In People v. Owusu, 93 N.Y.2d 398 [1999], the Court "looked to its precedents and the legislative history of the statute," and confined the language to its plain meaning in accord with the act's intendment. "To now change the statute's sweep will unsettle the careful statutory scheme of increased criminal liability arising from the use, or threatened use, of a dangerous instrument, and will result in applications that are without common sense." (Id. at 406.)