magazine transportation in ny

[zeaken]

I have been looking around on these boards and trying to read into the laws but have not come up with a clear answer.

Is it legal to transport loaded magazines if they are separated from the rifle ny? It would be much easier for me transporting things around if i could keep the mags loaded. I am sure I cant keep the rifle loaded unless i am have ccw in ny (working on it, 10 months and counting).

 

[9mmepiphany]

It is hard to get an accurate answer to this without knowing your location...you'll have both state laws and local ordinances to be knowledgeable about

 

[zeaken]

sorry, buffalo ny.

 

[xr1200]

Buffalo has some pretty strict BS local municiple gun laws , passed by Brown & the common council a few years ago. I would make sure that if I were passing thru buffalo or any other new york city that all long gun mags and are unloaded and the guns are in the truck of a car and locked. Even in your home they can nail you for certain types of guns and mags.

Some of the laws in buffalo are a lot different then what you run into in the near by suburbs. Rochester also has similar laws.

The thing to remember is that when you run into a stop by the police in your car or a visit to your home, and the cops may suspect some law has been broken. The cops will simply arrest you and let the courts sort it out at the aragnement, hearing or trial.

Police are not out there to interperet the law before they arrest you. They simply arrest you when they think a law has been broken and then its up to you and your lawyer to sort it out.

 

[GambJoe]

In NJ , gun locked away in case or trunk, seperate from mag's. They will consider your gun loaded, if the mags have bullets in them, even though the the mag and gun are seperated. I think NY's the same.

 

[jrmiddleton425]

Hi all. First post here and I'll try to answer this.

To the OP, you may usually never have a rifle/shotgun loaded in your vehicle in NYS, regardless of wether or not you have CCW. You may have magazines loaded, as long as they are out of the gun.

 

[Siberious]

NY State does NOT permit the carriage of rifles while loaded.

In NY State, a magazine with cartridges loaded (no matter how many cartridges are in the mag) is deemed to have your rifle in a *loaded* state for purposes of transportation.

So, the question to the OP...why do you want to carry your rifle in your car with loaded mags? Simply lock up the rifle with its magazines in your rifle case, then lock up the ammo in the glovebox.

The only time you can transport the rifle (still must be locked in the trunk) and have a mag on your person with cartridges inserted is while hunting provided that:

1) the area you are hunting (these are known as NYS DEC Zones) does not specifically ban rifle hunting...

2) you are *actually* hunting...ie: you have your hunting license prominently displayed on your person (usually on the back of your jacket) while in possession of a loaded magazine and...

3) it actually *is* hunting season for the game you are claiming to be hunting.

As for having a CCW in NY and carrying a loaded rifle...you CAN'T do it. CCW is a HANDGUN ONLY license. Has nothing to do with the carriage of rifles/shotguns/long guns.

Do yourself a favor...if you're in NY State, read the laws. Just Google up NYS Penal Code 400 and NY Penal Code 265...but I'll do some of your homework for you to show you that jrmiddleton, while wanting to be helpful, is not quite correct.

From Penal Code 265.00 Definitions, #15...

15. "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.

Possession, according to Penal Code 265, means being in control of the loaded mag. In other words, you're the driver of the vehicle, you have, under your control as the driver of t he vehicle a rifle which has a magazine, said magazine is loaded and in the glovebox while the rifle is in the trunk...you are now guilty of transporting a loaded firearm. Period. No ifs-and-buts.

NY State does NOT mess around, either. You get caught, you'll need a real good lawyer.

So...is a bit of *convenience* for you to load mags up so that you *don't have alot to carry around* worth the risk of getting caught, and having a future CCW application denied because you were once caught transporting a loaded weapon (loaded in the eyes of the law and in accordance with NY Penal Statutes...)

 

[jrmiddleton425]

Siberious:

Read definition 3 in article 265. "Firearm" is defined as a handgun; or a rifle with barrel or barrels less than 16" or 26" overall, or a shotgun with barrel or barrels less than 18" or 26" overall.

McKinney's Consolidated Laws of NY, Volume 89, Penal Law. Page 388.

Unless I read it a different way than you do...non-NFA items are not "firearms" by this definition.

A further thought...the fact that almost nobody can agree on what is and not a legal way to transport a firearm in a vehicle, is why I use handguns almost exclusively. Handguns, by law, are loaded if you have ammunition for them, due to the definition you cited.

 

[Siberious]

jrmiddleton...

You cited only *one* definition of what penal code states is a *firearm* while ignoring the other definitions...this is why us New Yorkers must read the text *in its entirety*, because it really references anything that goes *boom*...

Definition 11:

"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 in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.

Definition 12:

"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 in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger.

In the context of Penal Code 265, which was brought to life by the enactment of the Sullivan Act in 1911 (funny...the Sullivan Act passed in 1911, only about 3 months after the US Gov't awarded Colt the contract to produce the M A1, which was renamed the M 1911 A1 to reflect the year that it was officially ordered up by the Gov't....but I digress....) the intent of Definition #3 was to address anything with a barrel length of shorter than 16" or an overall length less than 26" as a concealable deadly weapon. Rifle was defined in Def 11, and Shotgun in Def 12, both without barrel length being mentioned, but simply described as being fired from the shoulder. Def #3 applies to hand-fired weapons, and in the context of the time in which it was written (1911) a *firearm* was considered to be fired from the hand, while a Rifle / Shotgun was shoulder fired. Which is why under the NFA, a shotgun with a barrel length of less than 18" (or an overall length less than 26") is a "short barreled shotgun" and therefore is a restricted item. NY Penal Code applies the same definition as the Federal NFA, and classifies as a *firearm* with the same length restrictions cited in the 1934 NFA.

If you look through the history of the Sullivan Act, and the amendments made to it, the definition I cited (#15) was added shortly after the time of the 1968 Firearms Control Act coming into effect, with the intent to capitalize on the actions of Congress to further restrict the carriage of *any* firearm in a vehicle while said firearm was loaded.

The *intent* of Def 15 was to prohibit *any* firearm from being carried on ones person or in a vehicle while loaded. The exception to this was if the person carrying a *handgun* was licensed to do so (see 265.20, Sec 3 under *Exemptions*) and 4 for long gun when a hunting license is possessed and displayed prominently:

3. Possession of a pistol or revolver by a person to whom a license therefor has been issued as provided under section 400.00 or 400.01 of this chapter ; provided, that such a license shall not preclude a conviction for the offense defined in subdivision three of section 265.01 of this article.

4. Possession of a rifle, shotgun or longbow for use while hunting, trapping or fishing, by a person, not a citizen of the United States, carrying a valid license issued pursuant to section 11-0713 of the environmental conservation law.

)

In the above two examples, these people are exempt from the restrictions of carrying a loaded firearm. Handgun owners because they are specifically licensed to do so (unless the license is restricted) and the carrying of a *loaded* firearm, as *loaded* is defined in the aforementioned 265.00/15 while hunting is permitted while in possession of a DEC-issued license.