New York Gun Charges

New York gun charges are some of the most serious and significant firearms and gun crimes in the United States. New York treats weapon and firearm cases as no different than the most violent assault and robbery crimes. The consequences for a New York gun crime conviction can greatly impact someone’s life. If you have been charged with a gun crime in New York, get in touch with a skilled gun attorney who can advocate for you.

Severity of Gun Charges

Despite the existence of Second Amendment rights, New York's position is that unless a person specifically has licenses and permits in the state of New York when they possess a loaded firearm, they face mandatory state prison, even as a first time offender.

New York City and many of the suburbs are highly populated and the position of law enforcement and legislators is to avoid having someone with a loaded gun on a train, in Midtown, or in Times Square where numerous people come together.

More guns on the streets means more potential for violence and catastrophic results. If a person has a loaded firearm outside of their home and place of business and that pistol, revolver, assault rifle or similar weapon is loaded, then they should expect the full force of a violent felony prosecution by the local District Attorney’s Office.

Legality of Hunting in New YorkHunting is permitted as long as an individual has the proper permits. Long arms, for the most part, are not regulated in the same way as firearms and are not defined the same. Firearms can include assault rifles which a person can only possess if permitted, but a shotgun is also different from a 357 or a 38. A nine millimeter is different is not the same as a 22 rifle.

It is not necessarily the caliber but the size, type, and the nature of the firearm such as revolvers, handguns, and pistols that are generally considered to be firearms. For the most part, a person hunting with a nine millimeter still needs to have the proper permit, otherwise, they could face New York gun charges. 

Hunting does not make it any less of a crime. It is the nature and type of the gun in question that makes it a felony outside of scenarios where the rifle, firearm, pistol, etc., is used in a violent manner.

Transporting Firearms Through New York

It is unlawful for a person to carry, possess, or transport a handgun, pistol or any other firearm in or through New York State as well as New York City. One of the more common New York gun charges is transporting firearms through New York.

It is illegal when someone travels through New York with their firearm, even if it is legal in their home state. There is no reciprocity. There are some rules and laws that do protect certain people while they are in transit, but they are strict and from a practical level will not preclude the police from arresting someone even if it turns out weeks or months later they are exonerated.

Felony Charges

When a person with a firearm spends a night or two in New York while traveling from one state to another, they are in violation of the law. When someone is visiting from Florida, Georgia, Maryland or any state and decides to spend a couple of days in New York City with a loaded firearm in their car, their hotel or a friend’s apartment or home, that is a class “C” violent felony.

If the weapon is not loaded, then the crime is the class “E” felony of Criminal Possession of a Firearm instead of the more serious Second Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, but a felony nonetheless. Remember, it is of critical import to recognize that “loaded” in the eyes of the law is not the same as the literal use of the term. If bullets and ammunition are next to the firearm or in the same case, the state of New York considers that weapon loaded and it is, therefore, an enhanced crime.

Transporting Ammunition and Firearms

While the law may protect someone driving through New York interrupted on a continuous path, no police officer or prosecutor is going to merely let someone walk without investigation which will happen after the individual’s arrest and processing.

What will complicate matters is that someone cannot have ammunition or cartridges in the firearm or even in the same carrying case. The ammunition should be separate from the firearm and the firearm should be locked up.

If the firearm is accessible and capable of being loaded, it is a class C violent felony if the person does not have a license in New York, irrespective of whether a person has a license or permit elsewhere. None of the above will help an individual in terms of avoiding culpability outside of the being in non-stop transit, but it can mitigate conduct. If you wish to know more, get in touch with a qualified gun lawyer today.