WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) reintroduced the Knife Owners Protection Act (KOPA), legislation that would protect knife owners traveling across state lines from changing state and local laws. If possession of the knife is legal in the state where the journey starts and ends, and provided the knife is secured in accordance with the requirements set in KOPA, knife owners would no longer be threatened with arrest simply for traveling from one state to another.
Originally introduced in 2013, KOPA serves as the first proactive pro-knife federal legislation in the nation’s history. In 1986, Congress enacted the Firearm Owner Protection Act (FOPA) to protect law-abiding gun owners from an inconsistent patchwork of local laws, but no such protections currently exist for knife owners.
“Let’s make sure conflicting state laws are not the basis for arresting an honest American,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This bill eliminates that uncertainty.”
“Patchwork and unclear knife laws across America endanger the rights of law-abiding knife owners, especially when traveling,” said Senator Lee. “This legislation will provide consistency and clarity for Americans who safely transport knives between jurisdictions and prevent capricious prosecutions against them.”
“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,” said Knife Rights Chairman Doug Ritter. “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. Enforcement is not uniform even within jurisdictions and is too often subject to the vagaries of political expediency.”
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