New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
Saland Law PC, a New York criminal defense firm founded by two former Manhattan prosecutors, is pleased to announce our client received an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal (ACD) after she was arrested for trying to check a firearm (gun, pistol, revolver, etc.) with a desk agent from JetBlue at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens. This offense, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (New York Penal Law 265.03), is a “C” violent felony punishable by up to fifteen years in prison and carries a mandatory minimum of three and one half years in prison.
Despite what many people think, properly registering a firearm and obtaining a concealed weapon permit in their home state does not give them the authority to do so in New York. Compounding matters, even if the gun is “broken down” in a hard sided case with the ammunition in a side compartment, New York law is clear. In substance, if the firearm is capable of being loaded it is, as a matter of law, loaded. What you may perceive as an empty weapon is in fact loaded.
Fortunately for our client, Saland Law PC was able to mitigate the conduct, provide proof of ownership and convince the District Attorney’s Office that punishing our client with a felony or misdemeanor would serve no greater purpose. Moreover, putting the young woman in jail or requiring probation would benefit no one. Ultimately, once the six month period is complete, our client can continue life without the blemish of any kind of record at all. Although this case, like every case, is unique and the results here cannot predict future results, this non-criminal resolution to a gun possession case follows a string of successes Saland Law PC has had in the recent past.
For further information on New York gun laws, New York weapon laws and the crime of Criminal Possession of a Weapon, please follow the highlighted links to the New York Criminal Possession of a Weapon information page. There you will find statutes as well as links to the New York Criminal Lawyer Blog where there is extensive information including legal decisions and newsworthy cases.
Saland Law PC is a New York criminal defense firm representing the accused throughout the New York City area. The founding partners both served as prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office prior to becoming New York criminal defense attorneys.