https://mises.org/blog/right-own-and-bear-switchblades
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The legislature of the State of Colorado is considering ending its longtime ban on switchblades. You read that right. In a state where pretty much anyone without a criminal record can purchase a hand gun — and where homicide rates are quite low, mind you — switchblades are verboten.
Why are these knives illegal?
All the evidence points toward lawmakers targeting these sorts of knives because of Hollywood movies and popular culture.
The Colorado ban dates to 1963, and the federal "Switchblade Knife Act" was passed in 1958. It is not a coincidence that these laws came in the wake of numerous notable Hollywood movies that featured switchblades, including Rebel Without a Cause, Crime in the Streets, The Delinquents, and West Side Story.
At the time, the films promoted a moral panic among "respectable" citizens who came to believe that switchblades were fueling gangland activity. Even worse was the fact that many of these supposed gangsters were swarthy ethnics like the children of Italian and Puerto Rican immigrants.
There were, of course, no studies as to the actual effects of switchblades, their relative deadliness, who was using them, or how they were used. The passage of these laws has never been shown to have any impact whatsoever on violent crime or homicide.
Thus, these laws were passed in the absence of any evidence that they actually improved public safety. They were passed because some voters and politicians watched some Hollywood movies, and that was that. Anyone familiar with the legislative process will not be shocked by this, but this method of lawmaking certainly isn't what's taught in high school civics.