5 round center-fire magazine limit??

[subsonic]

So, I thought the 5 round center-fire magazine limit applied to hunting. The DEC website says as much:

Hunting Regulations - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Manner of Taking
It is illegal to take or hunt wildlife:

• with any semi-automatic firearm with a capacity to hold more than 6 rounds, EXCEPT the following semi-automatic firearms:

But when I looked up the actual law ECL § 11-0931, I find:

1. No person except a law enforcement officer in the performance of his official duties shall use in hunting or possess in the fields or forests or on the waters of the state for any purpose:
...
c. any auto-loading firearm of a construction to contain more than six shells in the magazine and chamber combined, except
(1) such a firearm using twenty-two caliber rim-fire ammunition, or

(2) such a firearm which has been altered so as to reduce its capacity to not more than six shells at one time in the magazine and chamber combined, or

(3) an auto-loading pistol having a barrel less than eight inches in length.

"Possess in the fields or forests or on the waters of the state for any purpose?"

I'd never heard this one before, and I haven't found threads here about this either. So that means it's an unclassified misdemeanor to have your 10 round magazines on WMA or state forest land when you are clearly shooting target (where allowed) and not hunting? This also doesn't distinguish between private and public land, so if some busy-body ECO found me plinking (or simply walking around) with a 10 round mag in my own field/forest, could I get a ticket?

Has this been enforced? Obviously it's best to avoid the issue, but this is something I want to know about.

 

[Acer-m14]

you have to block your mag to only take the 5 or 6 rounds while hunting .. same as guns for duck / geese with a tube mag .. the wooden dowel in the mag tube ..

hunting with a AR and 10 rnd mag you need to block it

 

[Marine Cpl]

Chaulk this up to another set of poorly written laws. As written you are correct. An LEO can arrest you just for going on a hike through the woods to a pond and while fishing for having a Glock 26 with a loaded 10 rd magazine.

Will they? Probably not. They’ll ignore the law unless you are hunting. Just like they ignore the law when you are open carrying while hunting or driving to the woods in your car with the a loaded weapon to go hunting since in NY the law says that just having ammo nearby constitutes a loaded weapon because it would be pretty foolish for them not to ignore it.

I’ve read other states laws. They make sense for the most part. NY however makes laws written by idiots that don’t make sense. They write laws in the Penal Code that totally contradict what DEC law says. They define firearms as not being rifles and shotguns. They say one thing is illegal in one set of laws and and illegal in another set of laws.

And people here on this forum (not saying you in particular) read them and try to make them make sense and then try to use logic and argue about it saying that a certain thing is legal because they’ve always done it and an LEO has never said anything about it.

On paper many of these laws do not make any sense whatsoever. Most LEO’s just use logic and try to use the intent of the law although poorly written and contradicting because they have to.

Have you ever heard of an LEO arresting a legal gun owner for taking his rifle and ammo to the range? Probably not. The law says that he must however. This is from Penal Law 265 below.

15. “Loaded firearm” means any firearm loaded with ammunition or any firearm which is possessed by one who, at the same time, possesses a quantity of ammunition which may be used to discharge such firearm.

 

[Saltwater60]

Isn’t that for hunting with a barrel length of less than 8” that you can have more than 6 rounds?
Big game and says it’s unlawful to take with

• An autoloading firearm with a capacity of more than 6 shells (one which requires that the trigger be pulled separately for each shot), except an autoloading pistol with a barrel length of less than 8 inches.

 

[Truebeliever]

The way I read the law, the ammo limit in this law does not apply to semi auto smaller than 8 inches.

 

[subsonic]

you have to block your mag to only take the 5 or 6 rounds while hunting .. same as guns for duck / geese with a tube mag .. the wooden dowel in the mag tube ..

hunting with a AR and 10 rnd mag you need to block it

Did you read the law I quoted, which seems to be the source of the 6 round (including chamber) hunting restriction? It says it's also illegal to possess in the fields, forests, or waters of the state for any purpose. Not only hunting.

Isn’t that for hunting with a barrel length of less than 8” that you can have more than 6 rounds?
Big game and says it’s unlawful to take with

• An autoloading firearm with a capacity of more than 6 shells (one which requires that the trigger be pulled separately for each shot), except an autoloading pistol with a barrel length of less than 8 inches.

I'm not talking about carrying or hunting with a pistol. I'm talking about having a semiauto centerfire rifle with a legal 6-10 round magazine when in the field for nonhunting purposes. I quoted ECL § 11-0931, go look it up, specifically says "use in hunting or possess in the fields or forests or on the waters of the state FOR ANY PURPOSE." That's from the Environmental Conservation Law where it is an unclassified misdemeanor.

They’ll ignore the law unless you are hunting. Just like they ignore the law when you are open carrying while hunting or driving to the woods in your car with the a loaded weapon to go hunting since in NY the law says that just having ammo nearby constitutes a loaded weapon because it would be pretty foolish for them not to ignore it.

I don't think they "ignore" that one, the definition of "firearm" and "loaded" is just fucking confusing and counterintuitive. Under the penal law a rifle or shotgun isn't a firearm (unless it's an "assault weapon" or short-barrel or such), the definition of a "loaded firearm" meaning it has ammo nearby does not apply. For a pistol, you can't possess it without a permit, which lets you take the ammo with you (and actually loaded if it's a carry permit). There's a separate ECL law against loaded rifles and shotguns in vehicles, which is much less serious, and doesn't use the penal law "loaded" definition.

The crossbow law is truly written stupid, since it specifically requires that the bow be "unstrung," in a vehicle when it's enforced as just "uncocked," since you can't very well string and unstring your crossbow in the field.