Here’s some good news for martial arts lovers in New York. A state ban on nunchucks put into place in 1974 has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. Apparently, lawmakers back in the day thought that the rise of martial arts movies would inspire kids to “create widespread mayhem” with the weapon made famous by Bruce Lee.
That was bad news for plaintiff James Maloney when he was charged for nunchuck possession in 2000. That’s when he began a long legal process in an attempt to get the law overturned, or at least the part of it that bans the weapon in private homes. He says he was also motivated because he was “outraged” the state could “simply ban any and all possession of a weapon that has a long and proud history as a martial-arts weapon."
While Brooklyn Judge Pamela Chen said that the court couldn’t just take that part out of the law, she did rule that it violates the Second Amendment.