The event:
“On November 28, 2008 Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg while in a nightclub. He turned himself into police the following day and was charged with criminal possession of a handgun. Burress is scheduled to return to court on March 31, 2009 to enter a plea to the charges."
The consequences:
“Burress was subsequently suspended without pay from the New York Giants. He is currently free on $100,000 bail while awaiting his court date.” Widely criticized as a “moronic oaf,” Burress faces an uncertain job future and his value as a celebrity endorser has been harmed.
Those that may have participated in hiding this shooting from the authorities may face prosecution.
The broader issue:
In the face of rising crime, are New York’s stringent anti-carry handgun laws constitutional. Especially if it can be shown that NFL players are more likely to be violently assaulted than ordinary citizens.
A clumsy oaf …
Nobody will deny that Plaxico Burress is a clumsy oaf who accidently shot himself in the thigh. Nobody will deny that people who carry firearms should be in complete control of their faculties at all times.
But what the liberal New York press says about using a weapon for self-protection is pure hogwash. Their crime rate attests to the fact that the police simply cannot be everywhere they are needed and that there is no hesitations for criminals to follow one of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation.
I was watching a news program dedicated to the analysis of the prior weeks media coverage when I heard an outrageous assertion by the somewhat disgraced reporter Judith Miller.
“Well he might have shot someone else when that gun went off and that’s why we have these laws. And I think that its just about as dangerous to smoke a cigarette in an office building here as it is to carry an illegal firearm. We can have a debate about that but that’s not what the news coverage has been focusing on.” (Fox News Watch; 12/06/08)
An assertion which seems to be prevalent among those elite liberals who want their bodyguards to be armed and effective, but want to deny the rest of us similar protection.
The Moronic Mayor …
New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, “urged that Burress be prosecuted to the fullest extent, saying that any punishment short of the minimum 3½ years for unlawful carrying of a handgun would be ‘a mockery of the law.’”
"Our children are getting killed with guns in the street. Our police are getting killed...That's why the state legislature passed the automatic sentence if you get caught with an illegal gun.
"I think it would be an outrage if we didn't prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, particularly people who live in the public domain ... If we didn't prosecute to the fullest extent, then I don't know who on earth you would.”
The mere fact that you are the mayor of the largest city in America, a billionaire and have created a major company does not insulate you from charges of misguided liberalism and stupidity. Especially since you have chosen to disregard the Second Amendment and the God-given right to self-defense and prefer to leave your citizens at risk from armed criminals.
To prosecute anyone and demand a minimum sentence of 3-1/2 years for what might have happened is to make a mockery of light sentences for those convicted of DUI. If the same standard of “what may have happened” were applied, all New York citizens charged with DUI should have been charged with “premeditated manslaughter.”
However, one thing on which Mayor Bloomberg is absolutely 1o0% correct: those who covered up the shooting and those hospital personnel who failed to discharge their duty and report the gunshot wound to the police, should be prosecuted. To the extent Burress participated in the alleged cover-up, he should be prosecuted.
What can YOU do?
Always uphold your Constitutional rights to self-defense and the right to own and bear arms.
Support those who are also fighting to preserve your rights. Join the National Rifle Association.
Elect and re-elect those who support your rights.
-- steve
A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…
The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius
Reference Links:
Plaxico Antonio Burress|Wikipedia
Bloomberg Coverage|New York Post
Full disclosure: I am a life member (Benefactor Level) of the National Rifle Association.
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