is yet another effort to “chip away” at the state’s wear and carry laws: "The Supreme Court made a decision that said Maryland and other states could not require a good or substantial reason to get a permit.”

More from WBFF:

Duffy, the co-owner and vice president of Maryland-based Spartan Firearms Training Group, said this bill is similar to the state’s handgun qualification licensing (HQL) requirement.

In November, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Maryland’s HQL regulation, siding with gun advocacy groups that said the law placed “undue burden” on citizen’s constitutional rights to obtain, own and possess a firearm.

Since the ruling, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office successfully requested for the full appeals court to rehear the case.

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