NY New Definition of Speargun...

[njdiver1]

ENV Article 11 Title 1

Environmental Conservation

§ 11-0103. Definitions.

As used in the Fish and Wildlife Law:

1. a. "Fish" means all varieties of the super-class Pisces.

b. "Food fish" means all species of edible fish and squid
(cephalopoda).

c. "Migratory fish of the sea" means both catadromous and anadromous species of fish which live a part of their life span in salt water streams and oceans.

d. "Fish protected by law" means fish protected, by law or by regulations of the department, by restrictions on open seasons or on size of fish that may be taken.

(Snip)

* f. "Speargun" and "under-water gun" means any speargun that stores potential energy provided from the spearfisher's muscles only and is used while submerged under the water. Such gun may only release that amount of energy that the diver has provided to it from such diver's own muscles. Common temporary energy storing devices for spearguns shall include, but not be limited to: rubber bands, springs, and sealed air chambers.

* NB Repealed June 1, 2017

(Snip)

http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/lawssrch.cgi?NVLWO:

 

[AfterDark]

NY legislators do not like guns of any kind. NY divers are lucky they can even own a spear gun and carry it during a dive without a state permit of some kind.

Ya'll can luv NY. I don't care for places where the people don't like liberty.

 

[Rich Keller]

f. "Speargun" and "under-water gun" means any speargun that stores potential energy provided from the spearfisher's muscles only and is used while submerged under the water. Such gun may only release that amount of energy that the diver has provided to it from such diver's own muscles. Common temporary energy storing devices for spearguns shall include, but not be limited to: rubber bands, springs, and sealed air chambers.:

This makes no sense, how are the "diver's own muscles" pressurizing a "sealed air chamber"? Is there some kind of spear gun with a hand cranked pump that I am not aware of? If so wouldn't you have to return to the surface to re-pressurize the chamber after every shot?

 

[Kharon]

If you add up all the energy that the diver used walking into the store, carrying the the CO2 cylinders (sp?) all over the place, loading them into the gun, and the energy to cock the gun I think you're covered. Personally, I'd just ignore it. They probably wanted to rule out bang sticks and effed it up (as our (supremely crooked) legislators always do - unintended consequences rule this state).

 

[Belzelbub]

This makes no sense, how are the "diver's own muscles" pressurizing a "sealed air chamber"? Is there some kind of spear gun with a hand cranked pump that I am not aware of? If so wouldn't you have to return to the surface to re-pressurize the chamber after every shot?

This is referring to a pneumatic speargun. Most speargun laws do have some sort of requirement that the spear is propelled by energy supplied solely by the divers own muscles. That energy can be stored using some other mechanism. For a pneumatic, it's the air chamber. For a band gun, it's stored in the rubber bands.

This is to outlaw the use of spears mated to a bullet casing. Like the Johnson SMG speargun.

Your comment about a hand cranked pump reminded me of this. This was a gun made for a female spearo who had a medical condition that made loading a conventional speargun impossible. This is on a rollergun. This diver places the wishbone in the slot with minimal band stretch. The crank is connected to the band, and she cranks it down to the desired stretch. This gun, though unconventional gets all power from the divers muscles. Even if there were some gearing to make it easier to crank, it's still getting power from muscles.

 

[BRT]

A pneumatic gun uses the air as a spring. The air is not lost with each shot. You compress it again by pushing the spear in against a piston.