Section 1244 - ExceptionsSections 1242 and 1243 of this title shall not apply to-
(1) any common carrier or contract carrier, with respect to any switchblade knife shipped, transported, or delivered for shipment in interstate commerce in the ordinary course of business;(2) the manufacture, sale, transportation, distribution, possession, or introduction into interstate commerce, of switchblade knives pursuant to contract with the Armed Forces;(3) the Armed Forces or any member or employee thereof acting in the performance of his duty;(4) the possession, and transportation upon his person, of any switchblade knife with a blade three inches or less in length by any individual who has only one arm; or(5) a knife that contains a spring, detent, or other mechanism designed to create a bias toward closure of the blade and that requires exertion applied to the blade by hand, wrist, or arm to overcome the bias toward closure to assist in opening the knife.Pub. L. 85-623, §4, Aug. 12, 1958, 72 Stat. 562; Pub. L. 111-83, title V, §562, Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2183.EDITORIAL NOTES
AMENDMENTS2009-Par. (5). Pub. L. 111-83 added par. (5).
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on the sixtieth day after Aug. 12, 1958, see section 6 of Pub. L. 85-623 set out as a note under section 1241 of this title.
- interstate commerce
- The term "interstate commerce" means commerce between any State, Territory, possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and any place outside thereof.
- switchblade knife
- The term "switchblade knife" means any knife having a blade which opens automatically- (1) by hand pressure applied to a button or other device in the handle of the knife, or(2) by operation of inertia, gravity, or both.