Pocket knives are a rite of passage

By Bryce Lambley/Platte Valley Outdoors
Saturday, Jun 28, 2008 - 01:03:31 am CDT

I read with interest earlier this week about the new security system up and running at the Dodge County Courthouse. It is comforting to know that our first line of defense in Homeland Security is functioning well.

While I say that facetiously, I must add that while a trip to the DMV is rarely something I want to do - it almost always entails the lightening of my wallet to some extent - the ladies in that office have made this as painless as possible with their pleasant customer service.

This makes one initially shudder to think what might happen given the fact that there were "105 weapons" turned away in pretty much the first week of operation of the new metal-detecting equipment on the premises.

The sheer number of weapons (the security company’s term, not mine) shocked me until I read the fine print which indicated most were apparently pocket knives.

I’m not downplaying the need for security. I’m sure that there are some positions in the courthouse that deal with unhappy people on a daily basis. Any such extra diligence can make their jobs less stressful.

What I am a little incredulous about is how pocket knives have gone from a rite of passage for young boys to now being classified as a weapon.

Doesn’t anyone else in my age range (let’s just call it 40-something) or older recall growing up with a pocket knife from a fairly early age? And how their father taught them the basics of how to use one, stressing the part about always cutting away from one’s self?

Didn’t anyone else grow up whittling on pieces of wood? Does anyone recollect carving their name into a tree? Or that of a girl friend?

Does this evoke memories of trying to throw a knife and stick it in a tree? I was never any good at that one, and instead found it a good way to break pocket knives so my old buddy and I began to look at sturdier sheath knives.

And it was all harmless.

I can’t be the only kid that grew up with a pocket knife, and then dreamed of the ultimate: the Swiss army knife with multiple blades for all kinds of jobs.

The one I used yesterday has a corkscrew, file, Phillips screwdriver, knife blade, saw, scissors, bottle opener, can opener/screwdriver, tweezers, tooth pick, and two devices whose function I’m not quite sure of. Oh yeah, and the reason I needed it was that it also has a fish scaler/hook extractor which helped in releasing an eager bluegill my daughter had just caught.

Don’t some carpenters still sharpen their flat pencils with a pocket knife?

And don’t big kids like me still eyeball the array of Leatherman tools with great envy?

Don’t get me wrong, I understand why folks in the courthouse may not want people coming in with a weapon. And I certainly can put up with increased security at the airport given the events of 9-11.

I just consider pocket knives and Leatherman tools to be just that: tools.

Bryce Lambley is a correspondent for the Fremont Tribune.

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Andy S
Jun 28, 2008 6:28 AM
careful I just might shoot someone with my leatherman. I guess the police are not doing their job in the courthouse
Bignell
Jun 28, 2008 7:04 PM
Although I agree that considering pocket knives and Leathermans as "weapons" isn't accurate. I still think that it needs to be that way. Maybe they should move the security to the entrance of the court room. I guess you can never be careful. Try taking these items to the airport! You wont make it through security at all! It is said that we live in a world that 11 people can take down four airplanes with box cutters, but that is the way its going to be. By the way, I love my Gerber so much more than any Leatherman I've ever owned!
Tex
Jun 29, 2008 12:27 AM
I agree that a person carrying a pocket knife is more than likely NOT doing it as a weapon. I didn't get to have one when I was a kid but a lot of kids I knew did have them, I carried a sheath knife for a while in my 20's, wasn't planning on killing anyone with it. Times have changed and we do have to look at things a bit more cautiously, however, to list those as weapons I think is a stretch. Lets look at intent. I have a friend that carried a box cutter, it's because she uses them at work, they let them keep some and she uses it as a tool, this is a very non violent person, I don't know if she still ever carries one but you know just because they have it doesn't mean they intend to use it in a violent way. I think we need to tone down the fear factor a bit. I mean really since when is a pocket knife a concealed weapon?
scoop
Jun 29, 2008 9:57 AM
I remember pocket knives.My Dad always carried one,and I am sure he gave me one too.
Allen F
Jun 30, 2008 10:31 AM
Bryce, it's not just the 40+ set. Unless there's a little metal clip hanging out of my pocket, I'm not dressed.

What I don't understand, is that state law only classifies a blade longer than 3.5 inches as a knife. Anything shorter is, well... legally nothing. Does the county have a statute stating otherwise?
cant believe it
Jun 30, 2008 12:42 PM
I have carried a pocket knife since I was 5 years old and I still have it stored away. What is this world coming to? What a bunch of chickens in that court house. I carry a pocket knife and a leatherman everyday and use them as a tool like they are intended for. Come on people grow up a little.
LSB
Jun 30, 2008 4:52 PM
Where I agree that many people in our area carry pocket knives as is usual in an urban agricultural area, the fact is they are not needed in the courthouse. Sure 99.99% of people going into the courthouse are nonviolent and have no intention of using those knives as weapons to hurt anyone, there is always that .01% that we have to worry about and you just cant tell by looking at someone if they will be in that .01%. We have more and more voilent crime and more gang activity, you just never know what might happen, when or who will cause it. Sure, carry your knife but when you enter the courthouse, leave it in the car. It will be waiting safe and sound when you get back. I don't see it as being too much to ask for the safety of our community.
fremonter
Jul 1, 2008 12:02 PM
just another case of OVERKILL.

make a real big thing out of nothing to impress the morons and idiots in this country.
did you forget
Jul 1, 2008 12:52 PM
No disrespect to Mr. Lambley, but the world has drastically changed since your early age. When I think of a pocket knife, I think of a weapon. I would think that a box cutter would be a tool as well, but on the morning of September 11, 2001 box cutters were used as weapons. I understand that everyone in the (forty-something) range and higher might like to have their childhood back but it is unwise to underestimate people in today's world.
A bit much
Jul 1, 2008 2:05 PM
What about pens and pencils.....someone could lose an eye?! I suppose we will all be required to strip search next.....what happened to good old common sense?

ANYTHING can be used as a weapon if a person intends it to be. What a goofy rule.
fremonter
Jul 1, 2008 2:36 PM
to bignell:
though i agree the chances of making it thru security is very rare it has been done. it was done by me. i was on a flight from omaha to chicago to new york. i had a briefcase, and a laptop. this was a few months ago. when i got on the conecting flight in chicago, the plane took off and once we were in the air, i took out my briecase and opened it. to my suprise there was my 38 revolver, loaded. i had forgotten to take it out of my briefcase from my last trip in which i drove my vehicle. i quickly closed my briefcase and hoped that the guy next to me didnt see it. i was a basket case till i got off the plane and into my rental car. so yes it is possible to get thru security with a weapon. thinking back the security people were more interested in talking to each other then watching the x-ray machine as close as they should be. but i do think that all this security in the fremont area is overkill. i am sure we are not the list to be hit by the terrorists.
Amen Bryce
Jul 1, 2008 5:13 PM
My father was a farmer, and he carried a pocket knife in his pocket every day of his life. He also carried small screw drivers in his shirt pocket, you know the ones with the little clips on them??? I still have them to remember him by. I'm sure that neither of these would pass the "security" at the court house now days.

Life is just getting ridiculous, as we are constantly having things that the majority of us use as tools taken away from us.

I know someone who was charged with concealed weapon for carrying a hunting knife in his vehicle. You know the kind that you use to gut a deer, has a compass on the handle. Well, this guys perfectly clean record is now tarnished, because he likes to hunt. How screwy is that???

When will our system begin to have some common sense again? Or is that completely out the window?
jake
Jul 2, 2008 1:34 AM
common sense went out the window a long time ago. its a shame that the US is now considered by most the "rear end" of the world. it is the mentality of we are doing it for the greater good. and than we screw it up and look like a fool.
fremonter
Jul 2, 2008 8:46 AM
to jake:
you can thank our so called politicians for the condition of this country. its all take take take and whats in it for me.
Bignell
Jul 3, 2008 3:27 AM
To "fremonter":

Although I find your story fictitious and hard to believe, it is always possible, maybe you just got really lucky!
Former Fremonter
Jul 3, 2008 11:29 AM
To "Fremonter." It's people like you that carry loaded guns because, as you said, "I was driving," are the people that we need to be worried about.
BushJR
Jul 3, 2008 4:37 PM
What next WMD will be illegal.

LOL
Lady Fremonter
Jul 3, 2008 11:08 PM
To Former Fremonter
Actually if more law abiding people carried guns there would be less crime.

Guns are deeply rooted within Swiss culture - but the gun crime rate is so low that statistics are not even kept.

The country has a population of six million, but there are estimated to be at least two million publicly-owned firearms, including about 600,000 automatic rifles and 500,000 pistols.

This is in a very large part due to Switzerland's unique system of national defence, developed over the centuries.

Instead of a standing, full-time army, the country requires every man to undergo some form of military training for a few days or weeks a year throughout most of their lives.

Between the ages of 21 and 32 men serve as frontline troops. They are given an M-57 assault rifle and 24 rounds of ammunition which they are required to keep at home.

Once discharged, men serve in the Swiss equivalent of the US National Guard, but still have to train occasionally and are given bolt rifles. Women do not have to own firearms, but are encouraged to.
John Petersen
Jul 4, 2008 4:34 AM
As a Fremonter, and as a Machinist's Mate in the Navy, I have found Knives and Leathermans to be among the most valuable items I own. Though I am a generation younger, I was raised with many of the same memories and principles regarding knives, and I think it is a shame that we live in a world where a "Tool" has to be labeled as a "Weapon."