Federal Court Calls NY Nunchucks Ban Unconstitutional

If you’ve been patiently waiting to pull the trigger on nunchucks stocks, now may just be the right time. We say that because a federal court has ruled that New York’s 1974 ban on the Michelangelo-favorite (which, though it sounds like a joke, was originally enacted out of fear that martial-arts-movie inspired youths would buy them) has been deemed unconstitutional due to the Second Amendment. The ruling was made on Friday by Judge Pamela Chen in a Brooklyn-based federal court.

The plaintiff in this case was James Maloney, and according to ABC News he began his legal journey all the way back in 2000 after he was charged for having nunchucks in his home. Maloney had filed a complaint in 2003 and rode it to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled against him, but it was remanded to be reconsidered after a Second Amendment decision was made in a separate case. Maloney later amended his complaint and filed it last year.

Maloney’s goal was to lift a ban on people having nunchucks, even in their private homes. Chen stated that the court was unable to take that specific part out of the law, but stated that New York’s ban on possessing, manufacturing, transporting, or disposing of said weapons was a violation of the second amendment.

Maloney emailed the AP, and stated that “perhaps the most amazing thing” of Friday’s ruling was getting more relief than he was seeking.

Maloney, who is employed as a professor at SUNY’s Maritime College, said a main motivator of his was outrage, while wondering “How could a state simply ban any and all possession of a weapon that had a long and proud history as a martial-arts weapon, with recreational, therapeutic and self-defense utility?” He also added that he wanted to teach a self-created nunchuck-utilizing martial art form called “Shafan Ha Lavan” to his sons. 

And with that you have your storybook ending to one of the great legal battles of our time.