Preseason NFL football games may actually be necessary to prepare new signees and old hands for the upcoming rigors of a sixteen game season. But candidly most of the games are of little interest outside of the 27 diehard fans that watch them. Nevertheless there I was watching the NY Jets stumble through a preseason game against someone. I found myself rooting for the one behind in the score hoping to keep some degree of interest going. It was at the halftime that my viewing buddy mentioned that the NY Giants had traded Plaxico Burress to the Jets after his release from jail where he had spent almost two years in the “hoosegow” for shooting himself in the leg.
For those of you who may not remember, here is a review of that incident as captured from “Wikipedia”:
“On November 28, 2008, Burress suffered an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the right thigh in the New York City nightclub LQ when his Glock pistol, tucked in the waistband of his sweatpants, began sliding down his leg; apparently in reaching for the gun he inadvertently depressed the trigger, causing the gun to fire. The injury was not life-threatening and he was released from an area hospital the next afternoon. Two days later, Burress turned himself in to police to face charges of criminal possession of a handgun. It was later discovered that New York City police learned about the incident only after seeing it on television and were not called by New York-Presbyterian Hospital as required by law. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the hospital actions an "outrage" and stated that they are a "chargeable offense". Bloomberg also 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. Burress had an expired (concealed carry (CCW)) license from Florida, but no New York license.”
(With a Mayor like that sticking up for you, you don’t need any enemies.)
“On Monday, August 3, 2009, prosecutors announced that Burress had been indicted by the grand jury on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and a single count of reckless endangerment in the second degree, both felonies”. (How they came up with ‘two counts of weapon possession' for this is a mystery to me since he had only one Glock, but then again so is ‘second degree’. Is there a first and third degree level of disobeying the law if you carry a hand gun in NY?)
Well, with all that governmental impetus behind the DA, they refused to entertain a plea deal and Plaxico was indited by the Grand Jury; ended up serving almost 2 years in prison. (I could find no record concerning the prosecution of the NY Presbyterian Hospital for their failure to report the incident. Guess that they have better friends down at the Mayor’s or DA's office.)
During the halftime festivities my buddy and I discussed this shooting episode. Turns out that my buddy carries a weapon legally and was all upset over this incident. Says that Plaxico, having had a Florida CCW permit knew that carrying a gun in the waist band and not in a holster was dangerous and stupid. He did commend him on owning a Glock 9mm however. He dragged me over to the computer and showed on an internet site for “USCCA” how article after article warns to carry hand guns in a holster, and in a holster that covers the trigger so that you don’t accidentally shoot yourself. I asked him if the old west gunmen used that kind of holster, but he just waived me off.
After he left I began to review the whole situation in my very active mind. Seems to me the Hospital was egregessly remise in their legal responsibilty and something should be done to get their attention. After all, when two gangbangers have a shoot out, about the only ones that will know about the firefight will either be the Coronor or some local hospital or doctor. Especially since most of those exchanges seem to occur in neighborhoods that eschew calling 911 for anything.
Then my thoughts turned to Mr. Burress. The guy got a bum deal in my opinion.
Everyone living in NY City should be allowed to carry at least one handgun. Sure Mr. Burress should have registered like he did in Florida, but two years in the slammer? If I lived in the Bronx, Queens, or the like, I’d want to carry at least two semis and wear body armor, of only the most decorative style of course. Add the wealthy target that Mr. Burress presents to every perp that wants to” take yourin and make it hisin”, and the need is increased to go “armed”.
Then there is the issue that he shot himself. Yes, he should have been charged with gross stupidity and sentenced to some type of “potty cleaning” community service reserved for only the most mentally challenged weapons' violators. But two years for shooting yourself? It is obvious that this is the type of justice that you can expect in the eastcoast dominated by pointee headed, liberal, commie pinkos that hate guns more than they hate shutting down an abortion mill, ACORN, or Planned Parenthood. Had Mr. Burress been so fortunate to live in the South when this mishap occurred, the Grand Jury would probably have sentenced him to “punishment already received”. After all, he shot himself in the leg at point blank range with a 9mm Glock, the wound cost an entire season of gainful employment and remuneration with the NY Giants, a Super Bowl Winner, and he was traded to the Jets! Wasn’t that enough?
Yep, Mr. Plaxico Burress got a bum deal in my opinion!
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