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American Knife & Tool Institute
SC House Subcommittee Passes AKTI Bill – 5/8/08
S 968, introduced by AKTI, passed out of the Criminal Law subcommittee
of the House Judiciary Committee today.
This was a significant hurdle. The full Judiciary committee will likely vote on the bill on Tuesday, May 13.
Your letters and emails are powerful. If you have not yet sent a letter to House members, please use the
following as a model. At least send a letter to Chairman Harrison. But I have also listed the email
addresses of all 25 committee members. Let Judiciary Committee members know if you are a hunter,
fisherman, potential visitor for other recreation, resident or a business owner with links to South
Carolina.
May 8, 2008
South Carolina House of Representatives Judiciary Committee
James H. Harrison, Chairman
512 Blatt Bldg.
Columbia, SC 29201
HJU@schouse.org
RE: Support for S 968
Dear Chairman Harrison and Committee Members:
The American Knife & Tool Institute, the organization that represents all segments of the sporting knife
industry and all responsible knife owners, supports passage of S 968.
More than 95 percent of the knives used by sportsmen, gardeners, recreational users and the
construction industry have blades longer than two inches. Virtually every hunter and fisherman carries a
knife and it would be rare to find one that has a blade less than two inches.
Recent studies by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the National Shooting Sports
Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and
Wildlife-Associated Recreation show that hunters and fishermen provide a huge impact on the South
Carolina economy.
1) An estimated 595,000 hunters and fishermen spend more than $1.8 billion per year in your state.
2) They support 32,700 state jobs that produce a payroll of $839,000 million.
3) Outdoor activities generate $182 million in state and local taxes annually.
Your current knife law makes virtually every hunter and fisherman subject to arrest for knife carry. South
Carolina should welcome these law-abiding people into your state. And we should not make de-facto
criminals of the estimated 2,000,000 state residents and other visitors who carry knives for their jobs or
a broad range of recreational purposes.
Please support S 968.
Sincerely,
David D. Kowalski
AKTI Communications Coordinator
CC: Walton J. McLeod, 1st Vice Chairman, WJM@schouse.org
William G. “Bill” Herbkersman, 2nd Vice Chairman, HerbkersmanB@schouse.org
Karl B. Allen, KBA@schouse.org
Bruce W. Bannister, BannisterB@schouse.org
Alan D. Clemmons, ClemmonsA@schouse.org
Creighton B. Coleman, cbc@schouse.org
Kristopher R. Crawford, CrawfordK@schouse.org
F. Gregory Delleney, Jr., fgd@schouse.org
Ben A. Hagood, Jr., HagoodB@schouse.org
Gloria Arias Haskins, GAH@schouse.org
Douglas Jennings, Jr., DJ@schouse.org
R. Keith Kelly, KellyK@schouse.org
J. Michael Mulvaney, MulvaneyM@schouse.org
J. Todd Rutherford, JTR@schouse.org
John L. Scott, Jr., JLS@schouse.org
Fletcher N. Smith, FNS@schouse.org
G. Murrell Smith, Jr., GMS@schouse.org
Garry R. Smith, SmithG@schouse.org
James E. Smith, Jr., RepSmith@JamesSmith.org
Leonidas E. Stavrinakis, StavL@schouse.org
Scott F. Talley, SFT@schouse.org
Thad T. Viers, ViersT@schouse.org
J. David Weeks, JDW@schouse.org
J. Seth Whipper, JSW@schouse.org
P.S. If you send a letter, please email me a copy so I can forward to our lobbyist. Email to
communications@akti.org
S 968, introduced by AKTI, passed out of the Criminal Law subcommittee
of the House Judiciary Committee today.
This was a significant hurdle. The full Judiciary committee will likely vote on the bill on Tuesday, May 13.
Your letters and emails are powerful. If you have not yet sent a letter to House members, please use the
following as a model. At least send a letter to Chairman Harrison. But I have also listed the email
addresses of all 25 committee members. Let Judiciary Committee members know if you are a hunter,
fisherman, potential visitor for other recreation, resident or a business owner with links to South
Carolina.
May 8, 2008
South Carolina House of Representatives Judiciary Committee
James H. Harrison, Chairman
512 Blatt Bldg.
Columbia, SC 29201
HJU@schouse.org
RE: Support for S 968
Dear Chairman Harrison and Committee Members:
The American Knife & Tool Institute, the organization that represents all segments of the sporting knife
industry and all responsible knife owners, supports passage of S 968.
More than 95 percent of the knives used by sportsmen, gardeners, recreational users and the
construction industry have blades longer than two inches. Virtually every hunter and fisherman carries a
knife and it would be rare to find one that has a blade less than two inches.
Recent studies by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the National Shooting Sports
Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and
Wildlife-Associated Recreation show that hunters and fishermen provide a huge impact on the South
Carolina economy.
1) An estimated 595,000 hunters and fishermen spend more than $1.8 billion per year in your state.
2) They support 32,700 state jobs that produce a payroll of $839,000 million.
3) Outdoor activities generate $182 million in state and local taxes annually.
Your current knife law makes virtually every hunter and fisherman subject to arrest for knife carry. South
Carolina should welcome these law-abiding people into your state. And we should not make de-facto
criminals of the estimated 2,000,000 state residents and other visitors who carry knives for their jobs or
a broad range of recreational purposes.
Please support S 968.
Sincerely,
David D. Kowalski
AKTI Communications Coordinator
CC: Walton J. McLeod, 1st Vice Chairman, WJM@schouse.org
William G. “Bill” Herbkersman, 2nd Vice Chairman, HerbkersmanB@schouse.org
Karl B. Allen, KBA@schouse.org
Bruce W. Bannister, BannisterB@schouse.org
Alan D. Clemmons, ClemmonsA@schouse.org
Creighton B. Coleman, cbc@schouse.org
Kristopher R. Crawford, CrawfordK@schouse.org
F. Gregory Delleney, Jr., fgd@schouse.org
Ben A. Hagood, Jr., HagoodB@schouse.org
Gloria Arias Haskins, GAH@schouse.org
Douglas Jennings, Jr., DJ@schouse.org
R. Keith Kelly, KellyK@schouse.org
J. Michael Mulvaney, MulvaneyM@schouse.org
J. Todd Rutherford, JTR@schouse.org
John L. Scott, Jr., JLS@schouse.org
Fletcher N. Smith, FNS@schouse.org
G. Murrell Smith, Jr., GMS@schouse.org
Garry R. Smith, SmithG@schouse.org
James E. Smith, Jr., RepSmith@JamesSmith.org
Leonidas E. Stavrinakis, StavL@schouse.org
Scott F. Talley, SFT@schouse.org
Thad T. Viers, ViersT@schouse.org
J. David Weeks, JDW@schouse.org
J. Seth Whipper, JSW@schouse.org
P.S. If you send a letter, please email me a copy so I can forward to our lobbyist. Email to
communications@akti.org
South Carolina - Update May 8, 2008