New York Governor Andrew Cuomo doesn’t like people having anything that could be used as a weapon. He doesn’t have a lot of choice on the matter, though, so he has to tolerate at least some of it. However, he’ll do everything he can to curtail anything he thinks he can get away with.

His latest? Signing a bill to ban so-called “undetectable” knives.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law Tuesday a bill banning the manufacture and possession of knives that fail to set off metal detectors. 

“Undetectable knives are meant to be used by trained members of our police and military forces for covert operations — not regular civilians attempting to sneak weapons past metal detectors,” Cuomo said. 

The weapons, some strong enough to pierce a steel drum or car door, are made with materials like carbon fiber, titanium and ceramic that can pass undetected through security systems.

“By signing this measure into law, we will keep these deadly knives out of dangerous hands and help ensure our airports, courtrooms and other public buildings are safe.” 

The new law goes into effect on November 1 of this year. Anyone convicted will be guilty of a Class A Misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail.

Of course, Cuomo just doesn’t like weapons at all.

However, I find his justification laughable. “Undetectable knives are meant to be used by trained members of our police and military forces for covert operations,” he argues but forgets that the police and most of the military don’t have to get past security. They can walk right in.

The move comes just a couple months after Cuomo repealed a ban on gravity knives due to the specter of getting spanked by the Supreme Court.

He simply replaced one group of banned knives with another.

For many, they’re going to look at this and shrug. After all, what does a law-abiding citizen need with an undetectable knife? However, when it comes to arms, the phrase “need” shouldn’t be bandied about. We’re talking about the right to keep and bear arms. That includes knives. Private, law-abiding citizens should be able to obtain whatever arms they want.

Like a lot of people say, it’s the Bill of Rights, not the Bill of Needs.

It should also be noted that if we’ve learned nothing from the prison population, it’s that anything can be turned into a knife. My favorite shiv was made from a chicken bone that had been sharpened on the concrete floor.

I bring that up because now I’m curious how Cuomo is going to address ingenuity like that?

The truth is, if someone wants to get a knife into a place they’re not supposed to have one, they will. Much like guns, laws like this only interfere with the law-abiding. Further, they’re later used to justify still more infringement on personal liberty. Cuomo has already made it clear that he’s no fan of the right to keep and bear arms, even if I suspect he’s mostly doing this so he can grandstand, so expect him to use this down the road for some kind of political gain.