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Searched everywhere and found nothing new on the subject. Same as always been, AO knives are not "technically" switchblades, but the use of an AO around the wrong person may bring trouble. And the results may be your butt heading for a close encounter of the costly kind.

In my day (I'm 48 now), I ordered my first real pocket knife out of the back of a comic book. Was so proud of it, I took it to school the next day. All the guys wanted one so I showed them the brochure (just a bunch of Xerox pages) and took orders. I was sure popular when that order came in. Passed them out during recess.

Can you imagine trying to do that today?

LedJedi wrote:I've also never used it to harm anyone

Knocked one of mine off the table awhile back and stuck it right in the side of my foot. Dang thing bleed like I was an extra in a slasher movie.

Wouldn't have mattered if it'd been a switchblade or not since it was open at the time.

Found this description on a website that sells Gerber.

WHAT IS AN ASSISTED OPENING KNIFE? - An assisted opening knife uses a spring activated mechanism to deploy a knife blade when a little bit of pressure is applied in opening the knife by the folding method. They are commonly confused with switchblades, but have one main difference. While a switchblade can be opened usually with the push of a button, the user of an assisted knife must apply some pressure to the knife, usually at the thumb stud, thumbdisc or index finger protrusion. Once the knife has been opened about one-quarter of the way(45°), the mechanism will open the knife the rest of the way. These are NOT switchblades. You open the knife slightly with the thumb stud and then the spring takes over, snapping the blade open like a switchblade.

Since tha law states...

Switchblade knife means any knife that has a blade that folds, closes, or retracts into the handle or sheath, and that:
(A) opens automatically by pressure applied to a button or other device located on the handle; or
(B) opens or releases a blade from the handle or sheath by the force of gravity or by the application of centrifugal force.

Almost anything that helps open a knife could make the knife illegal.