Are spring-assisted knives illegal in New York>|?

Question

Not a switchblade but a knife that requires a bit of manual opening.

Answer 1

Hmm, tough call.  There's a few things to consider, so I'll go over them.  The law defines a switchblade as:

"'Switchblade knife' means any knife which has a blade which  opens automatically  by  hand  pressure  applied  to a button, spring or other device in the HANDLE of the knife. "  Ã‚§ 265.00 (emphasis added)

Assisted-opening knives exploit a common loophole in switchblade definitions.  You have to touch the BLADE to open them, not a mechanism in the handle.  So under NY law, assisted-openers are NOT illegal switchblades.

However, NY has this annoying catch-all term "dangerous knife."  This is only specified through case law as:

"Whether a 'knife' is a 'dangerous knife' may be determined on the basis of three alternative considerations: one, its own characteristics which show that it is primarily intended for use as a weapon; second, a modification, which converts what would otherwise be a utensil into a weapon; and third, the circumstances of the possession which may reveal that the possessor considers it a weapon and not a utilitarian tool." - Matter of Jamie D., 59 NY2d 589 (1983).

Therefore, be mindful of how the knife looks.  The little Kershaw ones are pretty plain and are mainly for use as tools, so they likely wouldn't cause much trouble.  Similarly, the SOG trident has a seat-belt cutter type thing in the handle, displaying its intention for search and rescue work.  But if it's a big scary looking knife with camouflage coloring or perhaps even a black blade, or some other weapon-like features, that may get you in trouble.