Editing Switchblade (section)

{{short description|Type of knife}}
{{About|a type of knife}}
{{distinguish|Assisted-opening knife}}

[[File:Switchblade animated.gif|thumb|A folding switchblade|250x250px]]

A '''switchblade''' (also known as '''switch knife''', '''automatic knife''', '''pushbutton knife''', '''ejector knife''', '''flick knife''', '''gravity knife''', '''flick blade''', or '''spring knife''') is a [[pocketknife]] with a sliding or pivoting [[blade]] contained in the handle which is extended automatically by a [[spring (device)|spring]] when a button, lever, or switch on the handle or bolster is activated. Virtually all switchblades incorporate a [[Pocket knife#Lock-blade knives|locking blade]], a means of preventing the blade from being accidentally closed while in the open position. An unlocking mechanism must be activated in order to close the blade for storage.

During the 1950s, US newspapers as well as the [[tabloid press]] promoted the image of a new [[violent crime]] wave caused by young male delinquents with a switchblade or flick knife, based mostly on anecdotal evidence.<ref name="EN"/><ref>Levine, Bernard, ''Switchblade Legacy'', Knife World, August 1990, p. 27-29</ref> In 1954, Democratic Rep. [[James J. Delaney]] of New York authored the first bill submitted to the U.S. Congress banning the manufacture and sale of switchblades, beginning a wave of legal restrictions worldwide and a subsequent decline in their popularity.