A New York City judge brought his own loaded pistol into a courtroom during a 2025 felony gun case, then secretly swapped it for a stapler to see if a testifying police officer could tell the difference. Now the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct wants him publicly censured for what it called an elaborate deception aimed at tricking a witness on a critical piece of evidence.
The judge, Jeffrey Gershuny, used his personally licensed SIG Sauer P365 during the hearing, according to the New York Post. He wanted to test whether the officer on the stand could actually identify a firearm sealed inside a shopping bag, the Post reports. Instead of simply asking the question, Gershuny allegedly hid his pistol on the courtroom floor and placed a stapler in the bag, telling the witness he was putting his gun into a Five Below shopping bag.
A Court Officer Raised Concerns Before the Stunt
Per the same account, Gershuny then questioned the officer about what he falsely described as a gun sitting in the bag — even though the Post's sourcing indicates the officer never actually stated he could tell whether the object inside was a firearm. A court officer and a supervisor reportedly advised Gershuny against going through with the plan beforehand and told investigators they felt uncomfortable with it, the station's report notes.
“I guess you what you identified is an L-shaped object, which is a Swingline stapler,” Gershuny said during the hearing, according to the Post, on August 5, 2025. He had earlier framed the demonstration by asking “what it is about the bag and firearm in the bag that gives off a distinction of it being a firearm,” and at another point referred to it simply as his “little experiment.”
Judicial Watchdog Calls It an Elaborate Deception
The Commission found that Gershuny intentionally deceived a witness in open court by swapping the gun for the stapler, and it recommended censure, according to the same report. The panel said he engaged in elaborate deception and tried to trick a witness on a significant evidentiary matter, and it said the stunt also had the effect of blocking the actual gun from entering evidence in the case.
Robert H. Tembeckjian, administrator of the Commission, framed the stakes bluntly. “Public confidence in the integrity of the courts depends on judges being honest and above-board,” he said, per the Post's reporting. The Commission said it recommended censure in hopes that Gershuny learned from the experience, and the outlet notes he cooperated with the investigation, according to the Commission's report.
Pay Cut, Gun Ban Followed the Incident
Court administrators docked Gershuny's pay and status in 2025 and banned him from carrying a gun into court going forward, the Post reports. The Commission also urged court administrators to take a broader look at the rules governing which judges may carry weapons inside courthouses. The seed reporting identifies Gershuny as a Manhattan Criminal Court judge, though a separate account from the Queens Chronicle describes him as having been appointed to the Supreme Court by then-Mayor de Blasio after serving as an interim civil-court judge — the two accounts do not agree on his current judicial post.
Courthouse Security Already Under Scrutiny
The episode lands as New York's court system faces fresh questions about weapons inside its buildings. Weeks ago, the state Office of Court Administration opened an investigation after a loaded .380-caliber Ruger was found concealed in the underwear of a man who had already passed through a metal detector, a handheld scanner, and a pat-down in a Bronx courthouse, according to the New York Daily News. The weapon was only discovered after the man, Jamal Frett, resisted arrest while being escorted from Judge Guy Mitchell's courtroom.
Judicial discipline cases like Gershuny's are also arriving against a backdrop of record complaint volume. The Commission on Judicial Conduct received 3,363 new complaints in 2025, its highest total ever and up from the prior record of 3,353 set the year before, according to the New York Daily Record. Those complaints led to 141 new investigations and 10 formal disciplinary determinations last year — seven censures and three admonitions — and the outlet notes the Commission has publicly disciplined 994 judges since 1978, with 185 removed from office entirely.
Judges Nationally Are Arming Themselves
Gershuny's use of his own personal firearm in a courtroom also fits into a wider pattern of judges responding to perceived threats by acquiring weapons themselves. Florida County Judge Jennifer Johnson bought a gun and took shooting lessons after facing prolonged threats, including an animated video depicting her being shot, according to The New York Times. She also installed a home security system, changed her daily travel routes, and stopped sitting with her back to the door, the Times reported.
Judicial gun incidents have surfaced in other states as well. New York's highest court removed an upstate judge from office for pointing a loaded handgun at a Black man during a 2015 court hearing, according to AP News. In Chicago, a judge accused of carrying a concealed weapon into a prohibited courthouse area after being caught on video dropping it was ultimately acquitted of a misdemeanor charge, AP also reported separately. For now, the exact disciplinary disposition and timeline of the Commission's censure recommendation against Gershuny has not been fully detailed beyond what the Post's sourcing lays out.
