A bill to enshrine the whoopie pie as our state dessert seemed well on its way to passage Monday after a strong show of support by bakeries and, if you can imagine, a guy dressed in a whoopie pie outfit.

All of which shows there is virtually no limit to the pressing problems to be resolved in the average legislative session.

Now comes a bill to allow one-armed people to use switchblade knives. Some may think this similarly frivolous, but it is not.

State Rep. Sheryl Briggs, D-Mexico, wants Maine to comply with federal law, which carves out an exception for one-armed people.

“Obviously, people with just one arm cannot open anything but that type of blade, that type of a knife,” she said.

Actually, a wide variety of pocketknives have been developed that easily can be opened with one hand. The thumb is used to lever the knife blade open where it usually locks in place.

But be that as it may, Maine law is more restrictive than federal law when it comes to switchblades.

But doesn’t the whole switchblade argument seem quaint in this era of plentiful high-tech weaponry? Don’t formerly switchblade-owning criminals just carry guns now?

The switchblade ban arose in the 1950s after a couple of high-profile movies and a Broadway musical, “West Side Story,” featured gangs and switchblades. Imagine, in this era of graphic violence being frightened by tap-dancing New Yorkers?

Shocked by the image, if not the reality, of danger, Congress moved decisively to protect the public.

Unfortunately, the Founding Fathers did not feel knife ownership was necessary to maintaining a “well-regulated militia,” and the knife lobby did not have the clout of the National Rifle Association.

So, a useful tool that had been used by fishermen, hunters and people who work outdoors for more than 100 years was banned, although switchblades lurked in many a tackle box for years.

Ironically, Maine’s legislative leadership last week rejected a proposal to prohibit the sale of high-capacity ammunition clips of the type used recently to kill six people in Tucson, Ariz.

The vote was surprisingly close, 5 to 5, but effectively blocked the bill from moving forward.

Fresh attention has been paid to the subject since Jared Loughner allegedly used a 33-round clip in a Glock-19 semi automatic pistol to shoot 20 people in less than 10 seconds, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

He apparently had two similar clips ready to go but was narrowly prevented from loading them by bystanders who wrestled him to the ground.

Just imagine how long it would have taken him to knife 20 people, even with the advantage of a pop-up blade.

Clearly, arguing about the dangers of pocketknives seems ludicrous in a nation where anyone can buy, trade and sell much more lethal killing equipment in Uncle Henry’s.

In an ideal world, we would lift the federal ban on switchblade knives for the same reason we occasionally eliminate laws against horse droppings on roadways and blowing your nose in public — because they don’t matter anymore.

In the meantime, Maine can certainly accommodate one-armed people in need of an easy opening pocketknife.

This bill ought to pass.

rrhoades@sunjournal.com

The  opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.

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