NY · jury_instructions
CJI2d[NY] Penal Law § 265.03(1)(a) and (1)(c)
CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF A WEAPON IN THE SECOND DEGREE (Machine-Gun or Disguised Gun With Intent To Use Unlawfully)
The (specify) count is Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree.
Under our law, a person is guilty of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree when, with intent to use the same unlawfully against another, that person knowingly³ possesses a
Select appropriate alternative:
machine-gun.
disguised gun.
The following terms used in that definition have a special meaning:
[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.⁴]
[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.⁵]
POSSESS means to have physical possession or otherwise to exercise dominion or control over tangible property.⁶
A person KNOWINGLY possesses a (specify) when that person is aware that he or she is in possession of an object that is a (specify). That person need not know (that is, be aware of) the object’s name or whether it meets the definition of a (specify).⁷
INTENT means conscious objective or purpose.⁸ Thus, a person acts with intent to use a [machine-gun] [disguised gun] unlawfully against another when his or her conscious objective or purpose is to do so.⁹
In order for you to find the defendant guilty of this crime, the People are required to prove, from all the evidence in the case, beyond a reasonable doubt, each of the following three elements:
1. That on or about (date) , in the county of (county) , the defendant, (defendant's name) possessed a [machine-gun] [disguised gun];
2. That the defendant did so knowingly; and
3. That the defendant possessed the [machine-gun] [disguised gun] with the intent to use it unlawfully against another.
If you find the People have proven beyond a reasonable doubt each of those elements, you must find the defendant guilty of this crime.
If you find the People have not proven beyond a reasonable doubt any one or more of those elements, you must find the defendant not guilty of this crime.
History
Caption: CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF A WEAPON IN THE SECOND DEGREE (Machine-Gun or Disguised Gun With Intent To Use Unlawfully) Penal Law § 265.03(1)(a) and (1)(c) (Committed on or after Nov. 1, 1998) (Revised December, 2022). Read from the committee's Word file. Prepared by the New York State Unified Court System Committee on Criminal Jury Instructions, Model Colloquies, and Evidence Rules; published by the Unified Court System at nycourts.gov (the internet edition is the only current and official publication of CJI2d).
Provenance
- Source
- nycourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-25
- Edition
- 2026-09-25
- Content hash
8f64de99f208c459ec9d107b4c25dc49372b03a2e6d402446dfd3557f40a9d73
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.