Doug Ritter of Knife Rights asked me to post this on the ABS Forum. He will be attending the Arkansas Show again, but is also reaching out to all of us through this message. Knife laws are a threat to all of us who work in and enjoy the custom knife industry. Knife Rights is the only organization that we have actively working to protect our rights of knife ownership. Knife rights came to Kansas and lobbied our state legislature to repeal the onerous knife restrictions that had been in the law books for decades. Thanks to Knife Rights, Kansas now has no restrictions on the ownership and carrying of knives. Thank you Knife Rights!! Please consider donating a knife to raise the funds needed to continue the important work of protecting our rights.
Steve Culver
Happy New Year!
Custom Knifemakers who support Knife Rights Knife Rights help us raise about one-third of our annual budget though our Ultimate Steelâ„¢ Spectacular fundraiser. In the past three years Knifemakers have generously donated $223,000 in custom knives to help us raise funds. About one-third of the donated knives have come from ABS Smiths. Their generosity has contributed to an unprecedented 19 legislative victories in 6 years, including 15 pro-knife bills passed in 11 states. Knife Rights is rewriting knife law in Americaâ„¢ with your help.
We've also filed in Congress the first ever pro-active Federal legislation to protect knife owners and Knifemakers, our Knife Owners' Protection Act Knife Owners Protection Act
In addition, our Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Federal Civil Rights Suit is fighting New York City's persecution of knife owners that has seen over 60,000 citizens prosecuted New York . The Knife Wars™ continue… See the Knife Wars™ video:
[media] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W018HqPd-zE [/media]
Building on this momentum, Knife Rights is introducing a record number of bills in the coming weeks and months, some in states where we had no chance of success before this past election. Our challenge is to raise a record amount of money so we have the resources needed to lobby for these bills. Otherwise, they will die and sometimes you don't get a second chance.
A number of ABS Smiths have already donated or pledged to donate a knife this year and I sincerely appreciate your support. With more states to work in, we need to make an extra effort this year to raise more funds. I hope that Knifemakers here who have not yet donated will step up and join their colleagues in helping us this year. We can't do this without your support. It's a team effort; you and Knife Rights!
The Ultimate Steelâ„¢ is a drawing, not an auction, because we feel that too often many Knifemakers' hard work is discounted with an auction. While there are exceptions, auction knives often sell for ridiculously low prices and many folks expect to get such deals with any auction. In the Ultimate Steelâ„¢ your knife is listed at its retail market price. The value of your donation is not diminished, you are protected. Ultimately, we feel this all contributes to more funds being raised, which is the whole point.
Each knife that is received by deadline is professionally photographed. We build you your own page in the drawing with links to your website or contact information. See Ultimate Steel for last year's drawing.
Last year our Ultimate Steelâ„¢ Spectacular site delivered nearly a half-million page views! Because our drawing is "Winner's Choice," the donors are motivated to review the available prizes, including yours, often more than once.
There are three critical dates. We’d like to get your donation knife by February 23rd so we can include it in the fundraiser launch (earlier is better). If it won’t be done by then, we need a photo of a similar knife to use on your page until your knife is completed. Our next due date is March 15th. This allows us to have your knife on display at the NRA Annual Meeting (in Nashville this year). We select approximately 50 of the coolest and most visually exciting knives in the Ultimate Steel™ (not necessarily the 50 most expensive) to display there. The final due date is June 5th, BLADE Show, where we display about 85 knives. The fundraiser runs from March through the end of July.
Knives are listed in descending order of retail value, so the higher the value, the higher you are in the listing and the more attention your knife will get, and the more it helps us and you. The more valuable, exciting and spectacular your donation knife, the more it helps us and the more it helps you. We have a minimum retail value of $250 for first year donors. Your donation also gets you a Knife Rights Knifemaker Annual Membership ($50 value), or if your donated knife is valued over $1,500, a Life Membership (valued at $850).
If you can help us out, we have set up an online Donation Pledge Form that you can fill out with details about your donation at Donation Pledge or you can just email me Doug Ritter the details or a link to an online listing of the donation knife.
If you have any questions, please email me.
Thank you for your consideration of this request. Every penny raised goes to support the fight for a Sharper Future for all Americansâ„¢. We could really use your help.
Doug Ritter
Knife Rights Chairman
