NYC Desk Appearance Ticket Attorneys

Weapons/Knives (PL 265.01)

Click here to learn more about Desk Appearance Tickets, generally.

 

New York City’s knife and weapons laws can be baffling to New Yorkers and outsiders alike. You can be arrested for carrying a hunting or fishing knife that you can buy online or at a hardware store. You can also be arrested for buying a martial-arts-enthusiast weapon that you might find openly on sale in Chinatown. Indeed, we find that most of the people getting Desk Appearance Tickets for weapons possession are not violent individuals at all, but just innocent working people that had no idea that they were committing a crime by possessing their particular item.

 

That being said, these cases can be quite serious. Indeed, the maximum legal penalty for a conviction of this Class A misdemeanor charge (PL 265.01) is one year in prison. One can also be sentenced to three years of probation. There are also a whole host of other potential consequences to these arrests and convictions - see at the bottom of the page for a more exhaustive list, and call us if any of those items may apply to you.  Notably, if you are a non-citizen, a conviction for this crime might have serious negative consequences for you, including potential future inadmissibility or even present deportability. Some seemingly excellent dispositions may also jeopardize your ability to get or renew a visa.  Click here to learn more.  

 

List of illegal weapons

Penal Law 265.01 makes it a class A misdemeanor to possess the following items:

 

Subsection 1:

• Any firearm

• Electronic dart gun or stun gun

• Gravity knife

• Switchblade knife

• Pilum ballstic knife

• Metal knuckle knife

• Cane sword

• Billy

• Blackjack

• Bludgeon

• Plastic knuckles or metal knuckles

• Chuka stick (aka nun-chuks)

• Sand Bag or sandclub

• Wrist-brace type slingshot or slungshot

• Shirken or “kung fu star”

 

Subsection 2 (with intent to use unlawfully):

• Any dagger

• Dangerous knife

• Dirk

• Razor

• Stiletto

• Imitation pistol

• Any other dangerous or deadly instrument

 

Subsection 4 (if previously convicted of a felony offense):

• Rifle

• Shotgun

• Antique firearm

• Black powder rifle or black powder shotgun

• Any muzzle-loading firearm

 

Subsection 5 (if not a citizen of the U.S.):

• Any dangerous or deadly weapon

 

Subsection 7:

• A bullet containing an explosive substance designed to detonate upon impact.

 

Subsection 8:

• Any armor piercing ammunition with intent to use the same unlawfully against another.

 

 

Strategies for Success

 

Sometimes these cases can be successfully defended with search and seizure arguments. If a police officer did not have sufficient suspicion to search the defendant’s car, bag, pocket, or purse to find the weapon, then a judge may be persuaded to preclude the evidence (and effectively dismiss the case). More often than not, though, our clients ask us to seek mercy from the prosecution. To do that, we typically advocate for leniency by explaining how our clients came to obtain the illegal item, the innocent purpose he or she had for it, and anything else that may mitigate the situation. 

 

The attorneys at Galluzzo & Johnson LLP have been cited as legal experts by news journalists concerning knife possession cases in New York City, and have even succeeded in getting a not-guilty verdict from a jury by arguing that a particular knife was not in fact illegal. They have helped dozens of individuals charged with weapons possession (and knife cases in particular) get favorable results, including dismissals and non-criminal results without jail or any resultant public record. 

 

 

The potential penalties from this Desk Appearance Ticket:

Up to 1 year in jail.

Up to 3 years of probation.

Community service.

Rehabilitation programs or behavioral counseling.

Immigration consequences including deportation.

Employment problems.

Forfeiture of the seized items.