Las Vegas, NV – January 19, 2016 – The American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) today announced its plans to increase its lobbying efforts in order to prompt reform of knife laws in 2016.
To accomplish this reform, AKTI has brought on ADS Ventures, a Boston, MA and Washington, DC-based government and public affairs firm with a practice specializing in defense and national security issues. The team, headed by Liesl Grebenstein and supported by Savannah Kelleher, has been working with AKTI for several years, but the new contract will enhance efforts focused on federal efforts to pass the Knife Owners’ Protection Act (KOPA), and state efforts to ease restrictions on auto-open knives, as well as preemption. The legislative reform agenda will ensure the protection of knife owners’ Constitutional rights.
“AKTI has an aggressive legislative reform agenda in 2016,” said CJ Buck, AKTI’s Board President. “We are confident that through AKTI’s leadership, and the work of ADS Ventures, it will be a successful year for the organization as we further our mission to ensure your right to own, carry, and use knives and edged tools.”
For nearly 20 years, AKTI has served as the go-to resource for knife owners looking to ensure that they comply with all local, state, and federal laws related to knives. One of the biggest complaints and points of confusion AKTI hears about from lawful knife owners involves the patchwork laws related to the ownership and possession of knives. While citizens are making every effort to comply with patchwork state and local laws, it has become clear that there is the need for comprehensive reform.
“AKTI and its members have been successful in clarifying and correcting poorly conceived and ambiguous legislation and educating legislators on knife issues on behalf of all knife owners,” said David Fee, AKTI’s Legislative Chair. “We support reasonable, responsible legislation and measured non-partisan efforts to resolve issues. We’re excited to see how we can further this objective in this and coming years.”
More about AKTI
The American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) is a non-profit organization (501(c)6) representing all segments of the knife industry and all knife users. Formed in true grassroots fashion by concerned industry leaders after considerable discussion with individual knifemakers, knife magazine publishers, and a broad section of the knife community, AKTI has been the reasonable and responsible voice of the knife community since 1998. AKTI’s mission is to ensure that Americans will always be able to make, buy, sell, own, carry and use knives and edged tools. To learn more, please visit www.akti.org.
