An artist who has created firearms-related mixed media artwork in the past is in hot water on Long Island. Police arrested Jameson S. Ellis last weekend in Sagaponack after a traffic stop. Officers claim that during the course of the stop, they saw a rifle in Ellis’s vehicle that they identified as having a barrel modified with a silencer.

Now, Ellis is being charged with a felony for possession of a silencer. He is also being prosecuted for driving an uninspected motor vehicle and a misdemeanor hunting violation, based on allegations that he was using the suppressed rifle for hunting in violation of state conservation law.

Silencers are prohibited under state law in New York. The Empire State is one of only eleven states that prohibit the private ownership and possession of these important firearms safety devices. More than two dozen states allow hunters to equip their firearms with silencers, with states like Wyoming and North Carolina legalizing silencer hunting earlier this year. Ohio legislators are currently considering a bill authorizing hunters in the Buckeye State to fit their guns with silencers before heading into the field.