265.00 - Definitions.

§ 265.00 Definitions.    As  used  in  this  article and in article four hundred, the following  terms shall mean and include:    1. "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.    2.  "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.    3. "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. For the purpose of this subdivision the length of the  barrel  on  a  shotgun  or  rifle  shall  be determined by measuring the  distance between the muzzle  and  the  face  of  the  bolt,  breech,  or  breechlock  when  closed  and  when  the shotgun or rifle is cocked; the  overall length of a weapon made from a shotgun or rifle is the  distance  between the extreme ends of the weapon measured along a line parallel to  the  center  line  of  the  bore.  Firearm  does  not include an antique  firearm.    4. "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.    5. "Gravity knife" means any knife which has a blade which is released  from the handle or sheath  thereof  by  the  force  of  gravity  or  the  application  of  centrifugal  force  which,  when released, is locked in  place by means of a button, spring, lever or other device.    5-a. "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.    5-b. "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.    5-c.  "Automatic  knife"  includes  a stiletto, a switchblade knife, a  gravity knife, a cane sword,  a  pilum  ballistic  knife,  and  a  metal  knuckle knife.    6. "Dispose of" means to dispose of, give, give away, lease-loan, keep  for  sale,  offer,  offer for sale, sell, transfer and otherwise dispose  of.    7. "Deface" means to remove,  deface,  cover,  alter  or  destroy  the  manufacturer's  serial  number  or  any  other  distinguishing number or  identification mark.    8. "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.    9.  "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  disposingof, any assault weapon, large capacity ammunition feeding device, pistol  or revolver.    10.  "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  400.01  of this chapter the superintendent of state police;  and elsewhere in the state a judge or  justice  of  a  court  of  record  having his office in the county of issuance.    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.    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.    13. "Cane Sword" means a cane or swagger stick having concealed within  it a blade that may be used as a sword or stilletto.    * 14. "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.    * NB There are 2 sb 14's    * 14. "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. These devices  are  also  known  as  nunchakus  and  centrifugal force sticks.    * NB There are 2 sb 14's    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.    15-a.  "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.    15-b. "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.    15-c. "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.    16.  "Certified not suitable to possess a self-defense spray device, a  rifle or shotgun" means that the director or physician in charge of  any  hospital  or  institution  for  mental  illness,  public or private, has  certified to the superintendent of state  police  or  to  any  organized  police department of a county, city, town or village of this state, that  a  person  who  has  been judicially adjudicated incompetent, or who has  been confined  to  such  institution  for  mental  illness  pursuant  to  judicial  authority,  is  not  suitable  to possess a self-defense spraydevice, as defined in section 265.20 of this  article,  or  a  rifle  or  shotgun.    17.  "Serious offense" means (a) any of the following offenses defined  in the former penal law as in force  and  effect  immediately  prior  to  September first, nineteen hundred sixty-seven: illegally using, carrying  or  possessing  a pistol or other dangerous weapon; making or possessing  burglar's instruments; buying or  receiving  stolen  property;  unlawful  entry  of a building; aiding escape from prison; that kind of disorderly  conduct defined in subdivisions six and eight of section  seven  hundred  twenty-two of such former penal law; violations of sections four hundred  eighty-three,  four  hundred  eighty-three-b, four hundred eighty-four-h  and article one hundred six of such  former  penal  law;  that  kind  of  criminal  sexual  act  or  rape  which  was designated as a misdemeanor;  violation of  section  seventeen  hundred  forty-seven-d  and  seventeen  hundred  forty-seven-e  of  such  former penal law; any violation of any  provision of article thirty-three of the public health law  relating  to  narcotic  drugs  which was defined as a misdemeanor by section seventeen  hundred fifty-one-a of such former penal law, and any violation  of  any  provision of article thirty-three-A of the public health law relating to  depressant  and  stimulant  drugs  which was defined as a misdemeanor by  section seventeen hundred forty-seven-b of such former penal law.    * (b) any  of  the  following  offenses  defined  in  the  penal  law:  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;  the  offenses  defined in article two hundred thirty-five; issuing abortional articles;  permitting  prostitution;  promoting  prostitution  in the third degree;  stalking in the  fourth  degree;  stalking  in  the  third  degree;  the  offenses  defined in article one hundred thirty; the offenses defined in  article two hundred twenty.    * NB There are 2 par. b's    * (b) any  of  the  following  offenses  defined  in  the  penal  law:  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;  the  offenses  defined in article two hundred thirty-five; issuing abortional articles;  permitting  prostitution;  promoting  prostitution  in the third degree;  stalking in the  third  degree;  stalking  in  the  fourth  degree;  the  offenses  defined in article one hundred thirty; the offenses defined in  article two hundred twenty.    * NB There are 2 par. b's    18. "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.    19. "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  national rifle association of America, a not-for-profit corporation duly  organized under the laws  of  this  state;  or  (c)  by  a  person  duly  qualified and designated by the department of environmental conservationunder  paragraph  d  of  subdivision  six  of  section  11-0713  of  the  environmental conservation law as its agent in the giving of instruction  and the making of certifications of qualification in responsible hunting  practices.    20.  "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  something other than a gun.    21. "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.    22. "Assault weapon" means (a)  a  semiautomatic  rifle  that  has  an  ability  to  accept  a  detachable  magazine and has at least two 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 bayonet mount;    (iv)  a  flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a  flash suppressor;    (v) a grenade launcher; or    (b) a semiautomatic shotgun that has at least  two  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 fixed magazine capacity in excess of five rounds;    (iv) 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 two of the following characteristics:    (i)  an ammunition magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the  pistol grip;    (ii) a threaded barrel capable of accepting a barrel  extender,  flash  suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer;    (iii)  a  shroud  that  is  attached  to,  or  partially or completely  encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold  the  firearm  with the nontrigger hand without being burned;    (iv)  a manufactured weight of fifty ounces or more when the pistol is  unloaded;    (v) a semiautomatic version of an automatic rifle, shotgun or firearm;  or    (d) any of the weapons, or functioning frames  or  receivers  of  such  weapons,  or copies or duplicates of such weapons, in any caliber, known  as:    (i) Norinco, Mitchell, and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs (all  models);    (ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil;    (iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC-70);    (iv) Colt AR-15;    (v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, and FNC;    (vi) SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9, and M-12;    (vii) Steyr AUG;    (viii) INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22; and    (ix) revolving cylinder shotguns, such as (or similar to)  the  Street  Sweeper and Striker 12;(e) provided, however, that such term does not include: (i) any rifle,  shotgun  or pistol that (A) is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever or  slide action; (B) has been rendered permanently inoperable; or (C) is an  antique firearm as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16);    (ii)  a  semiautomatic  rifle that cannot accept a detachable magazine  that holds more than five rounds of ammunition;    (iii) a semiautomatic shotgun that cannot hold more than  five  rounds  of ammunition in a fixed or detachable magazine;    (iv)  a rifle, shotgun or pistol, or a replica or a duplicate thereof,  specified in Appendix A to section 922 of 18 U.S.C. as such  weapon  was  manufactured  on  October first, nineteen hundred ninety-three. The mere  fact that a weapon is not listed in Appendix A shall not be construed to  mean that such weapon is an assault weapon; or    (v) a semiautomatic rifle, a semiautomatic shotgun or a  semiautomatic  pistol  or  any  of  the  weapons  defined  in  paragraph  (d)  of  this  subdivision lawfully possessed prior to September  fourteenth,  nineteen  hundred ninety-four.    23. "Large capacity ammunition feeding device" means a magazine, belt,  drum,  feed  strip,  or  similar  device,  manufactured  after September  thirteenth, nineteen hundred ninety-four, 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, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.