LANSING, MI -- Switchblade knives would no longer be illegal in Michigan under a bill passed by the state Senate on Thursday.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, and passed the Senate Judiciary Committee he chairs in March.

Jones told MLive when the bill was introduced that the current law against switchblades was being unevenly enforced, and the law itself dated back to a time when people saw switchblades portrayed in movies and worried about them on the streets.

"For years we've had on the books it's a violation to have a knife with a mechanical way of opening it. And this has led to a lot of people being charged with a one-year, high misdemeanor and it really isn't necessary," Jones said.

The bill passed 36-1, with only Rep. Morris Hood III, D-Detroit, voting against it.

"As we see a lot of violence increasing in our country, in our world... I just don't think that there should be another tool out there for someone to be able to carry, to legally carry," Hood said.

He said he wasn't impressed by Michigan State Police testimony that the ban on switchblades wasn't being enforced anyway, calling that a "poor excuse" for allowing somebody to carry a weapon without some type of credentials or training.

The bill would have to pass the House and be signed by Gov. Rick Snyder to become law.