Butterfly Knife Owner Denied Attorneys’ Fees in Hawaii Ban Case

A Hawaii butterfly knife owner can’t receive attorneys’ fees in his challenge to a ban on such weapons, because an amendment to the state law made his lawsuit moot, the en banc Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

The knife owner, Andrew Teter, who sued the state for violating his Second Amendment right to carry the knife, couldn’t get fees because he wasn’t the prevailing party, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.

An 11-judge panel for the court had previously ruled that Teter’s challenge is moot because as the litigation was proceeding through the appeals process, the Hawaii ...