Illegal body armor?

[Little_Nemo]

Watching The Chicago Code tonight, they had a scene where a guy got arrested and the detective noticed he was wearing a bullet proof vest under his shirt. The detective said it was illegal for a parolee to wear body armor.

Is this based on fact? Are there laws in Chicago or anywhere else in the United States making it illegal to wear a bullet-proof vest?

[Doctor_Who]

Yes. Archive blogs

[Loach]

In NJ it is illegal to wear one while commiting a crime.

[pravnik]

Federal law:

a) In General. - Except as provided in subsection (b), it shall be unlawful for a person to purchase, own, or possess body armor, if that person has been convicted of a felony that is -
(1) a crime of violence (as defined in section 16); or
(2) an offense under State law that would constitute a crime of violence under paragraph (1) if it occurred within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
(b) Affirmative Defense. -
(1) In general. - It shall be an affirmative defense under this section that -
(A) the defendant obtained prior written certification from his or her employer that the defendant’s purchase, use, or possession of body armor was necessary for the safe performance of lawful business activity; and
(B) the use and possession by the defendant were limited to the course of such performance.
(2) Employer. - In this subsection, the term “employer” means any other individual employed by the defendant’s business that supervises defendant’s activity. If that defendant has no supervisor, prior written certification is acceptable from any other employee of the business.

18 U.S.C. § 931 : US Code - Section 931: Prohibition on purchase, ownership, or possession of body armor by violent felons

Many states have similar provisions. From the Texas Penal Code:

§ 46.041. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF METAL OR BODY ARMOR BY FELON.
(a) In this section, “metal or body armor” means any body covering manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of protecting a person against gunfire.
(b) A person who has been convicted of a felony commits an offense if after the conviction the person possesses metal or body
armor.
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree.

§ 46.041. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF METAL OR BODY ARMOR BY FELON.

Other states criminalize their use during the comission of a crime, as Loach says.

[doreen]

Illegal in NY when worn while committing a violent felony while possessing a firearm ,rifle or shotgun

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@Little_Nemo

Are there laws in Chicago or anywhere else in the United States making it illegal to wear a bullet-proof vest?

Yes – for convicted felons.

And it’s illegal for them to own it, or attempt to purchase it, or even have it in their possession. They don’t have to actually be wearing it to have committed a crime.

[md2000]

I recall a discussion somewhere in the USA about making bullet-proof armour on vehicles illegal too.

[Disheavel]

@doreen

Illegal in NY when worn while committing a violent felony while possessing a firearm ,rifle or shotgun

I was on a jury for just such a trial. It has been a few years, but I believe the way it worked was that because the gun possessor was wearing the bullet proof vest, it showed “intent” and moved the charge from a 3rd degree felony to a 1st degree weapons possession for the gun. On top of that was another felony as the vest had 3 times the normal number of layers of Kevlar (the vest weighed close to 50 pounds). [The drug charges (the original reason for stopping) were all thrown away as there were three people in the car and the drugs couldn’t be attributable to any of them.] So effectively the defendant, a third time felon, got 2 years because of the handgun and 8 years for the vest.