Look, you’ve got to be a total idiot to go out to night club in New York City with a loaded handgun and then accidentally shoot yourself in the thigh. I have no idea how New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress managed to do this. But the only person that got hurt is Plaxico. How can it be that he is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of three and half years in prison? That’s insane. And Mayor Bloomberg says it would it be a gross injustice not to prosecute him the furthest extent of the law.
Before you protest, the 3 1/2 year mandatory sentence isn’t a result of Burress discharging his weapon. It’s the penalty for possessing the weapon. How can you send a man to jail for 42 months for carrying a firearm in public? He’s an idiot and a minor danger to society, but he’s not a hardened criminal.
I can support some jail time considering that he did discharge his weapon in public. Maybe 90 days, maybe six months, tops. Is there any other municipality in the country that would put a man in prison for years for shooting himself in the thigh?
Maybe Bloomberg is a Jets fan?
Or he’s a Rudy wannabe.
Bloomberg and Giuliani have about as much in common as Obama and Bush.
One, the Giants are better without him.
Two, mandatory minimum sentences are stupid, but carrying a loaded weapon into a nightclub is arguably a sufficient danger to the public that I don’t care if he gets the book thrown at him.
Three, he had the opportunity to avail himself of NFL security personnel and chose not to because he preferred to carry his own gun at a place where he was likely drinking alcohol? Now that’s not only stupid, it’s criminal.
You know, I might feel sorry for him if he’d gotten busted for something else. Not this one.
Carrying a gun while you’re out for a night of drinking? Not at all. He’s lucky he only shot himself.
I agree with the previous two posters. Also although it has nothing to do with my views I just want to say Go Eagles. Going nowhere but they are unarmed dammit…… I hope…. well Andy Reid might be smuggling guns to his sons in prison.
The eagles owe Philadelphia $8 million for loans taken out in 1985 for skyboxes. They were supposed to pay back in 2001, but have held everything up in court over an exhibition game that was cancelled. they are hoping to tie the city down with lawsuits so we give up on the money.
You know how much it would cost to keep out libraries open? $8 million dollars.
And the eagles have the nerve to go around boasting about their commitment to the community, about their literacy initiatives and bookmobile and athletic programs. But when it comes to paying the debt that would keep the library open, they are nowhere to be found.
For a team that’s benefited so much from Philly (never mind the skybopxes, we ponyed up $200 million for their stadium), they sure haven’t done much for us in return.
I say boycott the fuckers.
Thats pretty scummy. But I still have to root for them because well they are the Eagles. All NFL teams are extorting taxpayers. Its how its done now. Try to organize locally to get the money. Good luck to you.
I have never been to an Eagles game but have been to many Phillies and Flyers games. My son and I spend a ton of money at the games and on hotel rooms and eating out. I’m hoping some of that is tax money that the city receives. Is that being naive?
we get some of it.
Also, I’d like to call out right-wing dingaling Fliers owner Ed Snider for doing the right thing: he stepped up to the plate and is funding the ice rinks that are supposed to close.
Ed walks the walk, even if he did subject us to Sarah Palin. Jeff Luuuuurie, where aaaaare you???
I saw that and you may want to also thank Flyers fans for booing the shit out of Palin. Eight or nine of the flyers players live in center city. I think thats pretty cool.
The guy’s set up to do more time for this than Mike Tyson did for rape. That’s too severe, whether you have sympathy or not.
I don’t think anyone is questioning that the penalty is sever, and maybe even incredibly so. However, others are doing time for this same sort of thing. He should be treated no differently (better or worse).
Now, should penalties be changed for offenses absolutely. Our criminal justice system is a travesty.
That is one of the things that has to be hardest in politics. The moment someone even mentions that penalties are to high, you get called ‘soft on crime’. It is really a shame.
The sentence is so high because it’s a way for cops to put away gang-bangers without actually catching them in the act. Say what you will about Plaxico, the guy is not a violent gangster. Just another dumb thuggish millionaire trying to look authentic to his homies.
This sentence would be Draconian, just like ridiculous mandatory minimum laws that put marijuana users away for years. I see rapists and killers get less time than this.
Six months maximum, although I’d be content with 30 days in prison and community service. He only hurt himself and probably learned his lesson.
And yes, the laws need to be changed to give judges more leniency in sentencing.
We had a worse case locally. I onlly read about it in the newspaper last year, so forgive me if the details are off: Guy was convicted of armed robbery in California decades ago but he’s on some kind of a long parole and is not allowed to carry a gun. Fast-forward, and the guy is back here in Pennsylvania taking care of his aging, disabled father, who’s in a wheelchair. This being rural PA, the old man wants to go hunting. Yes, we do have wheelchair hunting in this state. The guy takes the old man hunting and in the process carries the old man’s hunting rifle. Gets caught with a gun. So the local DA flips the guy over to the feds, because PA law on the topic is not that drastic, and there’s a mandatory 5-year federal prison term for the offense. Meanwhile, the guy is mumbling that it didn’t occur to him not to touch hunting stuff, like it’s not the kind of gun you go do crime with, etc. So the feds convict and lock him away.
So now we’re paying room and board for somebody who wasn’t about to hurt anybody (maybe abetting in hurting a deer). We’re also paying room and board in a nursing home for the old man, because the guy who took care of him and his ADLs at home is now in prison. So we’ve just ruined two or more lives for no particular public safety reason. And because the feds are getting flipped all the local crimes with higher federal penalties, now the feds insist they need a new and bigger courthouse for this district at a cost of a couple of hundred million because they’ve outgrown the old federal courthouse (and besides, it isn’t protected well enough with acres of bumpers to protect them from the inevitable Islamofascist attack!).
All this on behalf of a gotcha! imaginary crime that the prosecutors turn into 9/11.
It’s like the people who download porn on their work computers owned by their employers.
If they don’t deserve to get punished for the porn, they deserve to get punished for the stupid.
I like guns.
I’m a good shot.
I also know that guns are noisy, smelly, dangerous things.
I have no sympathy for the stupid.
I agree with you, but what would be an injust penalty? Six years? Ten?
How much of a danger is Plaxico to society? How large of a crime needs to be atoned for here?
If you want to get hopped up about the injustice of mandatory minimums, you really should be championing the people and families destroyed by mandatory minimum drug sentencing, not some dumbass millionaire with a gun who will undoubtedly buy his way out of the mess. Just my $0.02.
On another note, what’s the punishment for the ER doc who didn’t report treatment of Burress’ GSW to the authorities?
All mandatory minimum sentences are wrong.
Have to disagree.
It’s not Plaxico the STUPID.
It’s Plaxico the arrogant that believes the LAW does not apply to him!
and he deserves whatever he gets. And its not like he’s the poster child for good behavior, anyway. Don’t whine, boo, take it like a man – the G men will be fine without him anyway, and he obviously had his loaded gun out of its holster for some reason in a public setting. Moron. About at as smart as Matt Jones and his coke or LJ and his hitting and Pacman and all the rest. You want to stand up for justice in the NFL where maybe, just maybe, the players involved are innocent? Talk to Duece and the Williams’ and co. But spare me the concern for Plax. Its pretty simple:
Idiot takes loaded gun in public.
Idiot discharges said gun (and further proves idiocy by hurting himself).
Idiot goes to jail.
Whether the gun laws are too harsh isn’t really the point – I don’t recall you addressing that previously. The point is that he deserves what everyone else gets. Period.
well, New York’s gun laws are Draconian and their sentencing guidelines are insane. It is actually the inequal justice of it I find appalling. Where else would this result in jail time? And 42 months? Seriously? That law needs to be repealed, and Plax can be the poster-boy for why.
Oh, he’s not going to get that much time. And the part that Bloomberg seems to be pissed about is that his celebrity made those who knew about the shooting act differently than if it was a regular citizen. We can’t have that, no matter how popular the guy, BooMan.
if they charge him, the sentence is mandatory, and his guilt is hardly in doubt.
taking the discretion away from a judge and jury is terrible. There’s no justice in that.
All of these people saying “throw the book at him” apparently have never had friends or family members who made mistakes and got caught on the wrong side of the law. My older brother did three years in federal prison for marijuana possession. My girlfriend, a lawyer, is constantly telling me stories of RAPISTS getting less time than that.
Dan White got just five years for murdering the S.F. mayor and Harvey Milk in 1978. And Plaxico should do three years for simple possession? For shooting himself? For being an idiot?
I’m sorry, but BooMan is 100% right. These laws need to be changed, and three years is completely ridiculous for this minor crime where the only victim was Plaxico himself.
Does NYC law forbid carrying or owning firearms? Exactly what law was he convicted of breaking?
Here’s an article that lays it out. Basically, Bloomberg has demanded Burress go to jail for 3 and a half years.
It sounds like NY’s law is less draconian than Chicago’s, which criminalizes all gun possession. There are no legal firearms except for cops, etc. I don’t think this comes under a mandatory minimum, though, which makes all the difference. I think the intent of the law is laudable, but it certainly doesn’t seem to have make any impact on the number of shootings around here.
That said, in the case of Buress it’s hard to see why you would make an exception for him. If he thought the club he went to was too dangerous without a gun he could have stayed away. It seems pretty clear that this was another case of an arrogant “celebrity” demonstrating how he could flout the law. So what’s the basis for an exception just for him? I’m sure there are regular folks who get caught actually trying to defend themselves or their families — compared to this fool who obviously went out with the intention to intimidate with his rod. I wonder, Boo, if you’d be as exercised about all this if the perp had been a rich corrupt politician or mob guy, for example.
Anyway, I wonder if Buress’s lawyer will try to make this a constitutional issue, which would have the double effect of challenging the mandatory minimum obscenity and allow Buress to keep plying his trivial trade until old age takes him out.
Obviously, the nightclub was dangerous. He was shot and injured, wasn’t he? <g>
What law needs to be repealed? Carrying a concealed weapon? Owning a weapon? Such laws generally appear to be ineffective, but I don’t see the injustice.
Unless you mean mandatory minimums, which should be absolutely abolished nationwide.
The law applies to carrying a loaded weapon in the city. Penalty is three and a half years, minimum.
That’s the law that needs to be repealed. I support the right of municipalities to pass gun control laws, but the penalty here is extreme and the lack of discretion it gives the judge and jury is appalling.
I know nothing about him but doubt that idiocy is the problem. Sounds more like the usual arrogance of the petty people we elevate to godlike status because they can run with a ball or swing a stick or screech louder than anybody else.
He shot himself, Dave. At a club. I think he might be an idiot.
He’s obviously is an idiot, but that’s not the problem. The world is full of idiots. The problem is arrogance and his belief that he’s too rich to have to pay the price for it.
OJ is an idiot, too, but that’s not the problem. See what I mean?
“I have no idea how New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress managed to do this.”
Yes you do, you answer your own question before you ask it:
As for that mandatory minimum, earth to booman: it’s new york, home of the mandatory minimum.
I noticed something in your defense. You write:
You left out a few words, let me fix that for you:
Is it good sportsmanship to walk around with an unlicensed, loaded, concealed firearm?
I don’t know if I disagree with bloomberg. we had three murders on my block courtesy of illegally owned guns last year, three kids’ lives snuffed out at 17 or so, so I’m less than sympathetic. WTF was he doing with an unlicensed gun? What if someone had been killed as a result of a ricochet? Aren’t sports stars supposed to be role models for kids?
have you ever raised the same defense for any number of the dumbasses in Philly who get caught with unlicensed, loaded, concealed firearms, but who aren’t big football stars? Somehow I doubt that.
Should his life be destroyed and three years taken away for a crime where he was the only victim? Sorry, these laws were written for actual gangsters and criminals, not for NFL millionaires trying to impress their homeboys at da club.
This is why the USA has more prisoners than any other country in the world, even more than China. It’s a disgrace. Plaxico made a mistake, but you are insane if you think this was a “three years in the slammer” kind of mistake. Tens of thousands of people are killed in car crashes every year, it doesn’t mean you get three years in prison after your first DUI or speeding ticket.
The laws need to be changed, and it’s good this high profile story came along to give some impetus for change.
“Should his life be destroyed and three years taken away for a crime where he was the only victim? Sorry, these laws were written for actual gangsters and criminals, not for NFL millionaires trying to impress their homeboys at da club.”
Oh, i see. so you believe that NFL millionaires should have special rights that poor people don’t get. Good to know, but unfortunately not consistent with the standard that “all are equal under the law.” what other laws do you believe are only for little people and not the wealthy?
“Plaxico made a mistake, but you are insane if you think this was a “three years in the slammer” kind of mistake.”
really? knowingly carrying an illegal concealed weapon that goes off accidentally and could have killed someone isn’t a “three years in the pen” offense? Fascinating.
“This is why the USA has more prisoners than any other country in the world, even more than China. It’s a disgrace. “
Bullshit. the reason the USA has so many prisoners is because of our retarded drug laws, a true victimless crime.
“The laws need to be changed, and it’s good this high profile story came along to give some impetus for change. “
You’re right! We should make it easier for people to carry concealed weapons they’re not licensed to carry, because as Burress’s case shows, guns NEVER go off accidentally. Innocent bystanders NEVER get killed.
This equal justice under the law argument is bogus.
I’m not a lawyer but I know that there something wrong if a crime in one state or jurisdiction carries a mandatory sentence of 3.5 years and in another state it isn’t even illegal. That’s not equal justice. I understand that gun laws vary greatly, and I also understand that it’s not legal to fire a gun in a night club in any jurisdiction. But the law about carrying a loaded weapon in NYC is ridiculous.
On top of that, I object to the mandatory sentencing, regardless of length. I think it is part of justice to weigh the individual’s character, employment record, mental health, prior criminal history, etc., even though this often results in discrimanatory outcomes.
A judge or jury should look at the totality of Burress’s life and make an honest assessment about his likelihood of being a repeat offender, his threat to the community going forward, and the degree to which retribution is necessary to atone for a breach of the peace. I object to this being taken out of the judge and jury’s hands and I object to Bloomberg demanding he be put in jail for 3.5 years when only 10% of such crimes are prosecuted under this statute.
Your argument against mandatory minimums is one I happen to generally agree with (a few exceptions: i think rapists should always go to jail, child molesters as well).
“I’m not a lawyer but I know that there something wrong if a crime in one state or jurisdiction carries a mandatory sentence of 3.5 years and in another state it isn’t even illegal.”
But that’s not the way our country works: the states have the right to set their own laws and statutes as long as they don’t conflict with the rights delegated to the federal government. In Nebraska, you can have up to an ounce of pot and walk away with a $100 ticket.
if you don’t like it, see if you can get the constitution amended.
you’re the one making an equal justice claim. Not me.
He could have committed this crime in any of the other 30 NFL cities in the country and would not be facing 3.5 years mandatory in jail. So, that’s equal justice? He does time just because he did it in New York?
I know the laws vary, that’s why the equal justice argument is so weak.
Should he get off because he’s rich? No. No one should get such a harsh sentence for this kind of idiotic crime. But the fact that he isn’t some kind of habitual threat to society should be weighed in sentencing.
No, i continue to call bullshit. the equal justice claim is NOT weak, but the way you are arguing it certainly is. Equal justice has nothing to do with the law varying from state to state but with the specific law treating everyone the same way when they get busted. That was my point and it remains my point with regard to the topic of equal justice.
No one should get such a harsh sentence for this kind of idiotic crime..
It’s an idiotic crime that could have left someone dead, just like drunk driving. Burress clearly didn’t mean for the gun to go off, just like the guy that almost mowed down a pedestrian didn’t mean for that to happen, but he’s still going to jail in many states.
the reason the law is so harsh is because handguns, which have this unfortunate tendency to go off unexpectedly, pose a danger to public safety, just like drunk driving does.
i’m sorry if the penalty is harsher than you think proper, and i am glad that no one except the big doofus himself got hurt. But laws like that are meant to ensure that innocent people don’t get hurt, just like drunk driving laws.
Okay. So if 10% of the people that caught with a loaded gun in NYC get charged with illegally possessing a weapon and become subject to the mandatory sentence, it seems like Bloomberg should cry about that, rather than ganging up on Burress.
guy got caught, guy’s a celebrity, guy’s gonna get shit like that.
cry me a river, no one forced him to bring an illegally owned loaded gun into a city and state where everyone knows the laws are draconian. it’s the same reason when I go to ny I either pack joints, which I can eat, or leave it in PA.
…he is a New York Giant.
I support the death penalty in this case.
😉
The only New York team is actually the Buffalo Bills. Both of those other teams play their games in New Jersey. In fact they just negotiated a New Meadowlands Stadium, expected to be opened in 2010, and both decided to remain in New Jersey. They could hardly be considered New York teams. The Jets even had a chance to get a stadium in New York City, but they insisted it had to be located in Manhattan, which had to be about the stupidest location for a structure like a football stadium ever to be conceived by man. Overall, Bloomberg has an apparent low respect threshold for the sports industry in general.
Some might think that the biggest loss in this matter is to the Giants. The New York Giants, however, will show everyone this year that they can lose the Superbowl with or without wide receiver Plaxico Burress, and will do so to the Steelers.
Otherwise, Burress just needs to be treated like everyone else, perhaps bargaining his sentence down if he has done any community work as a New York Giant.
Well, has he?
Been there.
It’s owned by wiseguys.
It has a metal detector at the door.
It has bad guys all OVER the place. Many in positions of “bouncer”. Including a few former or current cops, if I know my bouncers. Some of those guys…not necessarily the bouncers, more like the owners…would think nothing whatsoever of shooting some fool who mouthed off to them. Believe it. That world still exists.
Of course…it’s so fucking loud in there that no one could hear a gun going off if they weren’t right next to the action, but still…the whole thing’s fishy.
Plus…he won’t do hard time. Not much, anyway. He’ll cop a plea.
Watch.
Bloomberg’s just milking the publicity.
He’s good at that.
And of course…Burress is a spoiled idiot. He’s been getting away with this kind of shit since he first demonstrated that he could outrun defenders and catch footballs. Bet on that as well.
My guess? After a decent quiet period? Maybe next spring? few months’ suspended sentence and/or some “community service”. Plus a new team and more millions.
Watch.
Bet on it.
AG
So you go there often, right? And what caliber is your gat? Just kidding Arthur. Have a good day.
It’s just bizness.
Nuthin’ personal.
I woik fer who pays me.
Bada-BING!!!
AG
Regarding the core issue, three and a half years as a mandatory minimum is outrageous. Mandatory minimums are outrageous. I agree. Three months.
Plaxico Burress is a dope with an out of control ego, like lots of receivers in the NFL. But at least he keeps his helmet on when he’s on the field, unlike Vernon Davis of the Niners.
I wish that he’d shoot the Lions.
What? The Lions? They have lost by the least number of average points of any team this year. It may be a record.
Least number of points is kind of worthless if they run the table in reverse.
Lookng at their schedule, that 0-fer is all but assured at this point.
Ah, history in the making.
He could end up playing for the Lions…
Sparty on!
In the foot. Right in the foot of Ford.
How ’bout those LA Lions, huh? Then we could at least get a decent network game at 1 pm around here….
Are you claiming that the Detroit Lions have a similar agreement to that held by the owners of the Cleveland Indians in that classic movie, “Major League“? You know, the clause that allows the team to move unimpeded if attendance falls below a certain level? With the implosion happening in the Detroit metro area, one could easily see that occurring shortly. How does the NFL allow one of the founding cities in the league to migrate to warmer climes? Would they?
I would be shocked if Junior moved the team. He already forced the old man to fire Millen. The PR fall out from moving the team would bury the car company!
With any luck at all, he’ll have permanent nerve/muscle damage to his leg, receive inadequate medical care in prison (where he belongs) and be unable to play sports again. Not to mention gangrene.
And he should have Michael Vick as his cellie.
No sympathy, guns are a plague and people who carry guns should suffer.
The media acts like he shot someone else and not himself. Senator Jim Webb carried a loaded weapon into a Senate Office building, is he going to jail? Dick Cheney shot another man, while probably drunk, and lied about it. What happened to big dick? Cowboys coach Barry Switzer had a gun in an airport and never went to jail.
Athletes and celebrities are targeted all of the time by robbers. Combine that with America’s fascination with gun ownership and this Plaxico incident is not a surprise. Sean Taylor’s murder was just a year ago.
He made a mistake and he is lucky that no one else got hurt but they didnt, only him. He is already paying the price professionally and financially.
I think the media reaction and punitive 3 1/2 years punishment is borderline racist. Bloomberg is a pandering fool. Does he not have some pot smokers to put in jail? I hate yet to see any Wall St crooks that ruined our economy put in prison yet. Where is the outrage Bloomberg?
Plax will cop a plea to disorderly conduct (or some such) and pay a fine.
The doctor who treated him will wind up in front of a ethics board and likely have her license suspended.
A few others who helped him, notably Pierce and some Giants staff (its still unraveling) will get a stong talking to by the prosecutor and the the NFL
The media will blather about it through the weekend, then forget about it.
Bloomberg will pander for a few more days.
And the Giants will win the NFC East and likely play the Steelers in the Super Bowl.
To be fair, Plax is known to be a pain in the ass as a teammate, not as a citizen. He really hasn’t made a name for himself with this kind of illegal stupid. His brand of stupid is a failure to wear a watch or stay awake and pissing off teammates with his mouth.
And mandatory minimums are the product of pandering politicians who play to weak and simplistic minds. All they do is take the judgment out of the hands of judges and juries and put it on cops and prosecutors to convince a suspect to accept a plea to a lesser crime. Either that or it puts people away for very long terms who have bad lawyers or unsympathetic prosecutors.
Look, I’m an avid hunter and father who, retroactively via the Brady act/law (whichever it is) is not legally allowed – EVER – to possess a firearm again. That is complete bullshit, in my humble opinion, and a prime example of painting things with a great big brush. Mandatory sentancing is the same kind of thing – great big brush. There should be no mandatory sentancing, of any type, only guidelines. But to suggest that it is not a big deal that this individual chose NOT to carry his firearm legally, chose NOT to be careful enough to keep it from discharging in public – I’m sorry, that’s ludicrous. The fact that only he was injured doesn’t change the fact that he put others at risk.
Come on, Boo. If you were sitting next to him and he squeezed off a round into the floor you wouldn’t be talking about letting him off. This moron could have easily killed someone – the fact that he got ‘lucky’ and only shot himself doesn’t let him off the hook for putting everyone around him at risk. 3.5 might be a lot for carrying an illegal handgun, whatever – so make the case to change the mandate. But get off the ‘he’s not such a bad guy’ wagon – I don’t care if he’s a saint, if he cares so little about the rest of us that he chooses to recklessly endanger us like this he deserves to do some time. And I’m not talking public service time here, either.
Exactly.
I’m not talking about letting him off. I’m talking about not treating him like a hardened criminal. You can bring up all the other people caught up in our nation’s Draconian sentencing guidelines all you want. I’m not ignoring them. I’m talking about this case because it is a high profile case.
The Mayor is out there insisting they throw the book at him when only 10% of the people busted for a loaded weapon actually get charged with the mandatory crime. If Bloomberg gets his way, this guy is going to do more time than most rapists. You think it’s right for a mayor to stick his nose in like this?
The law is wrong. The mayor’s actions are wrong.
Plaxico deserves a fine, some minor jail time, probation, and a psychological evaluation. Sending him to Riker’s for 42 months is bullshit.
“The law is wrong. The mayor’s actions are wrong.”
yes, it should be legal to walk around with an unlicensed loaded firearm, because innocent bystanders never get hurt. It should also be legal to drive an unregistered vehicle, never mind the injustice of having to have a driver’s license.
Hey, i have an idea: why don’t tyou come to my neighborhood and talk to the three moms who lost their sons last year to crimes committed with illegally possessed, unlicensed guns. I’m sure they will be very sympathetic to your point of view.
First of all, the dude lives in New Jersey. I don’t know whether the gun was licensed, but it doesn’t matter for the purposes of this case because he wasn’t licensed to carry it in NYC.
Secondly, this law would apply whether he had discharged the weapon or not.
Thirdly, I haven’t said he should be able to carry a loaded firearm into a night club and then fire it into his own leg. I am only questioning the penalty for doing so.
well in your original post you left out the glaring fact that he was in illegal possession of the gun.
if he was licensed to carry the gun, nobody would care. it would be an accident. but he wasn’t licensed, he deliberately and knowingly broke the law for whatever reason.
And while you could argue that the crime is victimless, it’s not like getting caught with a bag of pot or crack meant for personal use. Handguns, whether employed for self-defense or not have one use: killing. And they’re not like knives or a 2×4 with a nail driven through one end: guns can kill a lot of people beyond the intended target. that’s why they’re treated differently.
no word on whether you would make the same defense of a philly knucklehead busted for the same crime. I’m going to assume not.
the illegal part of it does not mean the gun is unregistered. even if it is, it is registered/licensed in Jersey and so it doesn’t count when he brings it to the City.
In NYC, gun registration is severely limited. You can get a personal license for your home and you can take it to a shooting club, but you must unload the weapon to transport it and you must store the gun and ammo separately.
Burress had a loaded weapon and he didn’t have a NYC license for it. That’s a double violation. The fact that gun went off isn’t even a part of the charge, although it certainly could be added.
Keep in mind that he faces 3.5 years in jail for merely possessing a loaded weapon in NYC. It’s a law he probably didn’t know existed.
As far as I am concerned, the sentence is Draconian. The fact that it is mandatory is appalling (just as the Rockefeller drug laws are appalling). And the mayor should shouldn’t be grandstanding and trying to make an example of him. A reasonable penalty for this crime is far less than 3.5 years in the slammer.
If an Eagle did this, I’d say the same thing.
It would seem you and Boo agree this was extraordinarily stupid of Plax. You also agree mandatory sentencing is stupid. And seem to imply that 3.5 years for illegally carrying a gun is excessive, so there is agreement there too.
So what is left to disagree about?
This will drag out long enough for the people to forget Bloomberg’s rant and it will get pled out. I’d be shocked if he spends a day in jail, not because of who he is but because of the lawyers he can afford and in the fact (as bad as this is) a lot worse crimes turn up in NYC courts every day
There are plenty of municipalities in the country that put people like Plaxico in jail for a much longer time for crimes that do not come close posing the same danger to innocent citizens.
The United States is the biggest jailor in the world. Period. We imprison more of our citizens than any other country in the world–even topping the despotic regimes we claim are so evil and anti-democratic.
I have almost zero sympathy for the well-connected and rich that accidentally get caught up in the harsh criminal justice system. As noted above, Plaxico will plead to a lessor offense. Watch. For the same reason I had no sympathy for Eliot Spitzer who ruined families and put people in prison for having sex for money then went out and did the same thing.
We live in a sick, violent, and punitive society. Even the liberal do-gooders want punitive justice (including me). We want to see our enemies brought to their knees and put behind bars. That’s what we’ve been taught. We’ve labeled 1/4 of our population evil criminals–mostly poor and black.
The real criminals–those on Wall Street that ruined our economy, the torturers in the White House, and basically the entire political establishment, will not only walk free they will get special treatment. Whether it’s Scooter Libby or Eliot Spitzer they get special treatment. The only exception may be black guys like Plexico or Vick–they don’t get the same free pass.
I’m disgusted by the stupid sheep in this country that quietly accept a police state for average Americans but allow the establishment to walk free. We are sick and I don’t see many people challenging the status quo (if anything, conservative Dems like Obama love demagoguing the tough on crime stuff to prove their centrist bona fides).
It’s’ like drunk driving, even if you don’t hurt anyone, they very act of driving drunk is reckless.
It is really dangerous when people who carry guns think that the laws does not apply to them. I didn’t mean any harm is not a defense. If he wasn’t thinking about shooting someone he would not have been carrying a gun.
Well, I don’t think we can assume he was thinking about shooting someone. But he certainly did intend to threaten with it. There’s no other possible reason to have it in that circumstance.
Unfortunately, professional athletes are approached by knuckleheads all the time who think they are tough enough to win a fight. That’s why you consistently find so many athletes facing problems because they haven’t complied with some local ordinance related to carrying a firearm. Most athletes deal with this problem, if they like to go out on the town, by using bodyguards or running with an entourage. But a media superstar like Plaxico Burress probably has a reasonable fear and reason for being armed that is not shared with the general public.
I in no way am defending his boneheaded action, but I very much doubt he was trying to intimidate anyone. I think you’ll find a high percentage of NFL football players keep a gun in their car or on their person. Same is true of boxers, NBA players, etc.
Obviously, they have to comply with laws related to carrying a firearm in whatever jurisdiction they happen to be in. In NYC, even if you have a license, you have to store the gun and ammo separately, and you can’t carry a loaded weapon into a nightclub. If you live in New Jersey, you are not permitted to bring your weapon into the city.
I don’t know the details of how the weapon went off. Was he playing with the gun in his pocket? Did you take it out and brandish it? Did he point it at anyone? I haven’t seen any of those details.
I don’t know Boo, I think you have to consider the catastrophe that has ensued.
(btw, the picture heading that article is priceless!)