First Post - about butterfly knives

[Warthog]

Hi. I was referred to here over at 1911forum.com and I was hoping that someone could answer the following for me:

For several years, I carried a butterfly knife in my pocket every day. I'm quite good at "flicking" it in several different ways. I never carried it to be "tough" or anything, I just like the one-handed operation. Well, I got the shock of my life about two years ago. I had to enter a local government building (the City/County Building in Knoxville) to pay a traffic ticket and the deputies had me empty my pockets. The building had a "No Weapons" sign, but I never thought of it as a weapon, just a pocket knife. Naturally, the butterfly knife went through the scanner. They made a big deal out of it and confiscated it.

Later, I called them and asked what the deal was. They said they had measured the blade and it was 4.25 inches, and the legal limit is 4.0 inches. They also threatened me somewhat, saying that if I went back down there to protest, I would be arrested for carrying an illegal weapon!

So here is the question I still don't have an answer to. Was my knife confiscated because:

1. The blade was over 4 inches (they sell these all day at Smoky Mountain Knife Works).

2. I was entering the building with it.

3. Butterfly knives are illegal to carry in Tennessee.

NOTE: I know that butterfly knives are not technically "banned" in Tennessee, and Tennessee law only has a restriction against carrying knives with "the intent to go armed," which was never my intent.

So can anyone answer this? I switched to a "legal" Gerber knife because I didn't want any trouble after this incident, but I would really like to carry the butterfly knife again. Not in government buildings, of course.

Thanks!