new-york-state legal-history weapons
Law in History: Weapon Law in New York in the 1960s: Long Blades
<p>While researching for a novel, I stumbled about an interesting legal point I can't answer on my own because I neither am a lawyer nor am in the US:</p>
<p>Between 1945 and 1951 quite some Katana were surrendered to the occupying American forces. Many were destroyed or buried. A not too small number did end up not destroyed as ordered but taken as souvenirs by US soldiers. While <a href="https://japan-forward.com/do-japanese-art-swords-surrendered-after-wwii-constitute-war-loot/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ethically questionable and still an apple of contention in some way</a>, that is not the question here.</p>
<p>I would like to know: how did New York Law handle the possession and carrying of (historical) swords like katana between 1945 and the 1960s?</p>
<p>I know that nowadays §265.01 of the NY Penal Code governs possession and transport of such 'knives', but I could only find the revisions that were made in the 2000s, but no indication that there would have been a similar law earlier.</p>
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<p>My research gave me slight insight into the federal <em>gun</em> laws, for example from <a href="https://observer.com/2016/06/history-of-u-s-gun-laws/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, hinting me at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1934 National Firearms Act</a> and <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Miller" rel="nofollow noreferrer">United States v Miller</a></em>, but both dealt with <em>firearms</em>/<em>firearms transport</em> and did not address bladed weaponry.</p>
<p>In contrast, the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2011-title15/html/USCODE-2011-title15-chap29.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Switchblade Knife Act</em> of 1958</a> seems to only address short bladed weapons of specific makeup, not Katana or similar</p>

<p>New York's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sullivan_Act" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sullivan Act of 1911</a> is mostly remembered for being an early gun control law. It gave rise to much of what's now Article 400 of the Penal Code.</p>
<p>For your purposes, the Act also banned other dangerous weapons. Portions of what's now <a href="https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/penal-law/pen-sect-265-01.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NY Pen. § 265.01</a> originated with the Act. The history helps to explain why a modern law references things like sandclubs, billies, and slungshots.</p>
<p>The original text of the act is <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4375314&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=462" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1911 N.Y. Laws ch. 195</a>. It modified chapter 40 of the then-current consolidated laws to read like this (relevant portion emphasized):</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>A person</strong> who attempts to use against another, or who carries, or possesses, any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a blackjack, slungshot, billy, sandclub, sandbag, metal knuckles or bludgeon, or <strong>who, with intent to use the same unlawfully against another, carries or possesses</strong> a dagger, dirk, dangerous knife, razor, stiletto, or <strong>any other dangerous or deadly instrument or weapon, is guilty of a felony</strong>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Note that the felony's elements for <em>any other dangerous or deadly instrument</em> included both an <em>actus reus</em> (possession) and a <em>mens rea</em> (intent to use unlawfully), so allows to carry it without intent.</p>
