Terms Used In New York Laws > Penal > Part 3 > Title P > Article 265 - Firearms and Other Dangerous Weapons

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Antique firearm: means :
  
  Any unloaded muzzle loading pistol or revolver with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system, or a pistol or revolver which uses fixed cartridges which are no longer available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Armor piercing ammunition: means any ammunition capable of being used in pistols or revolvers containing a projectile or projectile core, or a projectile or projectile core for use in such ammunition, that is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of any of the following: tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or uranium. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assault weapon: means
  
  (a) a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the following characteristics:
  
  (i) a folding or telescoping stock;
  
  (ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
  
  (iii) a thumbhole stock;
  
  (iv) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand;
  
  (v) a bayonet mount;
  
  (vi) a flash suppressor, muzzle break, muzzle compensator, or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor, muzzle break, or muzzle compensator;
  
  (vii) a grenade launcher; or
  
  (b) a semiautomatic shotgun that has at least one of the following characteristics:
  
  (i) a folding or telescoping stock;
  
  (ii) a thumbhole stock;
  
  (iii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand;
  
  (iv) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of seven rounds;
  
  (v) an ability to accept a detachable magazine; or
  
  (c) a semiautomatic pistol that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one of the following characteristics:
  
  (i) a folding or telescoping stock;
  
  (ii) a thumbhole stock;
  
  (iii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand;
  
  (iv) capacity to accept an ammunition magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip;
  
  (v) a threaded barrel capable of accepting a barrel extender, flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer;
  
  (vi) a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the firearm with the non-trigger hand without being burned;
  
  (vii) a manufactured weight of fifty ounces or more when the pistol is unloaded; or
  
  (viii) a semiautomatic version of an automatic rifle, shotgun or firearm;
  
  (d) a revolving cylinder shotgun;
  
  (e) a semiautomatic rifle, a semiautomatic shotgun or a semiautomatic pistol or weapon defined in subparagraph (v) of paragraph (e) of subdivision twenty-two of section 265. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Automatic knife: includes a stiletto, a switchblade knife, a cane sword, a pilum ballistic knife, and a metal knuckle knife. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Binary trigger system: means any device that, when installed in or attached to a semi-automatic firearm rifle, or shotgun causes that weapon to fire once when the trigger is pulled and again when the trigger is released. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Bump stock: means any device or instrument that increases the rate of fire achievable with a semi-automatic firearm, rifle or shotgun by using energy from the recoil of the weapon to generate a reciprocating action that facilitates repeated activation of the trigger. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Burst trigger system: means any device that, when installed in or attached to a semi-automatic firearm, rifle, or shot gun, allows that weapon to discharge two or more shots with a single pull or the trigger by altering the trigger reset. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Cane Sword: means a cane or swagger stick having concealed within it a blade that may be used as a sword or stilletto. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Chuka stick: means any device designed primarily as a weapon, consisting of two or more lengths of a rigid material joined together by a thong, rope or chain in such a manner as to allow free movement of a portion of the device while held in the hand and capable of being rotated in such a manner as to inflict serious injury upon a person by striking or choking. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Compounding: means the combining, admixing, mixing, diluting, pooling, reconstituting, or otherwise altering of a drug or bulk drug substance to create a drug. See N.Y. Education Law 6842
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Dealer in firearms: means any person, firm, partnership, corporation or company who engages in the business of purchasing, selling, keeping for sale, loaning, leasing, or in any manner disposing of, any assault weapon, large capacity ammunition feeding device, pistol, revolver, or semiautomatic rifle. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Deface: means to remove, deface, cover, alter or destroy the manufacturer's serial number or any other distinguishing number or identification mark. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Disguised gun: means any weapon or device capable of being concealed on the person from which a shot can be discharged through the energy of an explosive and is designed and intended to appear to be either; (a) something other than a gun; or (b) a toy gun that shall include, but not be limited to, any firearm, rifle, shotgun or machine-gun displaying a color finish other than the original manufacture color, a decorative pattern or plastic like surface; provided, however, that any rifle or shotgun displaying a camouflage color finish or pattern that is intended for hunting, as defined by Article 11 of the environmental conservation law, shall not be considered a "disguised gun" for purposes of this section. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Dispose of: means to dispose of, give, give away, lease, loan, keep for sale, offer, offer for sale, sell, transfer and otherwise dispose of. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Duly authorized instructor: means (a) a duly commissioned officer of the United States army, navy, marine corps or coast guard, or of the national guard of the state of New York; or (b) a duly qualified adult citizen of the United States who has been granted a certificate as an instructor in small arms practice issued by the United States army, navy or marine corps, or by the adjutant general of this state, or by the division of criminal justice services, or by the national rifle association of America, a not-for-profit corporation duly organized under the laws of this state; (c) by a person duly qualified and designated by the department of environmental conservation as its agent in the giving of instruction and the making of certifications of qualification in responsible hunting practices; or (d) a New York state 4-H certified shooting sports instructor. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Electronic dart gun: means any device designed primarily as a weapon, the purpose of which is to momentarily stun, knock out or paralyze a person by passing an electrical shock to such person by means of a dart or projectile. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Electronic stun gun: means any device designed primarily as a weapon, the purpose of which is to stun, cause mental disorientation, knock out or paralyze a person by passing a high voltage electrical shock to such person. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• entire board: means the total number of directors which the corporation would have if there were no vacancies. See N.Y. Business Corporation Law 702
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Firearm: means (a) any pistol or revolver; or (b) a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length; or (c) a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length; or (d) any weapon made from a shotgun or rifle whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise if such weapon as altered, modified, or otherwise has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches; or (e) an assault weapon; or (f) any other weapon that is not otherwise defined in this section containing any component that provides housing or a structure designed to hold or integrate any fire control component that is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by action of explosive. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Firearm silencer: means any instrument, attachment, weapon or appliance for causing the firing of any gun, revolver, pistol or other firearms to be silent, or intended to lessen or muffle the noise of the firing of any gun, revolver, pistol or other firearms. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Ghost gun: means a firearm, rifle or shotgun that does not comply with the provisions of section 265. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Gunsmith: means any person, firm, partnership, corporation or company who engages in the business of repairing, altering, assembling, manufacturing, cleaning, polishing, engraving or trueing, or who performs any mechanical operation on, any firearm, large capacity ammunition feeding device or machine-gun. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Kung Fu star: means a disc-like object with sharpened points on the circumference thereof and is designed for use primarily as a weapon to be thrown. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Large capacity ammunition feeding device: means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device, that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than ten rounds of ammunition; provided, however, that such term does not include an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with, . See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Licensed pharmacist: means a person licensed to practice pharmacy pursuant to article one hundred thirty-seven of this title. See N.Y. Education Law 6842
• Licensing officer: means in the city of New York the police commissioner of that city; in the county of Nassau the commissioner of police of that county; in the county of Suffolk the sheriff of that county except in the towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip and Smithtown, the commissioner of police of that county; for the purposes of section 400. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Loaded firearm: means any firearm loaded with ammunition or any firearm which is possessed by one who, at the same time, possesses a quantity of ammunition which may be used to discharge such firearm. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Machine-gun: means a weapon of any description, irrespective of size, by whatever name known, loaded or unloaded, from which a number of shots or bullets may be rapidly or automatically discharged from a magazine with one continuous pull of the trigger and includes a sub-machine gun. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Metal knuckle knife: means a weapon that, when closed, cannot function as a set of plastic knuckles or metal knuckles, nor as a knife and when open, can function as both a set of plastic knuckles or metal knuckles as well as a knife. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Microstamp: means a unique alphanumeric or geometric code that identifies the make, model, and serial number of a firearm. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Microstamping component: means a component part of a semi-automatic pistol that will produce a microstamp on at least one location of the expended cartridge case each time the pistol is fired. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Microstamping-enabled pistol: means any semiautomatic pistol that contains a microstamping component. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Pharmacy intern: means a person practicing under a limited permit pursuant to section sixty-eight hundred six of this title. See N.Y. Education Law 6842
• Pilum ballistic knife: means any knife which has a blade which can be projected from the handle by hand pressure applied to a button, lever, spring or other device in the handle of the knife. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Professional judgment: means professional decision-making by a licensed pharmacist, including, but not limited to, such activities as:
  
  a. See N.Y. Education Law 6842
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Rapid-fire modification device: means any bump stock, trigger crank, binary trigger system, burst trigger system, or any other device that is designed to accelerate the rate of fire of a semi-automatic firearm, rifle or shotgun. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Rifle: means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger using either: (a) fixed metallic cartridge; or (b) each projectile and explosive charge are loaded individually for each shot discharged. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Semiautomatic: means any repeating rifle, shotgun or pistol, regardless of barrel or overall length, which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge or shell to extract the fired cartridge case or spent shell and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge or shell. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Serialized: means bearing a visible identification number and/or symbol in accordance with the requirements imposed on licensed importers and licensed manufacturers pursuant to subsection (i) of Section 923 of Title 18 of the United States Code and regulations issued pursuant thereto in effect at the time of assembly, except for antique firearms as defined in subdivision fourteen of this section, as added by chapter nine hundred eighty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred seventy-four, or any firearm, rifle or shotgun manufactured prior to nineteen hundred sixty-eight. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Serious offense: means (a) any of the following offenses defined in the current penal law and any offense in any jurisdiction or the former penal law that includes all of the essential elements of any of the following offenses: illegally using, carrying or possessing a pistol or other dangerous weapon; possession of burglar's tools; criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree; escape in the third degree; jostling; fraudulent accosting; endangering the welfare of a child; obscenity in the third degree; issuing abortional articles; permitting prostitution; promoting prostitution in the third degree; stalking in the fourth degree; stalking in the third degree; sexual misconduct; forcible touching; sexual abuse in the third degree; sexual abuse in the second degree; criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree; criminally possessing a hypodermic instrument; criminally using drug paraphernalia in the second degree; criminal possession of methamphetamine manufacturing material in the second degree; and a hate crime defined in article four hundred eighty-five of this chapter. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Shotgun: means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive to fire through a smooth or rifled bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger using either: (a) a fixed shotgun shell; or (b) a projectile or number of ball shot and explosive charge are loaded individually for each shot discharged. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Switchblade knife: means any knife which has a blade which opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in the handle of the knife. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trigger crank: means any device or instrument that repeatedly activates the trigger of a semi-automatic firearm, rifle or shotgun through the use of a lever or other part that is turned in a circular motion and thereby accelerates the rate of fire of such firearm, rifle or shotgun, provided, however, that "trigger crank" shall not include any weapon initially designed and manufactured to fire through the use of a crank or lever. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Undetectable knife: means any knife or other instrument, which does not utilize materials that are detectable by a metal detector or magnetometer when set at a standard calibration, that is capable of ready use as a stabbing or cutting weapon and was commercially manufactured to be used as a weapon. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Unfinished frame or receiver: means any unserialized material that does not constitute the frame or receiver of a firearm, rifle or shotgun but that has been shaped or formed in any way for the purpose of becoming the frame or receiver of a firearm, rifle or shotgun, and which may readily be made into a functional frame or receiver through milling, drilling or other means. See N.Y. Penal Law 265.00
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.