NYPD gets TEC-9 gun off the streets

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Police on Staten Island got a potentially deadly illegal firearm off the streets on Tuesday.

The NYPD said that officers with the Anti-Crime team and Field Intelligence in the 120th Precinct were patrolling on Jersey Street because of recent shooting when they spotted a group of men walking.

One of the men left the group, police said. That is when the officers noticed that he was smoking what they believed to be marijuana so they stopped him, the NYPD said. When the cops searched the man they found a TEC-9 semiautomatic pistol, police said.

Authorities charged the 27-year-old man with criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of marijuana.

A TEC-9 is an imposing-looking weapon that can be loaded with a high-capacity ammunition magazine. The image released by the NYPD shows at least 30 rounds.

Although possessing a small amount of marijuana is now a violation and not a crime, smoking openly or having marijuana in the open will still get someone arrested.