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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday December 19 2018, @06:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the now-they-can-play-ping-pong dept.

Judge rules against New York state ban on nunchucks

A federal court has ruled that that a New York state ban on possessing nunchucks is unconstitutional. Judge Pamela Chen issued the ruling about the famous martial arts weapon last Friday in a Brooklyn federal court, according to The Associated Press.

The news service noted that Chen's ruling recounted the history of the nunchucks ban, which was instituted in New York in 1974 "out of a concern that, as a result of the rising popularity 'of 'Kung Fu' movies and shows,′ 'various circles of the state's youth' — including 'muggers and street gangs' — were 'widely' using nunchaku to cause 'many serious injuries.'"

The plaintiff in the case, James Maloney, was charged with possession of nunchucks, two rigid rods connected at one end by a chain or rope, in his home in 2000. Maloney initially filed a complaint in 2003. The AP notes that he was mainly focused on getting that part of the law that bans nunchucks even in private homes overturned.

Chen said in her ruling that the court couldn't just take that part out of the existing law. She ruled that the state law as it pertained to possessing the weapon was in violation of the Second Amendment.

The judge also found that banning the manufacturing, transport, or disposal of nunchaku was unconstitutional.

The case has a long history:

In 2003, attorney James M. Maloney, then a recent graduate of Fordham Law School and a Master of Laws candidate at NYU Law School, brought a pro se federal constitutional challenge to the New York nunchaku ban, seeking a judicial declaration that it is unconstitutional to make in-home possession of nunchaku for peaceful use in martial-arts practice or home defense a crime. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York initially dismissed Maloney's Second Amendment claim based on prior case law that the Second Amendment applied only to federal action, and this decision was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. However, on June 29, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari, vacated the decision of the Second Circuit, and sent the case back for "further consideration." It took this action in light of its decision in McDonald v. Chicago, which held that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms," protected by the Second Amendment, is made applicable to the states by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. At her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 14, 2009, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, referring to the Maloney case and to "nunchuk sticks," opined that "when the sticks are swung... that swinging mechanism can break arms, it can bust someone's skull." In the U.S. Supreme Court's decision of June 29, 2010, in Maloney v. Rice, it is noted that "Justice Sotomayor took no part in the consideration or decision."

As of 2018, the case remains ongoing in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, with District Attorney Madeline Singas as the sole named defendant. Singas has argued that nunchaku are "dangerous and unusual" weapons that may be banned totally even for peaceful use in martial-arts practice or home defense. On December 14th, 2018, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York found the ban unconstitutional.


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @12:24PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @12:24PM (#776276)

    I can't believe this is even a thing.
    When I enrolled my 5 year old in karate, one of the first things they gave him as part of his gear kit (including his uniform) was some sparing gear including nunchuks.
    He has been flingingly them around pretty expertly for a year now and I've even found borrowing them for 20 or 30 minutes to be a good way to stretch out my arms, neck and back after a long day spent at the computer.
    But to think anyone could view these as a "dangerous weapon" even in the hands of an expert, just tells me that person has no self defense training.
    Frankly if someone tried to rob me on the streets with a set of these things, my first move would be to just grab the damned things and beat the assailant senseless with them, but maybe that's just me.
    Even then I doubt anyone, including myself, someone trained by the military in close quarters combat to kill, could really inflict much damage with them as opposed to say any other weapon conceivable including a rock, a stick or a brick or a fist.
    Ergo, how are rocks, sticks, bricks and fists not banned as well?

    First rule of close quarters combat...
    The only weapon you need in your hands during a fight is the one your opponent is holding.

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by TheFool on Wednesday December 19 2018, @06:44PM

    by TheFool (7105) on Wednesday December 19 2018, @06:44PM (#776425)

    Ergo, how are rocks, sticks, bricks and fists not banned as well?

    This is New York, so I don't know that it's safe to assume that rocks, sticks, bricks, and fists are legal to own.

  • (Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Sunday January 06 2019, @02:20PM

    by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 06 2019, @02:20PM (#782755) Journal

    I'm going to guess AMA.

    I actually went through to black belt again with my kids in that. It has some solid (and some...debatable) ideas and is a modern rebuild of more traditional TKD. My take is it felt designed and built around kids. The underlying goal to keep little Timmy from coming home bruised up from training and avoid lawsuits, and of course, competition prep.

    That's fine and fun, basically much like any other sport, and I don't want my kids hurt any more than the next guy.

    They do love the little ultra lightweight foam covered nunchuks though. Jump straight into swinging 'em around with no attention at all to what I remembered as 'basics' on them. Lights built in, bits of reflective tape on the ends etc. Kids never even get a pair of actual wooden sticks. Sure look cool though :-)

    Don't be fooled by this. Like most weapons, fighting chuks provide an overwhelming advantage against a comparably skilled but unarmed opponent.

    --
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