Second Amendment Does Not Protect Paring Knives

Very divided Washington Supreme Court rules that carrying a kitchen knife in public is not covered by the Second Amendment.

 

City of Seattle v. Evans, 2015 BL 435678, Wash., No. 90608-4, 12/31/15

    The Washington Supreme Court characterized the knife in this case as a "utility tool" and as such, allowed no more protection than a frying pan, rolling pin, or other culinary utensil that may be used as an instrument of self-defense.

    The court said that "[w]hile almost any common object may be used as a weapon, that does not necessarily mean that possession of otherwise innocuous objects that could be wielded with malice will trigger the constitutional protections afforded to 'arms'."

    The court recognized and agreed with most modern decisions which have held that the right to bear arms is not limited to firearms, but includes less lethal weapons as well. In this case, however, the court added that to receive Second Amendment protections the "weapons" must be of the type that law-abiding citizens traditionally turn to for self-defense.

    Here, the defendant's knife was a culinary tool and he went too far when arguing that a utensil that is customarily used to cut fruit and vegetables fits within the traditional definition of "weapon." The court said that "[w]ere we to adopt [the defendant]'s analysis and hold that a kitchen knife was a protected arm because it could be used as self-defense, there would be no end to the extent of utensils arguably constitutionally protected as arms."

http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/City_of_Seattle_v_Evans_No_906084_2015_BL_435678_Wash_Dec_31_2015?1452972030