Plaxico Burress, the super bowl champion and now ex-New York Giant has gone to jail.  He will serve two years, with a minimum of 20 months, for a weapons charge. 

Sounds serious enough. What did he do? Is this another case of a celebrity or sports personality out of control?

In November 2008 Burress went to a Manhattan night club with a gun tucked into his waistband. It slipped down his leg and went off as he tried to grab it, wounding him in the thigh. Burress had a lapsed concealed carry permit for the state of Florida, but was not a licensed carrier in New York. He was taken to a hospital by a teammate.

The Big Apple’s Mayor Bloomberg slammed the hospital and the Giants team for not reporting the shooting to police — New York’s finest only learned of the accident from TV reports. Bloomberg demanded that prosecutors throw the book at Burress for bringing a loaded handgun into Bloomberg’s fair city — gun laws being quite stringent there, with a minimum of 3 1/2 years in prison for conviction of a second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, which this was deemed.

In a show of power, Bloomberg even pressed the court (should a Mayor’s influence be entertained by those in the judicial system?) not to show Burress any leniency, arguing that giving Burress celebrity treatment would be “a sham, and a mockery of the law.” Bloomberg is not known for his pro-Second Amendment sentiments, to say the least, so his concern for the law may be from a somewhat biased perspective.

Burress was ultimately convicted of two counts of weapons possession and one count of reckless endangerment.

Now, both the sports world and gun advocates are in somewhat of an uproar over Burress’ 2-year sentence, with two clearly delineated sides: those who think Burress’ sentence is much too harsh and those who think any one who carries a gun for any reason, or no reason, into a Manhattan night club in a city that has strict gun laws is just plain stupid.

But there are questions that need to be asked: Does the punishment fit the crime? Was there even a crime committed in the first place? How does Burress’ sentence compare with those who are convicted of more heinous crimes?

Clearly, this is far more an accident than a crime. And if they insist on labeling it a crime, then it surely is victimless. Therefore, Burress is no threat to society and certainly doesn’t deserved to be locked up, away from his pregnant wife and young children.

Compared to Burress’ peers, other sports celebrities who have been convicted of crimes — Michael Vick, the dog killer (18 months), and Donte Stallworth for vehicular homicide (24 days) — Burress’ punishment still stands out above the rest. The only conclusion that logic leads us to once again is that it must be the gun that is receiving all the undue attention.

But perhaps the law itself is the problem. The gun laws in the state of New York are no doubt taking precedent over the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. And there have indeed been sports figures who have been shot and killed, so logically personal defense should have been considered, as well as the Constitutional principles. But, oh sorry, we’re talking about New York here — never mind references to Constitutional principles.

The gist is that an unregistered gun accidently discharged — mainly because of its location, albeit not the most inspiring or intelligent way to carry a gun — and for that a man goes to jail. The taxpayers must now pay to keep someone incarcerated, using up precious and expensive jail space better reserved for actual criminals.

In the case of Plaxico Burress, it appears to be all just anti-gun hysteria from start to finish.

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Jersey Warren said:

	Only in New York Aside from the fact that the city of New York's gun control laws are absurd, there is another lesson in this: The Giants play in East Rutherford and should be called the NEW JERSEY Giants and the players should party on the West side of the Hudson. Burress wouldn't be serving time in jail if the incident had happened in a club in Hoboken!
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September 25, 2009
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owlafaye said:

To New York City residents With out any doubt, this is a travesty of Justice and any clear thinking person in New York City should realize this. This sentence is an imposition by Bloomberg into the Justice system, an imposition driven by his befuddlement regarding guns in general. The anti-gun movement is rapidly being exposed for the spineless, fruitless and negative effect it has on crime. This harsh sentence imposes on your future rights and safety in New York City. Your famous rudeness and crime rate will continue as you continue to pass judgments of this sort. If this is what you want? then continue to keep quiet, refuse to get involved, don't speak up and most of all, when you are suffering the consequences...DON'T COMPLAIN.

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September 26, 2009
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