Fedco, Remington to Pay Fine, Stop Selling Pen Knife

Fedco Inc. and Remington Products Co. agreed to pay $50,000 in penalties and to stop selling writing pens that contain a small, hidden knife blade, the Orange County district attorney’s office said.

Prosecutors had argued that the device, Remington’s Classic Writing Pen Knife, is a concealed weapon. The pens were sold in Fedco’s Shaver Shops, which are operated by Remington.

According to the district attorney’s office, the devices appear to be conventional ballpoint pens, but the upper portion conceals a 2 1/2-inch knife blade.

It is illegal for anyone in California to possess or sell a device “that is designed to be a stabbing instrument which is exposed by mechanical action,” the district attorney’s office said.

In March, the district attorney’s major fraud and consumer protection unit filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Fedco and Remington. Fedco immediately removed the pen from the 10 Southern California stores where it was sold.

At the time, Matthew A. Ross, director of stores for Fedco, said the product, which sells for $6.87, was removed because Fedco “didn’t want to sell something that’s not legal.” The consumer protection unit later won a temporary restraining order and then a preliminary injunction against the pen’s sale.

Officials for Fedco could not be reached for comment Friday.