The insane have taken over the asylum folks.
The geniuses over at the Canada Border Services Agency decided that they weren’t going to let the United Kingdom beat them in the Stupid Olympics and have opted to ban the import of basically all folding knives (if the new law is applied indiscriminately).
Oh boy.
Spyderco Sage 2 Titanium Plain Edge Knife – Amazon / Blade HQ
So let’s break down what the “Notification of Canadian International Trade Tribunal Decision on Centrifugal Opening Knives Customs Notice 18-01” actually means in practice, I will paste the whole shebang and intersperse it with my own pertinent comments.
Ottawa, January 5, 2018
This was released 5 days ago in Ottawa, a city created out of nothingness to keep politicians out of cities where normal people actually live. Sadly, with the onset of the internet, rampant federalization and pervasive virtue signalling, they can still influence our life from the middle of nowhere despite all our attempts to explain that we don’t need nor want them.
1. This Notice is to advise interested parties that the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) has rendered a decision in Appeal No. AP-2017-012, T. LaPlante v. President of the Canada Border Services Agency regarding knives which open automatically by centrifugal force (centrifugal knives).
In other words, Canada’s Border Service Agency enjoys wasting tax payer money under the guise of protecting us. I am sure the roving gangs of thugs will be horrified that they can no longer import Zero Tolerance shinies and instead will just do what they have always done and use common household knives (or screwdrivers) to inflict damage on the innocent populace (as well as their peers).
2. In accordance with subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code and the CITT’s recent decision in T. LaPlante, the CBSA resolves that centrifugal knives will be classified as prohibited weapons if the following conditions are met:
a. a knife has a blade that opens by centrifugal force, when the blade is released from the handle into the fully ejected and locked position with a simple and brisk outwardly flick of the wrist; and
b. it includes knives that require some preliminary or simultaneous minimal manipulation of either a flipper or other non-edged parts of the blade.
3. Please be advised that the CBSA will immediately prohibit the importation of all knives that open as per the CITT’s decision. For more detailed information concerning the decision, please consult the decision posted on the Tribunal’s website at: CITT Appeal No. AP-2017-012.
What.
The.
Hell.
So to reiterate, what’s banned is any knife you can successfully open with a flick of your wrist. For those who have never used a folding knife in their before, let me tell you – that’s basically every single folding knife in existence folks.
I can whip out any Spydie as quick (if not quicker) than a Microtech Automatic. All I have to do is flick quick and hard enough. I just don’t understand how these over-payed idiots decided that this was solid legal reasoning. What’s next? Let’s ban knives if they “look scary”?!
The UK banned Zombie knives (As a Brit, I am thoroughly ashamed) and it seems that Canada is heading into litigation through emotion rather than a common sense approach as well.
What irks me the most about this absurd decision is its inability to be enforced equally across the board. What will go through customs will depend on who the custom agent in question is and his or her dexterity when deploying knives.
I can with one hand open a Swiss Army Knife by manipulating a non-edged part of the blade (the spine). Flicking out the blade in one swift motion is pretty easy with force. This would render a Victorinox SAK illegal to import.
The pretty girl frequently struggles with some Spydercos.
Laws that are based on a personal assessment are always ridiculous. You cannot codify assuming everything is the same. It would be like saying that you can carry any blade that is shorter than the palm of your hand (a common knife myth). If you are a deluded government official who doesn’t live in the real world then that would make sense, as it would give law enforcement the ability to quickly gauge what is and isn’t illegal, but it’s problematic when actually enforced because someone like Shaq could EDC a 6 inch blade whilst someone with more normal sized hands could barely get away with a 4 inch option.
This heavy handed approach to knife litigation has proven hugely problematic for the UK, and sadly the contagion seems to be spreading.
Banning “scary” knives to prevent crime is a pointless endeavour. An 8 inch chef knife is far more accessible, with a far higher potential for carnage than a relatively niche folding blade that is collected primarily by aficionados.
This should be common sense, but I’ll spell things out further for those who just can’t wrap their head around it anyway: Criminals don’t give a damn about the law. If litigation and positive thoughts were all that mattered, we would simply outlaw Rape and Murder (gee, I thought those were outlawed already…) and we would all live happily ever after.
This is a grotesque legislative overreach, and should it actually be enforced to the full extent of the law, could prove hugely problematic for sensible folks like us. If you are or know a Canadian, please share this with them, as they certainly should know what’s coming. The new regulation may or may not be enforced stringently, and this could easily hit people who simply are not aware of the legal change.
Contact atki and knife rights to see if they try to help In other countries other than USA
I spent more than 4 years and about 34K in court fighting this sort of thing. In my case it was with assisted opening knives. I won but it cost me. I had 64 charges against me for “possession of a prohibited weapon with intent to traffic”. Each charge carrying a mandatory minimum of 3 years in prison. So you can see why I fought it, lol.
That said, knives that open via centrifugal force have always been illegal. It is actually in the criminal code and has been for … likely … decades. Don’t get me wrong … as i see it, if a person has criminal intent, they can do as much damage if not more with a 0.99 box cutter from the dollar store. Knives are not weapons … people make them into weapons.
i have also had large shipments of knives come across the border in which the CBSA has contacted me, explained that a particular type was capable of being opened via centrifugal force and that they were pulling them from my shipment. I told them i was cool with it and they even returned them to the shipper so that i wouldn’t lose the value of the knives. They don’t have to do that. they could just as easily confiscate them and do whatever it is they do with that sort of thing.
I am harassed by the cops all the time because I sell knives, swords, batons, etc. As such i know the knife laws inside and out. This centrifugal force knife ban isn’t a new thing. It’s been around forever. just some government suit trying to make it look like they’re making a difference.
What if you over tighten the pivot before shipping? Then flicking out would be very difficult with centrifugal force, no?
Any knife can serve as a weapon because anything can serve as a weapon. Nonetheless it is hard for me to imagine a swiss being a very good one and at least one fighting instructor on the internet that I read agreed. If I was to do so the best way to do it would be to use the large blade for a stealth assassination slicing the neck from behind. The large blade is about three inches in a Huntsman and well suited for the job if you can get close enough without being spotted. Of course I am not a hit man nor a commando and if I was I would want to use some other technique that was less chancy. If I was to use it in a fight I would want to either use the large blade as a dagger(which has disadvantages as it is single edged limiting it’s thrust), or one technique suggested which is actually pretty interesting and hold it horizontal to the opponent extend the reamer to use as a push dagger. Of course their would be little time to pry it open unlike with a sheath knife(which can just be pulled out) and the using the reamer as an adjunct to your fist is not much more useful then just using your fist and will get more felony counts then the mild advantage justifies. The reamer used that way WILL tear up someones face pretty bad if that is what is desired and if aimed at the eye can destroy it permanently. However it is doubtful that this will be useful enough in short-term self defense as your goal is presumably to subjugate your opponent not to spite him. Neither cutting up his face nor gouging his eye can be counted on to do that but only to make the rest of his life more unpleasant. It might break his will, in fact has a strong probability of doing so; or it might just make him more determined to get even. But techniques which aim at the ability to fight are to be considered especially as it is an honorable thing as well as a prudent thing to subdue an enemy with little damage.
A Swiss Army Knife is a tool. A very good tool and by the way a very aesthetically pleasing one. But take care not to overdue it’s qualities.
I just bought four cheap “Milano Stiletto” assisted openers from a small corner store in Edmonton on 118… they are not anything fancy so knife enthusiasts wouldn’t be too impressed, but they are my favorite knife for everyday use (I have had one for 4 years now and I’ve used it for all kinds of work such as cutting rope and stripping wire, and it’s still in good shape) and it’s good to have just in case, it’s perfect as a potential self defense weapon.
It’s too bad about this overreaching by CBSA. Thankfully as soon as I heard about it I was able to find replacements of my favorite knife… These particular auto stilettos can still be found in little knicknack shops for cheap (15-25 bucks around Edmonton). There are also other styles of cheap assisted openers still around (ones with thicker blades, serrated blades et.c.) if you know where to look (Maybe they were imported before the new interpretation was enforced?)
Its quite likely that there will be legacy stock to be found for the next few years in all sorts of stores around the country. All importation is controlled, once its in Canada the CBSA can’t do anything about it.
Hey Mike,
I’m looking for the same knife you bought.
can you point me to the store you bought yours from? or at lest the street number?
There is one thing that everyone here is over-looking.
There is a HUGE opportunity for a Canadian Manufacturer to take advantage. This is not a “law” this is an opinion. Therefore cut out the CBSA altogether build here!
Just a thought
Lets hope someone with good machining skills has the same thought! ;)
I live in Vancouver right now and I ordered a mint condition Rockstead SHIN DLC (semiautomatic) on e-bay few days ago, which caused me almost 1400 bucks. Now I am so worried about the inspection in the customs clearance. God bless me!
God bless you indeed mate, any word on the Rockstead? Did it arrive safe and sound?
God bless you indeed.. Richmond has to be the worst of all cbsa in Canada, they have seized 3/3 knives on me lately, I hope yours gets through especially at that price. But they do have a pretty good track record. They won’t get any more from me, I will just buy what’s already here from now on. But now the RCMP is going after even more of our guns and making criminals out of law abiding firearms owners over night with the stroke of a pen. Punishing law abiding gun owners and people with pocket knives, will stop crime and violence and make the streets safer in the end, don’t you know?
THEY MUST BE STOPPED… ALL OF THEM!
Three out of three confiscations?! Ouch mate. :( my heart goes out to you. Have you ever considered appealing?
Yes I have appealed them and they just stand their ground stating repeatedly that they are prohibited weapons. Obviously they can’t tell the difference between an automatic knife (push a button to open) and am assisted opening knife. Then they just have you filling forms and writing letters until it is no longer worth your while or you don’t have any more time to expend on the matter. Or they just stop responding to phone calls altogether. Something needs to be done about them and all the other burocrats that feel that they are above the law, or believe that they infact do make the laws, and that we are pee-ons that need to be told what is and isn’t good for us. They’re no better than Trump with his concentration camps for children.
I fail to see how any of them can sleep at night, but I guess you’d have to have a brain and a conscience to lose sleep over it.
That really sucks mate :( hopefully someone takes them to court and sets a precedent.
Seems like CBSA stopped my SOG PowerAssist multitool. Sent it for warranty repair, SOG swapped it out and sent it back the day after they received it.
Been 3 weeks since the paperwork arrived in Canada but no tool. As of today was told by UPS shipping was cancelled.
A multitool. Yes, it has assisted opening blades but small boys. Seems wild to me. One of my favourite tools, gone just like that.
Situation is getting pretty ridiculous, sorry for your loss mate.
I had a 150$ Kershaw Assisted flipper with damascus steal blade stopped by the CBSA last fall. By now they would have destroyed it or stolen it. This really pissed me off because it took so long for them to make sure it was illegal in Canada, that by the time i got a final answer from them i could not send it bake to the seller for a refund because i was over the 60 day period in which the seller accepts returns. Most likely the reason it got stopped was because it had “Assisted knife” in the package description which “i think” red flagged. So if your planning to get questionable knives into Canada make sure there labelled as Tools or something non conspicuous, i know some one who got an auto Kershaw this way.
I would wager it found itself in “someones” pocket. Sucks that it happened and I agree that the description was the likely culprit.
This is bloody ridiculous that the government can just make up arbitrary laws at will without any input from the populous. I was totally unaware of this until now when I am trying to find out why two new knives purchased off the internet are being detained at CBSA. Now to find out I will never receive them. It makes me sick to my stomach to see what it’s coming down the tubes here in Canada.
Do we not employ these clowns and give them the jobs they have? So why is it they can make up laws that we cannot do anything about without first consulting us? This is a travesty of Justice and completely unconstitutional. We pay these idiots in Ottawa, therefore they work for us. Something must be done before we can’t even own a pointed stick.
One good reason I am happy that Cantel laid us off and basically forced me to get an engineering job in the USA. 25 years I have been here and will never move back. The news doesn’t tell you how free it is down here, only tells you all the stupid things our own politicians do (I am now a US citizen). Political ignorance and stupidity is not the monopoly of any country.
Well it must be nice.. Not all of us are fortunate enough to get to move to the US and experience true freedom. I would love to be able to take full advantage of CCW laws and many other freedoms only dreamed of by Canadians or permanent residents of Canada..
Agreed 100%. Far worse in the UK now with regards to personal liberty compared to Canada. :(
Talk about an understatement in the year 2021 LOL.
After reading the comments here, I’ve changed my mind about importing the knife I want. Thanks.
The UK just announced that its likely (once the Bill passes) that shipping knives through the mail network is going to be illegal. Always remember it could be worse. :(
I once wrote an article about how knife laws will fail. It is happening now. Seeing the rise of stabbing incident those burdensome laws are in fact ineffective:
https://hubpages.com/politics/The-Weaknesses-of-Knife-Laws
A bit of good news (for now).
After reading about the ban, obviously I had to suck it up and immediately go on a frenzied online search for a couple of blades (both $200+ Spyderco’s) that I had my eye on for a while but never pulled the buying-trigger on. I found them on Amazon.ca thinking that shipping for items on the Canadian website originated from within Canada. I purchased both from the same vendor and let out a sigh of relief.
I had managed to get ahead of what was surely to be a mad rush by every other Canadian knife aficionado buying up whatever remaining folders were currently in circulation with the most choice blades being the first to sell out. But then….. whilst tracking my shipments I was horrified to see they had been posted from California!
I frantically messaged the seller and a knot started forming in the pit of my stomach with thoughts of my Elmax and S35v works of art being stopped and seized at the border. The seller replied with the irritatingly calm response “ your items have already been released from Canadian Customs and are on their way to you”.
This couldn’t be right. I had to check for myself but there it was, plain as day: “initiated customs at 3:12pm, departure scan at 3:12pm”.
So, apparently, if you are either foolhearty like me or just don’t mind taking the risk, it seems some knives might still get through at the border, for now.
Hopefully the inspecting agents will exercise a bit of discretion (and common sense) if they come across the odd folding knife but that’s probably wishful thinking on my part. Either way I got my knives so I’ll take my happy ending and be done with it.
Enforcement will most definitely be sporadic- plenty of things get through customs everyday regardless of legality and thats just the way it is. The issue is that your shipment one day may be the one in a hundred that gets seized and “destroyed” (stolen, more likely).
I am just wondering how long before we see disassembled knife parts for sale separately; “replacement” blades for your favourite folder on one page, and “replacement” handles (with reference to the corresponding blade) and pivot pins on another?
I would like to think it would be difficult to disqualify individual knife components shipped alone, but perhaps I’m being too optimistic…..
Definitely something I have seen in the past with automatic knives (spring mechanism sold separably).
As with all laws, loopholes will be found. The issue is this will hurt the consumer by limiting choice and availability whilst increasing price.
After an 8 month wait, my Ken Leek Scallion which had languished at KAI Kershaw after warranty repair, received CBSA dispensation to be returned as long as it was disassembled. This is what passes for “logic” at CBSA.
I agree this is silly but you mention that you can open your Swiss army knife with one hand. I’ve never owned any Swiss army knife that I can open quickly or with just one hand so I don’t see how your traditional folding ‘jack knife’ would be covered under this ban.
The point is that the rules are so ambiguous that all it takes is one custom agent who really doesn’t want you to have X knife, and to be able to prove it breaks an arbitrary rule. I can’t open all SAK’s one handed but I have a couple where the slipjoint is docile enough that with a smidgen of pressure under the spine + a hard flick, it will deploy. This would make it problematic under this current legislation.
What you can and can’t do is irrelevant if its all from the perspective of the custom officer.
Hope that explains my position better mate!
Can we please fight this? It’s absolutely absurd!
Sadly, I doubt regulation will be revoked merely due to popular rejection. Bureaucrats win in the end because they will drag this debate until people get bored- and then more and more regulation. ‘such is the way of things sadly. :(
Not much to say really… “What are yo talkin`abooot?!” -Blame Canada! :)
Well, I’m sad to see the Califonication of Canadian laws. Thankfully, I live in a Free State of the Union, that recently repealed a Statewide ban on Auto Knives…. “Merica!”
Aye, I do believe that eventually such legislation will come full circle though…or atleast I hope so!
just what will every tradesmen use? these knives have been a useful tool for centuries. but then we have an idiot behind a desk who knows what is best for us
Grampa
Indeed, that said, the limitation is based on the import of knives, so any knife currently in Canada *or* made in Canada will be fine.
The Illuminati who own Victorinox are getting rid of the competition. Hopefully once Victorinox has bought out Spyderco all will be okay again.
Hilarious, makes total sense ;) /buys shares in Victorinox.
Sad to imagine that the country that I grew up in, until leaving for the States after high school, has changed so radically. Not for the better, either.
Trudeau Jr. finishes off his 2017 apology tour and we slid into 2018 with this ruling, which doesn’t seem to come from any rash of actual crimes but from a decision on the import of certain knives. It’s not a law that has been voted on by the populace, or debated in a political arena; it’s a judicial decision. (Shaking head. Better bubble-wrap those sharp corners on tables, while they are at it.)
Legislation through emotion is always questionable in practice. Hopefully a legal challenge is enacted and common sense is re-applied. But who knows to be honest.
Tom, I have already received this exact same email at 6:54 AM this morning and my reply is the one above this one. Why am I receiving almost every email you send out in duplicate? Both of these came to the same email address so I am sure there is no other email addresses which I might use for these forums being used on this forum. I hated to drag away from the subject at hand but I wanted to let you know the situation so we can get it corrected.
Thank you, and now back to our regularly scheduled responses. ……. (Insert intro music here)
I think you may have subscribed on two different occasions (maybe once in the sidebar and once in the “notify me of new posts by email” in the footer or something along those lines – those are technically two different subscription services). Can you try unsubscribing from one of the recent emails to see if that corrects the problem? Let me know if it works out or if it ends up unsubscribing you from both, but I think unsubscribing from one should do the trick!
Tom, believe what I am telling you, …….
You — CAN’T — fix — STUPID!!!
It has been tried and tried again and the “Stupids” running loose on this planet simply seem to multiply somewhat like a chopped up tapeworm!
Some spontaneous questions, after reading your message,
1. Is this a “Proactive” or a “Reactive” effort by those who deem themselves worthy of telling others what to do? I do not recall reading anything about a wide rash of thefts, rapes, threats, or murders In Canada caused by those who brandish no weapon larger or more sinister than a pocket knife.
2. Do these same “wise” sages of political government also have laws that sanction penalties for carrying any type of sheath held fixed blade knife on their person?
I am a higher age level “senior” here in the States and I carried a folding Barlow pocket knife since my pre-school days in the middle ’40’s. My dad and mom got together and decided to teach me how to respect the responsibility for allowing me to carry such a “weapon” and also how to use it and clean it and keep it sharp and when and when not to use it. If I ever pulled out that knife and brandished it at another friend, no matter in play acting or whatever, I would have lost that knife on the spot and probably never own another until I was old enough to go out on my own in this world!! No questions asked, no excuses given, that was simply the bargain struck between my parents and me for letting me have a knife. We were mountain people during my early childhood and we had to face life as it really was, and I was able to build a fire, fish, and know what was edible and what was not anywhere I chose to walk in our “backyard”. Today is quite a different world. Many of us have been “reprogrammed” to not be self responsible, to not be self sufficient, to not know how to figure things out with our innate common sense. We depend solely on some electronic gadget to find our way, to help us strike a spark to build fire, to find edible plants and berries when lost in a rural area for any length of time. I have actually seen people, less than 150 yards from a dirt road winding down out of a mountainous area, sit down by a rock and “give up”!! They had no notion of what to do, they had no idea of where North was located, they didn’t know that those “sounds” they heard in the distance was a main highway only a few miles East of their position. This is a true fact, they had been raised in the “big city” with everything, EVERYTHING they needed at their beck and call and they panicked on their very first time trekking out into anything larger and more remote than their city park!!
Yeah, let’s see how this all shakes out, I would imagine that the populace will be the ones to lend a hand in deciding how to either replace the idiots who make such stupid laws and put in people who can still think responsibly or work with LEO’s to make such nonsense really work for the benefit of those toward which such laws hurt the most.
At the end of the day, the idiots will have to outlaw drills, files, hack saws, and metal of any kind which could be shaped into a blade and sharpened and attached to simple “scales” with rivets and a machine bolt and nut for a pivot, because that is what will be done to keep the bad guys in folding blades. Anyone with basic skills can easily figure out a way to jerry rig a folding knife out of junk metal found in any scrap pile. Laws like this poses little in the attempt to curb the use of folding knives for anything illegal or otherwise and only puts a burden on those who do use folding knives for sensible uses.or for simply carrying for an emergency.
By the way this – “I do not recall reading anything about a wide rash of thefts, rapes, threats, or murders In Canada caused by those who brandish no weapon larger or more sinister than a pocket knife.” SO well put and soooo funny!! hahahahaha
Sadly yes, professional administrators will do all they can to administrate all they can. At heart I view them as little better than carrion birds hacking away at our right to lead our life without interference.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the average Canadian citizen either knows nor cares about said legislation, until people are directly affected, I think it will be an uphill battle to get them to do anything.
http://www.citt.gc.ca/en/members-biographies#ritcey
They all look like they haven’t seen sunshine in decades. I was watching a British crime show the other night (Midsomer Murders) and the bad guy brandished a butter knife and the detectives jump back in horror unable to defend themselves. My wife and I had a good laugh. I don’t think I’ve seen a single gun in any of the shows I’ve watched.
They look like they came straight from the bureaucrat factory!