As a result of Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signing the state’s switchblade ban repeal bill in June, Vermont not only becomes the latest state to legalize automatics but also expunges prior ban-related convictions, the Knife Rights website reported.
At press time, the effective date of the repeal was July 2.
Known as S.109, the bill removes “switchblade knives” from the existing Vermont statute that had banned a “switchblade knife, the blade of which is three inches or more in length.” The new bill also requires that “the Court” order the expungement of any related convictions handed down prior to July 1, 2025.
“This is the first time one of our bills has incorporated an expungement clause,” the site reported.
The American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI), along with Knife Rights comprising the two major pro-knife legislative organizations serving the cutlery industry, credited the passage of the bill to “the longtime bipartisan work of two Vermont lawmakers—Patrick Brennan, a Vermont state senator, and Dan Noyes, a Vermont state representative.” According to the AKTI website, the Republican Brennan and the Democrat Noyes teamed up about five years ago to provide a unified approach that “eventually came to fruition.”
As the Knife Rights site indicated, Vermont has Constitutional (Permitless) Carry, so prior to S.109 you could carry any legal firearm open or concealed there, and you could carry any knife open or concealed except an automatic with a blade 3 inches or longer. Until the new bill, that was the only knife you were not allowed to possess in the state.
With the signing of S.109, Vermont becomes the 21st state to repeal switchblade bans or restrictions, the Knife Rights site stated. Beginning with New Hampshire in 2010, those states also include Alaska; Colorado; Hawaii; Illinois; Indiana; Kansas; Louisiana; Maine; Michigan; Missouri; Montana; Nevada; Ohio; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; Tennessee; Texas; Virginia; and Wisconsin.
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