Man......I hope Homeland Security doesn't come, kick in my door & take my one huge hunk of Ivory!

I have a couple of small folders made by the late Zolan McCarty that have ivory scales. I wouldn't want to violate any laws so I guess I'll just happily keep them forever.

According to the proposed ban, I read that your home is first on their list.

Rocky

Lets be outlaws. I love laws that can't be enforced. Waste of time. Kill the poachers and no new Ivory. I try to be a legal type guy. But sometimes come on.

Well, I thought I would share with everyone my recent experience with the US F&W Dept regarding my ivory Randall's. Mine are a matched set, Model 25 and 26 that I bought from Rick Bowles. I was able to obtain an affidavit of origin from his ivory dealer to certify that the ivory used for these two knives are "pre-ban". He is a long time dealer and always documents each piece and provides an affidavit to RMK with the ivory. I submitted copies of these documents along with photos to the US F&W and requested assistance in getting a certification for these two knives. They were helpful and advised that I didn't need a formal certification, I just needed to maintain my records and document "chain of ownership" if I want to sell. The documents should go to the new owner. If anyone is interested I will be happy to share the email response from the US F&W. I am confident now that this matched pair is "legal" to sell, should I ever want to. Currently I don't.

That's all well and good for me, but I've also been thinking about other Randall collectors that don't have access to a certificate of origin for the ivory that went on their knives. I sent an email this morning to Capt Chris to try to develop a solution that may just help everyone. In short, if its true that RMK had a policy to require documentation of pre-ban ivory than its logical that all Randall's made pursuant to that policy include only "pre-ban" or "pre-convention" ivory. If someone close to RMK could request that this policy be documented in the form of an affidavit than ALL genuine Randall's with ivory should be OK in the eyes of the US F&W. All you would have to do is have your knife checked out by an appraiser or "authenticator" and obtain an affidavit or certificate that it is an original handled genuine Randall knife. Keep a copy of the RMK's ivory policy along with a copy of your affidavit and document change of ownership. Similar to a car title. I mentioned to Capt Chris, we might even be able to use the RMK policy affidavit to obtain a letter ruling from the US F&W that all genuine ivory Randall's or OK.

Interested to hear other's thoughts...

I received your email...but only read it on my Iphone. After the weekend, I'll see what I can do...if anything.
Thanks...to cont...
Capt. Chris

Well,
All my decimation goes to Randall.
I don't get it back....
how can you document it after that?
:-)Rocky

You ask RMK to document that they required proper documentation of the ivory as part of their regular policies. With that, you need only document that your knife is a genuine RMK.

It's like proving a legal case with circumstantial but Logical evidence.

1). All RMK ivory knives were made with documented pre-ban ivory
2). I have a genuine RMK ivory knife
3). My knife was therefore made with documented pre-ban ivory

If you can prove 1 and 2, than you've proven 3 via logic.

Remember the US F&W won't say what proof is required, only that the seller must be able to demonstrate that the knife in question was made with legal ivory. Once you put up logical evidence, it's up to the F&W dept to prove otherwise.

Based on the response they sent me, they don't want to make it difficult for legitimate collectors to sell their items. They just want something.

Something is better than nothing.

I am new at the Randall addiction, but one question, is only the elephant ivory the problem? because I have a number 10 and a Tri-athlete re handled in Warthog Ivory, and we are working currently in one with Hippo Ivory which is harder.
Thanks.

The proposed ban on the Federal level is elephant ivory only.

NY signed into law on August 12th, a ban on all ivory regardless of animal.

I don't know about the reliance of truth of this source, so take it FWIW.

This came from Bloomberg Businessweek website:

"The law, signed by New York’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on Aug. 12, is intended to halt the trade in illegal ivory that encourages poaching endangered species. It prohibits the sale of ivory that’s less than 100 years old and also bans the sale of antiques in which ivory makes up more than 20 percent of the total material used. Some violations carry felony charges. The law covers ivory from elephant tusks, extinct mammoths, and rhinoceros horns. (Musical instruments made before 1975 are exempt: You can sell Grandma’s piano, but not her snuff box.)"