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Eminentoes
Split Wide and Disarmed
NFL-er Plaxico Burress falls victim to gun violence prevention.
NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress just finished twenty months in prison for carrying a firearm. New York prosecutors said that the gun was unlicensed. The Constitution begs to differ.
One might think that this injustice would spark the former Steeler and Giant to lay down $1,000 for a National Rifle Association lifetime membership. Instead, after losing the bulk of a $35 million contract, endorsement deals, and nearly two years of his life behind bars, Burress, perversely, has joined forces with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Burress announced Monday that he will speak about the perils of gun ownership to audiences across the country. “If I can just help a child to think about the decision of carrying a firearm or not to carry one out of the home, he or she may save lives,” the former all-pro wide receiver remarked. “You can make a mistake and you can be a better person from it and along the way bring people with you.”
Plaxico Burress made a mistake by not holstering his weapon. He made a mistake by not keeping it on safe. He made a mistake by accidentally shooting himself in the leg. He even made a mistake during his first professional season by infamously spiking a live ball after falling to the ground making a routine catch — that’s a fumble in the NFL, rookie. But did Plaxico Burress really make a mistake by arming himself?
Just three days before Burress’s unfortunate incident in a Manhattan nightclub, fellow Giant wide receiver Steve Smith had been robbed at gunpoint. In recent years, gun wielding assailants have murdered unarmed NFL players Fred Lane, Darrent Williams, Steve McNair, and Sean Taylor. With defensive back Williams killed by a single bullet in a drive-by shooting, running back Lane surprised by his life-insurance greedy wife, and the retired quarterback McNair killed in his sleep by a troubled girlfriend, it’s unlikely that a gun would have effectively countered those sudden attacks.
But Washington Redskins free safety Sean Taylor may be as much a victim of gun control as he was a victim of a gang of armed burglars. In 2006, Taylor agreed to a plea bargain with Miami-Dade County prosecutors after brandishing a gun a year earlier against the alleged thief of his all-terrain vehicles. The court-ordered revocation of Taylor’s Second Amendment rights, along with the inevitable media-frenzy that vilifies athletes who carry protection, literally made him a cliché: the man armed with a knife at a gun fight. Wielding a machete to fend off home invaders, Taylor, just 24 and one of the most promising defensive players in the NFL, lost his life 18 months after he lost his gun rights.
Taylor’s free-safety successor at the University of Miami enjoyed a happier fate. Brandon Meriweather survived a South Florida gun attack by returning fire. Though a college teammate endured a gunshot wound, Meriweather emerged unscathed as the cowardly burglars turned tail. High fives to Brandon, right? Not exactly. The media viciously attacked him and his draft-day stock dipped.
We don’t know if Taylor would be alive if he had possessed a gun or if Meriweather would be dead if he had not possessed a gun. We only know that in nearly identical situations, the Miami Hurricane free safety with the gun lived and the Miami Hurricane free safety without the gun died. Surely this should be a lesson for high-profile athletes such as Plaxico Burress, right?
Sports media are buying the post-prison anti-gun makeover of Burress as a sign of maturity. It’s really a sign of stupidity. Advertising one’s unarmed status isn’t a good idea. It will win him plaudits from the likes of Brady Center President Paul Helmke, who said that the former Super Bowl star “has learned directly, and painfully, about the risks of gun ownership.” But there is a greater risk than owning a gun. That’s the risk Plaxico Burress takes by making such a public proclamation of not owning one.
NFL players often escape crime-infested ghettos to attain riches unimaginable to their former neighbors. They prove alluring targets to the envious people they have left behind. For gangsters patronizing the same clubs, they provoke jealousy. Their televised faces advertise their wealth to thugs who may encounter them with the idea of making off with more than an autograph. Put another way, professional athletes are often the targets of professional criminals. Gun ownership for many high-profile athletes isn’t about a hobby or hunting. It’s a matter of life and death.
Football is a rough sport. Prohibiting helmet-to-helmet hits and fining cheap-shot artists may make players safer. Making pariahs out of football stars who exercise their right to keep and bear arms will not. The players athletes encounter on the streets are even scarier than the players they encounter on the gridiron.
About the Author
Daniel J. Flynn, the author of The War on Football: Saving America’s Game, blogs at www.flynnfiles.com.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (69) | Leave a comment
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Brian Mc| 6.15.11 @ 6:40AM
Last I checked, my brother, a police officer for close to thirty years, was unavailable to protect me 24/7. After all, he has a family of his own. Mr. Colt was cordial enough to step in and fill the void for me. With that said, I like to think that I will never need his contribution to my greater welfare and that of my family. I attempt to ensure this by failing to frequent situations that would deem it necessary for his availability. All bets are off if someone crosses my threshold uninvited. Ball or XTP, I doubt the intruder will notice the difference.
Robert Pinkerton| 6.15.11 @ 7:41AM
New York's Sullivan law, and its clones (e.g.: Massachussetts' Bartley-Fox law), are ignominious abominations. In a better world, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice would be attacking these travesties.
Philosophical points aside, the practical purpose and sfficient justification of widespread private ownership of -- especially -- handguns, is personal self-protection against interpersonal criminal aggression. Strangulatory restriction on handgun ownership -- de facto prohibition under the false color of regulation -- privileges the criminal at the expense of his (presumably) law-abiding victim. We see this carried to the point of absurdity in Great (? - Poor Old Mother England) Britain, where their travesty of Police, caution householders that wire fences might injure burglars!
Once again, if a declared would-be armed robber lies dead on his intended victim's shop floor, where is the wrong? If a declared would-be forcible rapist lies dead at the feet of his intended victim, where is the wrong? I challenge Liberals to give me any semblance of an answer that does not gyre off into a cloud-cuckooland of purported human perfectability.
SonOfSam| 6.15.11 @ 7:58AM
Spot on my friend. Even more important than wondering where the wrong is in shooting a would be rapist, I say lets look at the opposite possibility: where is the good in yet another law abiding American citizen becoming a crime stat? As has been said before, "Better judged by twelve than carried by six"
Griff| 6.15.11 @ 11:18AM
...and dead men tell no tales.
Michael L. Hauschild| 6.15.11 @ 2:42PM
Always, always, always when placed in the unfortunate situation of a confrontational law enforcement official demanding to know why you killed (or wounded) the perpetrator.
"I feared for my life, I will say no more till my attorney is present."
Let me repeat that, say nothing but this, "I feared for my life, I will say no more till my attorney is present."
They will cajol, they will threaten, they will coerce; again, say only, "I feared for my life, I will say no more till my attorney is present."
When they say "Well then, off the record" it is not. When they say, "Just between you and me" it is not.
"I feared for my life, I will say no more till my attorney is present."
Call your attorney, and wait till he gets there.
David| 6.15.11 @ 8:14PM
And you know this because???
Michael L. Hauschild| 6.15.11 @ 9:28PM
I taught it.
Bruce| 6.15.11 @ 10:48PM
Because he is absolutely correct, that's how. My 25 years as an NYPD officer - a city that absolutely hates the idea of a citizen DARING to protect him/herself - taught me early on. NYC is so determined to prevent even retired cops from carrying a weapon that they charge one $250 and require a BG and 3 sets of prints before MAYBE issuing one - this of a cop who carried a weapon for the city for at least 20 years. In my time most cops were savvy enough (mostly veterans) to respect the 2nd Amendment and overlook certain transgressions of the ridiculous "Sullivan" laws. These days with mostly city-bred former gangbangers on it's department - I won't even venture into the city for any reason, though I have a license from my local department.
Mutch Moore| 6.19.11 @ 1:42PM
This sage advice from Michael L. Hauschild is lost in most police encounters. There's more self incrimination than one can imagine. Thank you M.L.H. for this reminder.
Melvin| 6.15.11 @ 8:13AM
It is disarming law abiding Americans one firearm at a time.
Plaxico Burress is Black, a celebrity of sorts and immediately falls under the stereotype of being a thug.
It doesn't matter to the anti firearm zealots that maybe Mr. Burress was attempting to protect himself and his property quite clumsily, but that wouldn't mattered anyway, he was going to be made an example.
Maybe Plaxico was his own worst enemy and circumstances aligned perfectly for the anti firearm zealots and the law to throw the book at Plaxico.
That one fella from New Jersey who moved back from I think was Colorado and his mother had a spaz attack an alerted the authorities who in turn had their own spaz attack on him, and he went to prison for committing no crime because his firearms were purchased legally.
The media, anti firearms zealots, and the law treated this guy like he belonged to a Mexican drug cartel.
If Plaxico had exercised better caution and firearm training he maybe could have avoided this whole mess. But even as I post this, anti firearm zealots are marching all over this country to restrict or shutdown firearm ranges, hunter safety programs, and firearm clubs.
I have carried a firearm upon or near my person for most of my life, and other than training, or cleaning, I have never (thank goodness) drawn it in defense of myself, family or property.
Responding to the anti firearm zealots and the mass hysteria that they instill into the masses is culpable of stupidity as was Plaxico's actions
David| 6.15.11 @ 8:23PM
I think you need to review a few of the facts around Burress' original arrest. I don't believe you will find anything even moderately resembling personal defense of his person or anyone else.
But okay. I'm confused. Granted, I've never seen a gun control scheme that would actually work. But who sanctions the firearm training? Who says what's good training and what isn't?
And can training be mandated at all? I'm more scared of someone carrying who doesn't have training, especially when giddy with the newfound power of "packin'".
Matthew Quigley| 6.15.11 @ 9:17AM
Two points:
1) Self-defense is an unalienable right, thus why the right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by our Constitution. Sarah Brady and Hussein Obama just want the American people turned into a class of slaves, which is why they want to disarm us.
2) WTF kind of a name is "Plaxico"? Was the person who named that idiot high?
David| 6.15.11 @ 8:26PM
When will people actually quote the 2nd amendment accurately?
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Sheesh. Not even the Supreme Court could read that correctly but hey - it's the law of the land. Any moron can carry a piece.
Old Soldier| 6.15.11 @ 9:18AM
Burress is a fool for carrying WRONG.
Correction - Glocks do not have a safety except the trigger safety. If you drop any modern pistol - particluarly a Glock - let it go. DO NOT try to catch it. The pistol won't fire from the impact. But if you hook your finger on the trigger, it will.
SpiralArchitect| 6.15.11 @ 3:03PM
Just picked up my NIB Russian VEPR 7.62 - next up is a G27 & a CCW (permit).
Old Soldier| 6.15.11 @ 9:57PM
Someday I'll move to a free state and get my CCW.
Petronius| 6.15.11 @ 9:27AM
Burress is paying the price for social acceptance in Bloombergia. Liberal weenies hate guns. They hate honest citizens who know how to defend themselves. They otherwise adore criminals. Gun laws in the north east are vehicles for persecution. Ask anybody who has traveled with a checked firearm who gets diverted to Newark Airport. Owning and using a sidearm there is a privilege for the politically well connected. All others get robbed, raped, or murdered to maintain the supremacy of Senator Shumer.
David| 6.15.11 @ 8:29PM
Hmmm. This liberal owns 5 of them. There are more than a few deer and pheasants and other sundrey critters who made the fatal assumption about this liberal. And I've never come across a gun control scheme that would actually work. I've also spent a lot of time defending my gun ownership and hunting to the liberal brethren.
Seems if you toned down the venom, we might actually agree on something
mmercier| 6.16.11 @ 6:09AM
No true liberal would surrender his/her right to own a firearm to any government.
People do not understand that a "liberal" is not a "communist".
People do not understand a lot of things today.
Godspeed
Mike| 6.15.11 @ 9:40AM
Peace through superior firepower.
Mike Johnston
SFC USA (RET)
Pecos Pete| 6.15.11 @ 9:48AM
Amen!
Louis Tully| 6.15.11 @ 9:50AM
Burress is a nitwit, but I was stunned that he got 20 months behind bars for accidentally shooting himself in the leg with his own pistol. wtf?
Louis Tully| 6.15.11 @ 9:50AM
Burress is a nitwit, but I was stunned that he got 20 months behind bars for accidentally shooting himself in the leg with his own pistol. wtf?
Louis Tully| 6.15.11 @ 9:53AM
rats, a double.
not sure how that happened.
Oh well. As for Burress. Thats what you have to expect if you live or work in NYC now. Free men and women will be heading for the exits, if they are smart.
LarryK| 6.15.11 @ 9:57AM
I am reminded of the story I heard on the radio of a man stopped by a policeman and the policeman asked the driver, "I see you have a concealed carry permit. Are you carrying?" The driver replied, "Yes, officer." The officer asked, "What are you carrying?" The driver replied with a long list of legal firearms that were currently in his vehicle.
The officer was aghast and asked, "What are you afraid of?"
The driver replied, "Nothing!"
SpiralArchitect| 6.15.11 @ 3:05PM
:)
Conservative Bob| 6.15.11 @ 5:05PM
I am going to use that as soon as I can stop laughing... thanks Larry
Stan Redmond| 6.15.11 @ 10:02AM
I know very little of Plaxico. What I do know is he's sold himself to the devils at the Brady campaign. While he is professing "It's for the children" maybe he can look at the carnage occuring everyday in the safest cities in the USA like Chicago and DC. If the NFL wasn't run by such a group of pansy PC jackasses Plaxico should have spoken out against the stupidity of gun laws that threw him in jail for 2 years and declared the importance of learning proper firearms handling.
TrueBlue| 6.15.11 @ 11:39AM
Seriously, joining the campaign against gun ownership was just plain stupid. What this country needs isn't less people with guns, it's MORE people with guns that know how to use them!
Radioman777| 6.15.11 @ 10:08AM
Gun control has never been about safety; but always about people control. How else to cow and dominate the public, except when they're disarmed.
Cpm| 6.15.11 @ 10:47AM
As a convicted felon, isn't Burress barred from owning or having a gun anyway? Maybe The Brady Bunch are willing to pay him for his services.
Old Soldier| 6.15.11 @ 11:24AM
Not sure how it works. He was convicted of something not a crime in his home state of FL and had a CC permit there. I don't know if he's lost it in FL now.
Ken (Old Texican)| 6.15.11 @ 10:52AM
I bought my wife a nice little .22 stainless steel rifle on our first aniversary. ...also two spare clips of ten.
A semi-automatic...one can squirt out rounds like a water gun. (no recoil)
Under every State law I have checked, the little rifle is considered a "long gun" instead of a "handgun" even though it is only six inches longer from the pistol grip than a "handgun".
Any decent sporting goods store has them on the shelf for under two hundred dollars.
Go yee therefore...
Griff| 6.15.11 @ 11:20AM
A .22 isn't going to do much against a PCP-addled intruder.
TrueBlue| 6.15.11 @ 11:41AM
I've always preferred the 12-guage solution myself.
Franco| 6.15.11 @ 12:39PM
Uh-uh--not of you use 22LR hollowpoints at close range in a high-capacity rifle.
SpiralArchitect| 6.15.11 @ 3:08PM
A .22 isn't going to do much against a PCP-addled intruder.
Yes, and I see them everywhere too...
bill glass| 6.15.11 @ 10:53AM
...what a horrible joke! Look. look what they took away from this guy. Two plus years of his life, and at the peak of his profession, making him out to be a criminal. and only for wanting to protect himself...what about the 2nd amendment? This is an outrage, and the politically correct buffoons on the tv and in the nfl should be ashamed.
Sean| 6.15.11 @ 10:54AM
Of course he is joining the Brady campaign for gun control. He wants to work again doesn't he? The NFL has buckled under liberal pressure. Conservatives are not going to bat for him, but the liberals will let him back in after his penance.
SpiralArchitect| 6.15.11 @ 3:34PM
Bingo.
Robert Pinkerton| 6.15.11 @ 4:07PM
I used to be a Republican. Even back then, I had begun to get snatches and patches of an intuition that the Republicans regarded us gun-folk as a dependent constituency whose interests could be traduced with impunity.
So tell me, opponents of abortion, how well you think the don't-rock-the-boat country-club types represent your interests.
Mutch Moore| 6.19.11 @ 1:47PM
Robert Pinko's Q: "So tell me, opponents of abortion, how well you think the don't-rock-the-boat country-club types represent your interests."
A: Much, mutch better than any sink-the-boat Democrat.
Got any moore inane questions?
Griff| 6.15.11 @ 11:17AM
It's my understanding that Burress, when self-wounded, was carrying a Glock. If true, he would not have been able to keep it "on safe", as that weapon doesn't have an external manual safety. A better course of action for me has been to take a concealed carry training course and purchase a pistol with an ambidextrous external safety.
dc| 6.15.11 @ 1:04PM
Griff, see Old Soldier's comment, above. No, Glocks don't have external safeties. Because they don't need them. Because anyone who's not a fool, utterly untrained, a negligent ass, or a gangster (a sum of all of the foregoing) knows that you never carry a Glock in a "cocked" (trigger-forward) position. A Glock cannot fire unless the trigger is in the forward position and (obviously) a round is chambered.
Plax was carrying the Glock in a trigger-forward position, with a round in the chamber, in his sweatpants, in a crowded nightclub. The number of idiocies compounds and led to his fate (unjust and unconstitutional as it may be).
Now he compounds his idiocy by flacking for a pack of sniveling totalitarians who would love to disarm the American people, so that Dear Leader Maobama's Praetorian fedcops are the only ones who have guns (except for all of the criminals the fedcops and their state analogs won't bother to catch). In an era where Department of Education bureaucrats have their own SWAT teams, the notion that American citizens ought not to be able to buy whatever firearms they can afford is simply transparent totalitarianism.
Sidenote: I have no doubt that Roger Goodell, corrupt, pathetic jackass that he is, is currying favor with the current administration and put Plax up to this in no uncertain terms. Typical of an ass-licking yankee statist.
Michael L. Hauschild| 6.15.11 @ 3:02PM
Trigger foreward? You do not have a clue as to how a Glock pistol functions. The Old soldier does.
dc| 6.15.11 @ 3:17PM
Herr Haunschild: I own two Glocks and shoot them regularly. Tell me exactly why I'm wrong--do you have a terminology issue or a substantive issue? When a round is racked into the chamber of a Glock, the trigger is moved into a firing position (forward of the uncocked position). That is fact. What you call it is up to you.
SpiralArchitect| 6.15.11 @ 3:40PM
Let's call it macaronni.
So, when you carry you do not chamber a round now have the weapon cocked? This sounds very limiting for self defense. You have made your hand gun a hand club.
Well, perhaps the assailant would allow time for you to draw & procede to cock your weapon before he continues with his intended task. :/
Why the derogatory referrence to Hauschild?
Was that a sign of your intellect or just how you treat people that disagree with you...
Michael L. Hauschild| 6.15.11 @ 6:07PM
It is the hammer of a firarm that is "cocked." The Glock pistol when a round is chambered is only "half cocked." The detent on the trigger is first depresed which allows the striker (firing pin) clearance to strike the primer while the actual pulling of the trigger first finishes acheiving "full cock" and then releases the sear (the metallic piece that is retaining the firimg pin, stricker assemebly). Glock's do not need a safety for the same reason double action revolvers function without them. They never acheive "full cock" until the operator mechanically applies that force necessary to engage the stricker assembly fully (Glock) or full sear engagement (double action revolver).
It is your terminology. The Glock pistol is in essance the cap gun of your childhood in function as is obvious even someone of limited firearms knowledge can own an operate one (a good thing).
I have five NRA firearm teaching certificates, I have been the NRA range technition for Iowa and Nebraska, and I was assigned as the firearms technical advisor to represent the NRA as their media spokesperson and legislative information point.
Now in reference to your other teminology CS if you were to call me "Herr" to my face we would have to see if your Austrian Widow maker would fire in the dark.
Robert Pinkerton| 6.15.11 @ 6:51PM
"The Glock pistol is in essance the cap gun of your childhood in function as is obvious even someone of limited firearms knowledge can own an operate one (a good thing)."
I must dissent with you, Sir. "Build something even a fool can use, and only a fool will use it." By extension, if one builds something even a fool can use, that then provides an excuse for lowering or broadening standards of knowledge thereof.
A gun that even a rabid and piously ignorant gun-hater can use?
Michael L. Hauschild| 6.15.11 @ 9:59PM
Well dissent, extend, jump through all the syllogistic nonsense you want, dc has chosen wisely. So has nearly every single Police Officer out on the street defending you as I type this. That dc chose to insult me (my father was disabled in the battle of the bulge by some “Herr”) with probably unintended banter does not detract from the fact that his bravado is no doubt enhanced by the ability to back up his words and defend his home and family with a very effective (he practices) implement. He has steel in his words and steel in his hand, my attempt to place his firearm anywhere other than where he wanted it would probably be fatal, I would want him armed and on my side. You ascertain that some mechanically challenged miscreant provides the rationalization to deny dc the right for preservation just ain’t gonna fly. My anger at him was harsh and so to him I apologize, to you not so much
Mutch Moore| 6.19.11 @ 1:24AM
Trigger forward, indeed, indicates a chambered round on a Glock. If The Old Soldier knows differently, please enlighten? By the way, there is a trigger block device made for carrying a chambered round in a Glock. The device does not impede rapid deployment because it quickly flicks out with the index (trigger) finger. NYPD resolved the trigger problem another way by special ordering factory Glocks that require more trigger pull effort (11 pounds of force) than the factory 5 and half pounders. There were numerous accidental discharges by NY police before this modification was made to the trigger.
mmercier| 6.16.11 @ 6:21AM
I have carried a Glok 19 24/7/365 for decades.
It is unwise to cary the device with a round in the pipe. That is why they make those fine SW revolvers with the high trigger pull.
Glok is one of the finest units manufactred today, as far as power/capacity/weight is concened.
Mutch Moore| 6.19.11 @ 2:43AM
Merci beaucoup to mmercier for the reply. I agree, Glock is one of the most reliable, finest mass produced guns, however, I cannot begin to understand your advisory against using that clever trigger block. The thing works perfect in the "perfection" of a Glock. Even the amount of index finger force needed to flick it out can be adjusted with a hex wrench. I would be on needles and pins carrying a chambered round without this ingenious trigger block and would never do so.
2Anglico| 6.15.11 @ 11:32AM
He's just trying to get part of his $35M back with what little talent he has left. Can you IMAGINE if he came out and said he was unjustly treated? Or that NY law was in violation of the Constitution? The sissyfied NFL would ban him for life.
Where have you gone Vince Lombardi?
Old Soldier| 6.15.11 @ 2:09PM
Plax and Tracy Morgan are in the same boat - either kiss PC bums and pretend to love it - or take a stand and lose $ millions.
Both will probably recant and give their honest opinions in a few years once their playing days / "30 Rock" are over.
Hillel| 6.15.11 @ 11:48AM
"The Sullivan Law," New York's original pistol control act (about 100 years old,) was enacted as a favor to a Tammany Boss who was afraid of reprisal from his many political enemies. As withmost gun control it's about limiting people's freedom.
Robert| 6.15.11 @ 2:45PM
His prosecution and imprisonment was an outrage in my opinion. While criminals roam the streets, good to know a multimillionaire athlete trying to secure his life is in prison.
Mike Giles| 6.15.11 @ 7:51PM
Trust me on this, were an unarmed Plaxico Burress to be murdered in his bed by some thug; that would be a sign to the same old liberal gun grabbers that we need more gun control and less personal protection.When have you NOT known them to double down on a failed policy.
Richard Baker| 6.15.11 @ 8:37PM
I've never understood liberals demanding that we leave ourselves defenseless and at the mercy of the armed criminal element. I guess when so many of the leading lefty lights have bodyguards, personal defense would seem irrelevant. As Newt has said, our rights come from God to the people and then to the government. Next year, I think the rage of the citizenry regarding The Bill of Rights and Constitution will make last years election look like a minor course correction.
weddingdresses | 6.16.11 @ 4:09AM
I've never understood liberals demanding that we leave ourselves defenseless and at the mercy of the armed criminal element. I guess when so many of the leading lefty lights have bodyguards, personal defense would seem irrelevant. As Newt has said, our rights come from God to the people and then to the government. Next year, I think the rage of the citizenry regarding The Bill of Rights and Constitution will make last years election look like a minor course correction.
JimH| 6.16.11 @ 8:12AM
Plexico made several mistakes. He either didn’t know or chose to ignore the local gun laws. We may all disagree with that law, but you have to know what it is. I’m sure he had enough money and connections to get a carry permit if he wanted one. Another mistake and a more grievous one, was not knowing how to handle his pistol properly. It was mere chance that he shot himself and not someone else when the pistol went off. I do agree the jail time was excessive. A fine and some compulsory gun safety training was certainly in order.
RetUSA1/75| 6.16.11 @ 9:34AM
I believe in owning gun's and understanding gun safety. Know your weapon's and what they can and cannot do in regard's to caliber, etc. It is simply a tool that should be constantly mastered and understood. As most of you would agree, ignorance is never an option. Also, your life and your loved one's are precious, and should not be a target to someone who may want to utilize his or her tool to smoke your bag's. However, be prepared, that if you should have to take another person's life, you will have to live with it. Depending upon which state you reside in, there could be mental anguish and the lawyer's that will decend like vulture's to make your life miserable, too. Such a catch - 22 situation, indeed.
Speedypete| 6.16.11 @ 6:16PM
If Plaxico has shot himself in 42 states, with or without permit but no criminal record, they would have fined him and said, "What an idiot!." In New York you have the Irish Mafia and their legislative stooge, Sullivan, to thank for 2 years in jail. I was born in Queens and most of my family is on Long Island. They complain about the stuff they have stolen and the elderly getting strong armed for money. Must be decendents of Sullivan. It is why I don't bother to travel to New York.
Mutch Moore| 6.19.11 @ 2:49AM
Thanks for sharing your experience Speedypete. I agree with your premise. What's moore, filling NY prisons with innocuous possession crimes qualifies as governmental tyranny to me. NY stifles freedom and chokes on its own regressive taxation. God Bless the Southern states, like Tennessee where we enjoy low property taxes, no earned income taxes and a good measure of personal liberty.
Chicago NIck| 6.16.11 @ 8:07PM
He's just doing what any uneducated ghetto NFL player would do when his agent tells him to do it so he can be 'let' back in the GhettoFL like his buddy Vick after he 'redeems' himself by whizzing all over the constitution he's probably never read nor ever thought of reading until now, if even.
He doesn't care about anything but getting his paycheck back because like most of today's pro athletes even with a college degree, he's likely not employable in any industry but this or drug dealer back home. Period.
They get shoved through college with little regard to grades and when their careers are over in a couple years if they can't talk well enough for ESPN it's the bread lines or prison after they pawn all the bling they bought while playing and his clubbing indicates he's one of those brothers.
As for prison he's been there and don't wanna go back...just yet so he'll do anything that benefits him, who cares about the bill of rights? Not him.
J.P. Travis | 6.17.11 @ 12:42PM
Way back when the NYTimes and Sports Illustrated and all the other mainstream media nincompoops were castigating him, I wrote a column about the absurdity of sending Burress to prison: http://www.jpattitude.com/090925.php. I'm disappointed in him now, for bowing under to the Brady-ists, but like others have conjectured, he's probably hoping to reclaim his NFL career by mounting a PC public relations campaign. I wish he would stand on principle instead of expediency.
Mutch Moore| 6.19.11 @ 1:44AM
This NFL player, after forfeiting his own civil rights as a felon, then turning advocate for the gun grabbers is nothing short of reprehensible. I have no sympathy, admiration or respect whatsoever for this hypocrite. It would appear as disingenuous as Pittsburgh Steeler Qb, Micheal Vick's apostasy as a spokesperson for The Humane Society. As for the inherent danger of Glocks, it's real for the untrained. YouTube has a vid of an affirmative action ATF agent ON FILM who had an accidental discharge in a training classroom. Check it out. There is a trigger block device made for carrying a chambered round in a Glock. The device does not impede rapid deployment because it quickly flicks out with the index (trigger) finger. NYPD resolved the trigger problem another way by special ordering factory Glocks that require more trigger pull effort (11 pounds of force) than the factory 5 and half pounders. There were numerous accidental discharges by NY police before this modification was made to the trigger.