A Manhattan judge is facing discipline after he pulled out his gun during a proceeding for a legal “experiment,” the state commission on judicial conduct announced Tuesday.

New York County Criminal Court Judge Jeffrey A. Gershuny failed to safeguard his firearm and intentionally deceived a police officer who was on the witness stand during the so-called experiment, according to the commission.

The judge was disciplined for his behavior during a hearing where he was trying to figure out whether the officer followed proper procedures when he searched someone’s bag and found a gun in it. Gershuny tested whether the officer could tell if there was a gun inside a bag by holding up a bag that he said contained his own firearm. The bag actually contained a stapler. His gun, meanwhile, was sitting by his foot on the courtroom floor.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct censured Gershuny, saying he “undermined public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.”

“Public confidence in the integrity of the courts depends on judges being honest and above-board,” commission administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said in a statement. “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, who had no prior disciplinary record, agreed to be censured and “acknowledged that his conduct was improper,” the commission said, adding that he was “apologetic and cooperative.” The judge did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It’s technically against New York law to bring a gun into a courthouse, even for licensed owners. There’s an exception for judges with licensed firearms in certain New York City courts, including the one where Gershuny works, but the weapons are supposed to be concealed and safeguarded.

The Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended that the state Office of Court Administration review the rules and take steps to ensure that judges are aware of them. A spokesperson for the state court system did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

‘A little experiment’

The incident Gershuny was disciplined for took place during an August 2025 criminal court hearing. The judge was trying to decide whether a gun the police officer found should be admitted as evidence in a criminal case, or whether the officer may have violated the defendant’s rights during his search.

After attorneys questioned the police officer, Gershuny called for a break, according to the commission’s findings. First, he went to his chambers to get a shopping bag and a stapler. Then, unbeknownst to most people in the courtroom, he took out his personal pistol, ejected the magazine and asked a court officer to check that there was no ammunition in it.

Gershuny told the court officer he wanted to show his gun to the witness, according to the commission. He said he was planning to tell the witness he was putting his firearm in a bag, but would instead put a stapler inside and leave the gun by his foot, the commission found.

The court officer said she was uncomfortable with the request and called her supervisor, the commission said. A supervisor then advised against Gershuny’s plan and told him not to give the gun to anyone, according to the commission’s findings.

But Gershuny went ahead with it anyway. When the police officer returned to the witness stand, the judge said he had some clarification questions and “that he wanted to conduct ‘a little experiment’ to help him ‘understand’ the officer’s ‘point of view,’” according to the commission.

The judge said he had a licensed firearm and that he was going to put it in a shopping bag, the watchdog agency found. He said he wanted the police officer to describe how he could tell there was a gun in the bag. Then, he held up his pistol, according to the commission’s findings.

The prosecutor in the case objected, saying that the bag and the gun were different from the ones the officer had searched and found the night of the crime. Gershuny overruled it.

The judge said he was going to put his firearm in the bag, the commission said. But behind the bench, he secretly put the gun by his foot and a stapler in the bag. He then questioned the officer about how he could tell there was a gun in the bag.

Gershuny repeatedly said that there was, in fact, a firearm inside, even though there actually wasn’t, the commission found. The officer repeatedly declined to say he could see a gun in the bag, according to the watchdog agency.

When the questioning was over, Gershuny told the witness and the attorneys what he had done, and the prosecutor objected to the “experiment,” the commission said. The judge decided that the gun should not be used as evidence in the case, because he said the officer had made up a “convoluted story” about seeing a bulge. He said his “experiment” had played a role in his decision, according to the commission.

After the judge’s decision, prosecutors declined to pursue the case.

The judicial conduct commission said Gershuny is “sensitive to the dangerous nature of firearms” and that he stopped bringing his gun into the courtroom after his “experiment.” The agency said he acknowledged that he violated the rules when he “intentionally deceived a witness” and that his behavior “warrants public discipline.”

“We trust that respondent has learned from this experience and in the future will act in strict accordance with his obligation to abide by all the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct,” the commission said in its decision.

The watchdog agency said it has decided to censure New York judges 362 times since 1978. It has decided to remove 190 judges and issued admonitions 293 times.