Gretchen Whitmer
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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From Doug Ritter at Knife Rights . . .

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed the bipartisan Michigan Knife Rights Act, HB 4066, that would have enacted Knife Rights’ signature Knife Law Preemption in the state.

Strongly supported by both parties, enactment of the Michigan Knife Rights Act would have protected millions of Michiganders from harassment by police for carrying simple tools they use every day for work. Whitmer’s veto is evidence that she does not care about needless interactions between Michigan residents and law enforcement.

HB 4066 would have assured that cities and towns could not criminalize the simple possession of the tools millions of Michigan residents use every day. Factory workers, farmers, food service workers, hunters, fishermen and others will remain in danger of arrest simply for crossing a line on a map to enter a city or town whose law may differ from the law in their own town or the state’s knife laws.

HB 4066 would have assured that cities and towns could not criminalize the simple possession of the tools millions of Michigan residents use every day. Factory workers, farmers, food service workers, hunters, fishermen and others will remain in danger of arrest simply for crossing a line on a map to enter a city or town whose law may differ from the law in their own town or the state’s knife laws.

Knife Rights Chairman Doug Ritter said . . .

We are disappointed by Governor Whitmer’s veto of this important criminal justice reform bill. The headlines we read daily just scream for exactly this type of rational, commonsense criminal justice reform, yet she is apparently tone-deaf to the pleas.

Eight-year-old Michigan resident Remington Wilson, who testified in favor HB 4066, said . . .

I’m disappointed in Governor Whitmer for not understanding that responsible knife owners only want to follow the law. I wish she had helped make knife laws more simple and clear for everyone to understand. I will continue to work with Knife Rights to help our legislators understand the problems with the current laws.

We sincerely appreciate the efforts of HB 4006 sponsor Representative Andrew Fink in getting this bill through the legislature. Rep Fink said, “I am disappointed that the governor has left law abiding citizens vulnerable to unnecessary interference from local ordinances, but I’ll keep advocating for freedom for all Michiganians as long as I’m in office.”

We’d to also like to thank the hundreds of you who emailed in support of HB 4066. It would not have reached the governor’s desk without your help. Knife Rights and Remington will be back next session with a similar bill. As we have proven in numerous other states, our persistent doggedness eventually pays off. Stay tuned.

Knife law preemption is a Knife Rights’ criminal justice reform effort that nullifies existing ordinances and prevents new local ordinances more restrictive than state law which only serve to confuse or entrap law-abiding citizens traveling within or through the state. Preemption ensures citizens can expect consistent enforcement of state knife laws everywhere within a state.

Knife Rights drafted the model legislation and passed the nation’s first knife law preemption bill in Arizona in 2010 and has since passed preemption bills in Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Knife Rights is America’s grassroots knife owners’ organization; leading the fight to Rewrite Knife Law in America™ and forging a Sharper Future for all Americans™. Knife Rights efforts have resulted in 34 bills enacted repealing knife bans in 23 states and over 150 cities and towns since 2010.

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57 COMMENTS

  1. “yet she is apparently tone-deaf to the pleas”

    not at all. she’s amused that the talking animals think they have a say in anything.

  5. Knife rights never got on my radar, while maximum blade length in TX went from 3 1/2″ to 4 1/2″ to 5 1/2″ and then to no rules whatsoever, carry a sword and see if I care! So I bought a sword! Everything about guns is bleated about endlessly, apparently nobody really cared about knives, which made perfect sense to me.

    • The knife laws in Texas were holdovers from a time when law enforcement was stacked with real institutional racism. White dude with a Kabar on his belt = Not a problem. Mexican with fruit knife = justification for detainment. It was about time we got rid of all that, and past time when the rest of the nation did too.

      • I was *just* having a discussion with someone about that over the weekend. We both unclipped our knives from our pockets to talk about them, and noted how nobody (even here in SoCal, believe it or not) cares about knives. Every guy has a clip visible on his pocket or belt. Some of us have two. But walk around with a gun and its instant panic from the Whole Foods crowd…

        • I wish that was the case. If it’s an older person maybe that is true. But far too many young people of all skin colors, are getting scooped up by the police, just because they had a knife on them. I grew up in Sacramento in the 1970’s. It was a felony to be caught carrying a knife over 3 inches. While carrying a gun without permission was only a misdemeanor.

          I see people open carrying 8 inch blades and hand guns all the time. In KY and TN. And nobody cares. And its legal.

        • First, I am not a lawyer and do not portray one in any entertainment form which, of course,would make me an expert on all subjects, but it is my understanding of CA law at present that one may openly carry a blade of any length as long as it it openly visible. There is a local “homeless person” who regularly walks around town with at least a ten inch blade strapped to his leg. I have seen him walk by cops without them blinking. I am sure he has been stopped numerous times to have a confrontational discussion with them about the topic only for the officer to be told by the patrol sergeant that the HP is correct. I am also confident that were you to go about in samurai fashion with a 40 inch katana on your side you could count on having numerous discussions with nervous cops until they got used to your eccentricity. In a big city such as LA you might spend most of your days in such discussions.

          That said, there are certain ninja weapons of mass destruction with either pointy ends or sharp sides where it is a felony to even possess them in your home. Unless the owner can establish that they have an agricultural purpose, in which case they are exempt per the CA Supremes. The CA legislature has a morbid fear of anything related to the ninja trade.

          One may carry a concealed knife as long as the blade is less than four inches. Now I am not sure just how that particular wording is interpreted. If the blade hits the 4-inch marker on the ruler are you in deep doodoo, or are you okay at the four inch marker but at 4 1/32 you are a felon just waiting for a trip to the big house?

          As far as I know, CA has a state law that where the state has preempted the field, cities and counties cannot then pass laws affecting that field. That is why every time a city passes a law banning parts of firearms or whole firearms that city gets a chance to pay the California Rifle and Pistol Assn. lawyers a nice lawyer’s fee because the field of firearms control is preempted by the state. The same holds true with knife blades and other sharp or pointy objects. It is state preempted. So while you may spend a couple of days in the pokey waiting for your public defender to point out to the arresting cops and DA that the city’s ordinance against carrying a knife with a blade over 3 inches as contrasted to the state’s 4 inches is invalid, you will not spend time in the big house.

          You are also allowed to carry that weapon of mass destruction, the switchblade knife as long as it is some diminimis length which I believe is 1 1/2 inches in blade length.

          State wide laws are a good thing when it comes to moveable objects. There are 58 counties in CA and even in today’s access to on line information, it would be close to impossible to be aware of all the laws of each county let alone every municipality in the state.

          Of course, Whitmer is a super person, not subject to common sense or the will of the people. If you don’t believe that she is, a quick question to her office spokesperson will set you straight as to her exalted status.

  6. Gretchen Whitmer, look at the size of mouth. It reminds me of fishing for big mouth bass, they were mostly clueless too.

    • They grow some bone ugly and stupid shrews in Mich. Jennifer Granholm (now “Sec of Energy”) has outreached Whitless.

    • The older Dick Clark got the shinier and tighter his skin got. Just like this witch. Take another look at the photo above. Can you imagine what this woman will look like when she is Pelosi’s age?

    • she weighs the same as a duck.

      She’s made of wood?

      *snicker*… 😉

  9. Ohio recently cleaned up its confusing knife laws, for the better. I thought we were being late to the party, but then here comes _ichigan, and, well, par for the course.

    • Karen er Gretchen(rhymes with retchin’) must “think” she’s gonna have no one carrying a knife…

  14. People in power want absolute power over everyone else. Seldom are there overrides of a Governors veto.

    And remember Capitalvania was founded on the principles of blind greed and corruption. Legislators seldom cross party lines because they do not want to lose their lucrative jobs that bring them in thousands of dollars worth of payola. They are not there to serve the people rather they are there to serve themselves and rake in wheelbarrows full of money.

  16. If the residence in this state are not working to vote her out of office? Then you deserve what she does to you.

    Winston Churchill said something before about avoiding using guns. When you can first use the many nonviolent ways to stop a danger. Or do nothing and enjoy your favorite sex position while smoking weed. Or some other intoxicant.

    Why It’s OK Not To Vote – Katherine Mangu-Ward. Video 1 hr long

  18. Whitmer’s veto is evidence that she does not care about needless interactions between Michigan residents and law enforcement.

    There, FTFY. Now it lines up with everything she does.

  21. She is one of the pure Socialist/Communists that wants all citizens completely disarmed leaving them at the mercy of criminals, who don’t care about the law, and usurp politicians, who don’t care about the Constitution.

  22. She’s a dead ringer for Michael Jackson. Can she moonwalk like Virginia’s current lame duck Governor? She gives women a bad name.

  23. Wait till Gretchen the Grinch wants someone to install carpeting or to cut some fruit off a tree and they don’t have a carpet knife or dare carry a machete in their vehicle. They’re not much use in the house unless you butcher hogs in your kitchen.

    Maybe she’d like everyone to use a file or course stone and wear away at the material they’re trying to cut. Or use a blow torch. Then they have to charge customers extra for taking longer to complete a job, but she probably doesn’t care nor does she know anything about tools or craftsmanship.

    I am assuming her quick decision to veto the new law is because when she hears the word “knife” and she has images of daggers and big hunting knives or even daggers and switchblades. She envision people in the mafia or gangs, muggers or an angry person seeking revenge. The reality is that most people carry them to be used only as tools.

    As is always the case, people like her tend to over react and feel they are the guardians of peace and that violence is a direct result of access to weapons although they never take into account how many ways people kill other people without resorting to ANY kind of weapon or firearm. She is confusing this law with the right to carry a weapon. This law is meant to avoid citizens being bothered by the police and it takes responsibility off of their hands where they should not have to question, detain, or charge citizens just trying to do a job.

  24. How about an override of her veto. Sounds like a shortage of mojo in our elected officials. They are supposed to repping for the people who voted them into office.

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