A New York man was arrested for carrying ammunition magazines that were banned under a law not yet enacted.
This item about the arrest of Nathan Haddad originated on the Off Grid Survival web site with a post stating that he had been pulled over for a 'random' vehicle check and was arrested for having five empty ammunition magazines in his possession, even though the law that made possessing such magazines illegal had not yet been enacted.It is true that Nathan Haddad was arrested on 6 January 2013, as a few local news accounts stated he had been taken into custody for 'possessing high-capacity magazines for an assault rifle':A town of LeRay man was accused Sunday of possessing high-capacity magazines for an assault rifle. Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies say 32 year old Nathan Haddad allegedly had five 30-round magazines for an AR-15 rifle in his possession. Police say the magazines were found during a vehicle check on Steinhilber Road in the town of LeRay. Haddad was charged with five counts of third degree criminal possession of a weapon and arraigned in Watertown town court.Whether his arrest was justified and in accordance with the law is something that cannot be determined until more details of the circumstances are disclosed. The item cited above states that 'Nathan thought these magazines were legally made before the New York Assault Weapons Ban' and that 'When Nathan Haddad was arrested the new ban had not even been fully enacted yet.' However, back in the 1990s New York had enacted a ban on magazines with capacities greater than ten rounds (excluding those manufactured prior to 4 September 1994), and the additional gun control measures passed by that state in January 2013 (which take effect in April 2013) simply lowered the limit on magazine size from ten rounds to seven. Since this item states that Haddad had five 30-round magazines in his possession, it would appear from the limited available information that he was in fact in violation of a long-standing law and not a recently passed one that had not yet been enacted.
nan