Editing Switchblade (section)

===United Kingdom===
On 12 May 1958, Parliament passed the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959,<ref name="ROOWA">[http://yourdemocracy.newstatesman.com/parliament/restriction-of-offensive-weapons-bill/HAN8897315 Restriction of Offensive Weapons Bill] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402123630/http://yourdemocracy.newstatesman.com/parliament/restriction-of-offensive-weapons-bill/HAN8897315 |date=2012-04-02 }}, New Statesman, retrieved 29 October 2011</ref> which banned the manufacture, sale or offer to sell or hire any type of automatic-opening or switchblade knife. The law came in response to their perceived use by juvenile delinquents and gangs and associated media coverage, as well as by the 1958 passage of the Switchblade Knife Act in the United States. Indeed, much of the language in the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 appears to be taken directly from the American law.

In 2019, parliamentary amendments to Section 43, 44, and 46 of The Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959 make it illegal to own, possess, sell or transfer a switchblade or flick knife within the United Kingdom, including possession at home.<ref>''Offensive Weapons, Knife Crime Practical Guidance'', 10 September 2020 [https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offensive-weapons-knife-crime-practical-guidance]</ref><ref name="ROOWA"/> According to UK government websites, assisted-opening knives are included in the amended and expanded definition of a prohibited 'flick knife'.<ref>''Offensive Weapons Act 2019'', Part 4, Section 43-46, Legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 28 March 2022 [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/17/part/4]</ref><ref>''Selling, Buying, and Carrying Knives'', Crime, justice & the law, GOV.UK [https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives], retrieved 28 March 2022: See Banned Weapons/Flick Knife: "Also known as ‘switchblades’ or ‘automatic knives’. Folding knives where the blade opens automatically, by gravity ''or by pressing a button or something else on the knife''".</ref>