“five counts of third degree criminal possession of a weapon”
Just how does an empty magazine constitute a weapon? You’d have to throw it at someone to effect that. WTF?
They probably have it right about it being a weapon. It is surprising what some of these laws call a weapon. I once read the Virginia code on concealed weapons and they could have gotten Dennis The Menace. It was illegal to carry a slingshot.
On the other hand there is a federal law which exempts travelers for being charged if their weapon is in the trunk and unloaded as these were so they falsely arrested him apparently.