Switchblade legalization is cutting the muster at the Colorado statehouse. Senate Bill 8 passed the House Judiciary Committee, 11-1, Thursday afternoon.

The bill goes next to the House floor where, if it’s unamended, it’s a voice vote then a recorded vote away from the governor’s desk.

The bill’s sponsor, Steve Lebsock, D-Thornton, wielded a huge kitchen knife in the hearing, and told committee members it was legal.

“This knife to me, that cuts carrots and potatoes, is much scarier to me than this little knife with a button,” he said.

That button that allows the blade to spring forth is what has made switchblades illegal since 1963. It’s an odd law. And it originates from when old codgers in the legislature were concerned about the hoodlums and gangs they saw in movies such as “West Side Story” and “Rebel Without a Cause,” said Todd Rathner, who advocates for the group Knife Rights.

“It was really based on hysteria from the movies,” he said.

Lebsock has run other bills to remove antiquated and, in one case, offensive language from state law. House Bill 1046 would remove words such as “retarded” and “mental defect” from state statutes. The bill passed the House and Senate unanimously and is waiting on a signature from the governor to become law.

“This is the same vein of bill, where we’re getting rid of ridiculous language in state statutes,” Lebsock said.

Colorado is one of only nine states that make switchblades and gravity knives completely illegal, he said.

The military, plumbers, linemen, emergency personnel and others need a knife they can open with one hand.

Maine considered an exemption to its switchblade ban in 2011. The argument for it was something no one presented at Thursday’s Colorado hearing: they’re convenient for one-armed people.

Maine legalized switchblades in 2015.

Rathner noted that kitchen knives are the most frequently used weapons in assaults.

The bill is supported by the County Sheriffs of Colorado. The association’s lobbyist, Peg Ackerman, said none of the sheriffs could remember arresting anyone on the charge.

“They think this statute is totally unnecessary and urge its repeal,” she said.

Sponsored in the Senate by Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, the bill passed there, 32-3, on Feb. 1.