New York Gun Charges and Criminal Weapons Possession Lawyer

Over the years New York State has continually amended its gun laws, increasing the penalties for possession of an unlicensed weapon, specifically, guns. Any Criminal Lawyer who defends gun possession cases will tell you that the current law in New York states that if you are convicted of felony Criminal Possession of a Weapon and it's a hand gun, a conviction requires that the Judge issue a mandatory sentence of 3 1/2 years in prison. You should be aware that if you own a handgun in New York City, you must have a license for it and the weapon needs to be registered. If these requirements are not met, the gun is an illegal firearm. You are then subject to arrest and criminal charges if you are deemed to be in possession of that weapon. Be aware the NYPD has made it one of its priorities to get guns off the street and target people who commit Gun Crimes in NY and bring a gun charge against them.

People can get confused as to what possession of a weapon is. Just because the weapon is not on your person does not mean that it's not in your possession. For example, if the weapon is deemed to be in your dominion or control you can be charged with possession. That means if the gun is in your car or in your house or a place to which you have exclusive access you can be in possession of it. This concept is known as Constructive Possession. Throughout New York, District Attorneys and New York Criminal Defense Lawyers regularly argue about this issue to determine if a defendant had possession of the weapon.

The next type of possession we will discuss is called presumptive possession. Any New York Criminal Lawyer will tell you this is a more complex issue. Presumptive Possession gives the District Attorney power to charge multiple people with the possession of the same weapon. That's right, more than one person can be deemed to possess a weapon. For example, if there are 6 people in a car and the car is pulled over and a gun is recovered under a seat, all 6 people can be charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon. The presumption is that all 6 people possessed the gun at the same time; despite common sense dictating that only one person could be in possession of the gun. The standard of certainty for a criminal conviction in NY is "beyond a reasonable doubt" and this equates to approximately 96 percent certainty of guilt in order to convict a defendant. With 6 people in the car it would be next to impossible to meet that high standard for a criminal conviction of just one person as 5 other people are potentially guilty. So the legislature wanted to make it easier for the District Attorney to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, this presumption allows all 6 people to be charged and found guilty of the criminal act of gun possession.

This is why a gun charge or any weapons charge can be very difficult to defend making it even more important that you get an experienced New York Criminal lawyer to defend you rights. The Criminal Lawyers in our office will take the time to review your case with a free consultation. If you have been charged with a gun crime in NY or possession of weapon in NY call us at 1800-NY-NY-LAW and come into one of our convenient locations in NYC or Long Island for a free consultation.