Fifth Circuit Weighs If Knives Get Second Amendment Protections

A federal appeals court wrestled with whether it should rule on the constitutionality of a federal switchblade ban, or send it back to a trial court to decide.

A US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit panel heard arguments Wednesday on a Second Amendment challenge to the Federal Switchblade Act. US District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, Texas, last year found that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the law and dismissed the case.

The trial court litigation spanned the last months of Joe Biden’s administration and the first months of Donald Trump’s second administration. The Justice Department ...