1-armed man wants Maine to allow him a switchblade

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A one-armed horseman is asking Maine lawmakers to allow amputees like him to carry switchblade knives, which are otherwise illegal.

Paul Dumas Jr. of the Maine town of Mexico says that with only one arm — he lost the other to an electrical accident as a teenager — he can’t react quickly enough in emergency situations like at an equestrian event he attended a few years ago.

“This is very selfish,” said Dumas, also an attorney, who currently is forced to use folding knives. “I’m tired of opening knives with my teeth.”

Like federal law, Maine statutes prohibit possession and distribution of spring-loaded blades. The federal law does allow an exemption for possession and transportation on federal property by a person with one arm, provided the blade itself is less than 3 inches long, said Donald Clark, an assistant U.S. attorney in Maine.

State Rep. Sheryl Briggs of Mexico, at Dumas’ request, is asking for Maine to build a similar exemption into its law that would apply all over the state, not just on public property. The bill is awaiting a public hearing.

The proposal is rare, if not unique. Neither Clark nor Briggs was aware of any other states that have or are seeking such exemptions. An official with an organization that represents 2 million people with limb loss agreed.

“We have never heard of or been part of anything like that,” said Dan Ignescewski, government relations coordinator for the Amputee Coalition of America.