American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) Keeping Knives in American Lives

   In a legal decision that effectively reverses decades of legal sales of automatic knives in the State of
Florida, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has effectively banned the manufacture, sale or possession of
automatic or switchblade knives in the state.
   The case began in late 2000 with the arrest of a couple selling switchblades at a flea market, reportedly
to minors. Police arrested and charged them under Florida Statute 790.225 that makes it illegal to sell or
possess ballistic knives. Ballistic knives have a spring that releases a blade that actually separates from
the handle and shoots forward.
   The trial court judge declared the initial charge under the statute to be unconstitutionally vague and
found the defendants not guilty. However, they then fled the country. The state appealed the verdict to the
Fourth District Court of Appeal. At that point, the defense attorney abandoned the case since his clients
were gone. Arguments presented by the prosecutor were not countered in any way at the appeals level.
Here is the abbreviated version of the ruling. For the complete citation, click on State of Florida v. Darynani.
   Law enforcement appears to be taking a rather subdued approach to enforcing the new ruling. A Tampa
Legal Bulletin, issued by an assistant city attorney on May 11, 2001, urges that "… fairness dictates that
officers warn knife merchants of the state of the law prior to taking formal enforcement action."

STATE of Florida v. DARYNANI

774 So.2d 855
26 Fla. L. Weekly D53 (Cite as: 774 So.2d 855)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

STATE of Florida, Appellant. v.
Pariya DARYNAN1, Appellee.

No.4D99-4172.

Dec. 27, 2000.

Switchblade vendor was charged with violating statute forbidding manufacture, sale, or possession of self-
propelled knives. The Circuit Court, Broward County, Ilona M. Holmes, J., found statute forbidding
manufacture, sale, or possession of self-propelled knives unconstitutionally vague. State appealed. The
District Court of Appeal held that statute forbidding manufacture, sale, or possession of self-propelled
knives was not unconstitutionally vague as applied to switchblade vendor.

Reversed and Remanded.

(Further discussion of legal issues and legislative intent follow. Then the court concludes with its rationale
for declaring automatic or switchblade knives to be functionally the same as ballistic knives, therefore now
illegal under Florida law. Here is their reasoning…. Ed.)

"Self-propelled" means, simply, propelled forward by one's or its own force or momentum. See e.g.,
Webster's Third New International Dictionary 2061 (1993). A "projectile" is a projected object that either
has capacity for self-propulsion or does not, so long as it is capable of being thrust or hurled forward. See
id. at 1813; Webster's II New College Dictionary 884 (1995).

The Defendant and the trial court tended to focus on these words in isolation from the word "knife." Doing
so led them to the conclusion that the statute must prohibit something that acts like a missile, a knife
blade shot completely clear of the rest of the weapon, like a bullet leaves the chamber of a gun. While that
may be so, nothing in the definitions of "self-propelled" and "projectile" indicates that these words
describe only those types of weapons in which a blade is shot independent from and clear of the rest of
weapon.

Moreover, the words "self-propelled" and "projectile" are not used in isolation. The word "projectile" is used
to merely explain how the knife's blade might be propelled, i.e. that it is capable of being thrust or hurled
forward, and the remainder of the sentence--- "by means of a coil spring, elastic material, or compressed
gas" --- specifies the manner of propulsion. § 790.225(1). When the statute is read as a whole, the statute
imparts to a person of common intelligence and understanding that possessing a switchblade knife
would be a crime. It is common knowledge that a switchblade operates on a coil spring or other device
that springs the blade out from the handle or casing. Reading the statutory language as a whole, it seems
apparent the Legislature intended to distinguish switchblade knives from folding-type knives that require
manual and deliberate removal of the knife blade from the handle or casing. Using such terms, then, it
seems apparent the Legislature intended to make the possession of switchblade knives, which "propel a
knifelike blade as a projectile by means of a coil spring, elastic material, or compressed gas," illegal while
allowing possession of other types of knives or pocketknives. See § 790.225(1).

A person of common intelligence can understand that a switchblade knife is "self-propelled" in the sense
that the blade is propelled by means of a coil spring, elastic material, or compressed gas. See id.
Accordingly, section 790.225 is not unconstitutionally vague as applied to the Defendant. We reverse the
trial court's order and remand for further proceedings.