Gun-toting NYC judge censured by ethics board for bizarre little experiment in court

A gun-toting New York City judge who pulled out a pistol in court to “deceive” a testifying police officer was admonished by a state judicial ethics commission for his “little experiment,” according to an announcement Tuesday.Criminal court Judge Jeffrey Gershuny whipped out his personal gun to challenge whether a testifying police officer back in 2025 could have actually identified if a suspect was carrying the weapon in a shopping bag.But as he went to pull out his personal 9mm pistol — to the discomfort of court officers in the room — he actually hid the gun on the ground and placed a stapler in a shopping bag in a bid to trick the cop.It was a bizarre move that the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct said deserves official censure.“Public confidence in the integrity of the courts depends on judges being honest and above-board,” said CJC administrator Robert H.Tembeckjian.

“Judge Gershuny did not abide by that standard when he engaged in an elaborate deception and essentially tried to trick a witness on a significant evidentiary matter.”Gershuny, seated at the bench, whipped out his personal and licensed SIG Sauer P365, removed the magazine, and told a court officer of his plan to show the testifying cop his gun “and make the witness think he was putting the firearm in a bag when in fact he was putting a stapler in the bag,” according to CJC documents. “What it is about the bag and [the] firearm in the bag that gives off a distinction of it being a firearm,” Gershuny said as he announced his “little experiment” during an August 5, 2025 hearing in a felony gun case.The incident, first reported by The Post shortly after it happened, shows how the then-Brooklyn Criminal Court jurist “intentionally deceived a witness in open court” by swapping out the gun for a stapler, the CJC said.Both the court officer and her supervisor were uncomfortable with the plan and advised Gershuny against proceeding, but the judge plowed ah...