A class action claims that Wal-Mart, Cabela's, Dicks Sporting Goods and others are selling switchblade knives that they know are illegal in Texas. The Kershaw “Speed Safe Knives” with “assisted opening technology” are illegal switchblades, and people who buy them can and have been prosecuted, the class claims.
Plaintiffs claim the defendants know the knives are illegal but sell them anyway. They seek restitution, damages and an injunction. The defendants include KAI USA, Wal-Mart Stores, Cabela's, Gander Mountain Co., Academy Sports and Outdoors, Academy Stores, and Dick's Sporting Goods.
According to the lawsuit, “Texas residents have been arrested, indicted and convicted for possessing” the knives — and that the retailers know this but continue to sell them anyway. Which is why the plaintiffs want their money back for buying the knives and an injunction preventing any further sale in Texas. And, no, the suit doesn't say why the plaintiffs purchased the knives (in some cases, several) in the first place; I will update when Stewart returns a call placed to his office this morning. Incidentally, on its website, Kershaw insists the knives are not switchblades, because “unlike a switchblade, SpeedSafe blades DO NOT deploy with the push of a button in the handle or by gravity alone.”
