Senate panel OKs Wyden bill to protect knife owners

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee passed a bipartisan measure Wednesday to ensure that people who are traveling with a secured knife are not prosecuted under local or state laws.

The measure is led by Sens. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

“The bill that Senator Enzi and I introduced and the Commerce Committee passed today takes a common-sense approach by allowing knife owners who follow the rules to transport their property between places where it’s legal to own knives,” Wyden said. “Our bill requires travelers to keep knives inaccessible during the journey, maintaining public safety and respecting state laws.”

“With this legislation passing out of committee, we are one step closer to providing the protection that knife owners need to ensure they can travel without fear of prosecution,” said Enzi. “With thousands of knife laws across the country, this common sense bill would defend the rights of knife owners.”

The Knife Owners Protection Act would provide safe harbor to Americans traveling with a knife where it is lawful for the knife to be possessed at both the points of origin and destination, so long as the knife is transported in a closed container.

The legislation is based on the Firearms Owner Protection Act of 1986 ,which provides the same protection to law?abiding gun owners.

The legislation, S. 1315, is also co-sponsored by Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., John Thune, R-S.D., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.

Passage by the Commerce Committee sets the measure up for consideration by the Senate floor.