When I worked at TSA we has some overzealous types (and they STILL work there) who liked to think that they had a mandate to enforce all sorts of federal laws besides making life uncomfortable for the traveling public.flintknapper wrote: In the knife world, we commonly leave 1/4"-1/2" of "wiggle room". The reason for this is because there is no federally mandated method of measuring blade length. In one state it may refer to the length of the "cutting edge" only. In another it may be from the tip to the handle or bolster. Another may deem the total length (of a folder) to be the entire blade including the portion within the handle.
For this reason, it is wise to know how the manufacturer determines their blade length, and if unsure...go down a 1/2".
But, per the law...you are certainly correct.
If someone spotted a knife in a checked bag, even though it was perfectly legal to transport knives in general in CHECKED bags, this one person used to like to get them out and measure them. If they had a blade longer than 2.5" according to his measure, he would declare them illegal under federal law (which defines a knife with a blade length of more than 2.5" as a weapon) and call the passenger back and call the LEOs and raise a general stink.
One of the reasons I hated working there so much, he is in a "position of authority."
And he measured the entire length of the metal, including the part within the bolster, in order to come up with the disqualifying length.
Once I pointed out that the knife that he was being such an (insert expletive here) about was advertised as a 2.5" blade, and he stated that that was just an effort by the knife manufacturers to get around the law.