I agree completely. Plaxico Burress has been punished enough: he made a mistake, he broke a law that is and was nonsensically draconian, and he injured nobody but himself.

Somewhere between Baltimore and Cambridge Mike Bloomberg became an anti-gun totalitarian and as a fraternity brother of his I try to remind him of that every chance I get, but he’s a famously stubborn man.

The real problem for Plaxico is that he did break the law — but he did something worse to himself and his career: he wanted to carry a weapon to protect himself, which there’s nothing wrong with. Unfortunately it looks like he was also irresponsible in doing so. The Glock .40 he was carrying has a safety mechanism that should have prevented an accidental firing of the kind that injured him. It looks like he turned it off, and in doing so he exercised extremely poor judgment.

So what’s the solution to this problem? Send Plaxico Burress to jail for several years? Ban all athletes from carrying guns? Which athletes? Just the guys in the NFL, or do we also ban tennis players and car racers and baseball and basketball and badminton players? Do we ban Olympic athletes from carrying? What rationale is there for saying (as some commentators have) that athletes should be forbidden from carrying weapons?

There isn’t any, except in Michael Bloomberg’s mind.

The real problem is not that Plaxico Burress was carrying a weapon: it’s that he disregarded the rules for carrying one — rules that exist to protect himself and others. They’re not complicated rules to learn, if you receive the proper training. Millions of people follow them every day. Plaxico Burress certainly is capable of learning them if he wants to continue to carry a gun.

I think the case against him should be dismissed and I will contribute to a fund that allows Plaxico Burress to attend a bonafide training course for firearms like the one FrontSight offers.

In my experience, these accidents happen because people are unaware of the proper training or don’t take advantage of it. Carrying a loaded firearm is not a matter of bravado or hubris: it’s first and foremost a responsible act. If you don’t encourage people to be responsible, a lot of the time they won’t.

I wrote this with you in mind and was waiting to see what your response would be. I agree completely with your comments. My question is what would have happened if this occurred at a residence in NYC, instead of a night club? Would there be this amount of notice to him? I remember reading somewhere about a police officer’s reaction to this situation, saying, “If this (gun) law was enforced heavily, Brooklyn would be left with a third of its population remaining.” Makes you think…

He shot himself in the leg. Had the pistol been pointed in a different direction in his pocket, he could have shot somebody else in the leg or torso, perhaps killing them.

I’m a very big 2nd Amendment proponent, but Plax makes a very compelling case for stricter permit requirements and required safety classes, at least.

All men are created equal, all men have rights endowed by their Creator. Having said that, I have a bit of knowledge in this area. Unfortunately it is very unlikely that NY could be forced to recognize a FL permit. The reason is that many states have gone to “shall issue” over the last ten years, FL being one of them.

Shall issue basically means anyone who wants a carry permit has a right to get one unless the state can show they are not eligible. The liberal bastion states of MA, CA, IL, NY, MD and others almost never give carry permits, in fact in most of those states you need a permit even to own a firearm. Even in Shall Issue states, there is a process of recognition handled by the state police. One state can recognize another, but their is no reciprocity unless both states recognize and honor each other’s permits. My point is, that even in states that believe in the right to carry, many hurdles have to be passed for mutual recognition.

Trust me, I am not poo pooing your argument. I believe the Second Amendment is very clear. But I am trying to explain that NY is simply not going to recognize a FL carry permit. FL has handed out tens of thousands of permits to law abiding citizens, NY hands out a very few, mainly to liberal judges, politicos, and celebrities. Basically the only people with guns in New York are the criminals.

against constitutionality. What it did say is. I am working on a column now that addresses those issues, the differences given that NY is a state and DC was not, as well as some arguments that the Second Amendment, like most all the Bill of Rights only applied to Congress, and not the states.

The best argument is NOT what Heller did NOT say, but rather what it did say. I am working on a legal analysis column now which will adress same as well as the distinction between DC and a state and the arguments that the 2nd Amendment only applies to the fed govt and not the states.

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I’m a huge 2nd Amendment supporter and multiple gun owner…….

But right now, in New York, the laws on the books are what’s enforced there and Mr. Burress has a huge problem and it may be much bigger than many people realize.

First off, the term is ‘Reciprocity’ …….. New York doesn’t have it…… The state does not honor ANY other state’s Concealed Carry Weapons Permit/License. Felony. Mandatory jail time just for having one with you and no NY permit.

He’ll lose his Florida license (probably has already) without question and the charges will most likely multiply due to unlawful interstate transport of a firearm. Felony again. More mandatory jail time.

If that firearm is legally his, they’ll ask how it got from Florida to New York. I’m making a guess here that Mr. Burress lives in New Jersey since the team practices and plays there (another state that has a dim view of The 2nd Amendment). I know it’s inference and a legality that can easily be argued, but it’s still a good probability that he’ll get a second unlawful interstate transport charge added from the NJ authorities …. there’s no reciprocity between Florida and NJ as well as NY and NJ either. Another felony with more mandatory jail time.

Interstate felonies. Hello FBI.

Random discharge of a firearm in public is (sarcasm here) ’somewhat frowned upon’, but when it happens in a place serving alcohol, the stakes go quite a bit higher (that’s one of the top-ten settings where you’re NEVER allowed to carry and that’s in all 50 states as far as I know) ….. another added felony. Hey there, BATF, welcome to the party.

Falsifying medical records of a gunshot wound goes to the attending physician (along with possibly everyone else working in the hospital who came into contact with him) and the “patient” equally… the doc will most probably lose his license in NY….. and it’s a good bet that if I can think about this, so can the doc’s lawyer ….. he’ll say that Mr. Burress and his friends (another player and one of the team’s trainers were there) coerced him into falsifying the records with bribes or other things. Whoopsie, now there’s a bunch of other people who are gonna pay huge and may even do some Graybar Hotel time with him.

From a multiple gun owner and firearm safety person (me), just having a handgun with you that’s not in a secure holster, has one in the chamber and with (d’oh !) the safety off isn’t illegal, but it is flat-out stupid, irresponsible and a mortal danger to everyone within range, including the person carrying.

I’m gonna get off my soapbox before I get all 2nd Amendment on this and really rant on Noo Yawk, Noo Joisey and all the other states who simply don’t understand “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed”. I’d rant even harder on morons like Mr. Burress who …… well, I won’t go there.

Besides, I’ve got to get the video stream heated up……… it’s almost time for Cam & Co. on NRA-TV.

Cheers !

First a small technical observation: if Mr. Burress’ Glock works like my Model 26, you can’t “turn off” the safety features. There is a small lever in the middle of the trigger which, if not depressed as it would be in a normal firing motion, renders the gun unable to discharge. Glock handguns are engineered not to dischage accidently if dropped. Assuming that Mr. Burress’ handgun was not defective, I can only assume that in grabbing for the gun — perhaps it was falling — he caught the trigger and it fired.

Second observation: Burress used very bad judgement, in oh so many ways. But enough with the “shooting himself in the foot jokes.”

Third observation: Mayor Bloomberg is showboating and Burress is his unfortunately foil.

Fourth observation: NYC gun regulations are very nearly as ill-conceived and illegal as the DC regulations overturned in the Heller decision earlier this year.

Might Mr. Burress be the unlikeliest of test cases to bring Heller to bear on NYC?

But right now, in New York, the laws on the books are what’s enforced there and Mr. Burress has a huge problem and it may be much bigger than many people realize.

First off, the term is ‘Reciprocity’ …….. New York doesn’t have it…… The state does not honor ANY other state’s Concealed Carry Weapons Permit/License. Felony. Mandatory jail time just for having one with you and no NY permit.

He’ll lose his Florida license (probably has already) without question and the charges will most likely multiply due to unlawful interstate transport of a firearm. Felony again. More mandatory jail time.

If that firearm is legally his, they’ll ask how it got from Florida to New York. I’m making a guess here that Mr. Burress lives in New Jersey since the team practices and plays there (another state that has a dim view of The 2nd Amendment). I know it’s inference and a legality that can easily be argued, but it’s still a good probability that he’ll get a second unlawful interstate transport charge added from the NJ authorities …. there’s no reciprocity between Florida and NJ as well as NY and NJ either. Another felony with more mandatory jail time.

Interstate felonies. Hello FBI.

Random discharge of a firearm in public is (sarcasm here) ’somewhat frowned upon’, but when it happens in a place serving alcohol, the stakes go quite a bit higher (that’s one of the top-ten settings where you’re NEVER allowed to carry and that’s in all 50 states as far as I know) ….. another added felony. Hey there, BATF, welcome to the party.

Falsifying medical records of a gunshot wound goes to the attending physician (along with possibly everyone else working in the hospital who came into contact with him) and the “patient” equally… the doc will most probably lose his license in NY….. and it’s a good bet that if I can think about this, so can the doc’s lawyer ….. he’ll say that Mr. Burress and his friends (another player and one of the team’s trainers were there) coerced him into falsifying the records with bribes or other things. Whoopsie, now there’s a bunch of other people who are gonna pay huge and may even do some Graybar Hotel time with him.

From a multiple gun owner and firearm safety person (me), just having a handgun with you that’s not in a secure holster, has one in the chamber and with (d’oh !) the safety off isn’t illegal, but it is flat-out stupid, irresponsible and a mortal danger to everyone within range, including the person carrying.

I’m gonna get off my soapbox before I get all 2nd Amendment on this and really rant on Noo Yawk, Noo Joisey and all the other states who simply don’t understand “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed”. I’d rant even harder on morons like Mr. Burress who …… well, I won’t go there.

Cheers !

Kenneth L Solomon…………Typical Bitter Jewish God-Clinging Gun Owner And Barking Mad Insane NASCAR Fan……………Please support the Jamie McMurray Foundation For Autism Speaks.

Are you saying that Burress had a concealed carry permit in Florida? If so, he would have had to take a course to get such a thing (my wife and I are taking such a 10-hour course next weekend). And if he did, he should know how to handle the gun. That’s why a permit is required. I also heard that the Florida permit had expired, and if so, it’s as if he never had one.