plaxico burress pleads guilty

Well, was he legally carrying the weapon? If not, it sounds like they have every right to charge him...?

I'm not sure what Walmart has to do with this...once again, if he was illegally carrying the weapon, then yes, it's against the law?

Manhattan nightclub.

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I think your problem is right there.

He had a permit for another state but it was expired I believe. So he was illegally concealing a Glock in his sweatpants (no holster I think). Plus he had the ND.

~Norinco

Plaxico was:
Illegally carrying a pistol that was not registered to him in NYC.

Handed the gun to a chrony who returned the gun to Plaxico's home in NJ.

Went to multiple hospitals trying to find a doctor who would not (and didn't) report the GSW (in violation of NY law)

He has an expired Florida CCW, and no CCW for NYC or NJ.

I'm glad he didn't challenge the law and pled guilty.

We will only make progress when sympathetic defendants fight the system. If he had fought the laws he would have very likely lost because he did so many things that were unreasonable to most people (carrying while drinking, in a nightclub, negligent discharge caused by irresponsible carry - a glock without a holster in sweatpants with one in the pipe - and then he tried to cover it up with his employee and a doctor).

A sympathetic defendant would be an upstanding citizen that carried the gun for an unusually compelling reason and used it successfully in self defense.

f he was at Walmart when this occurred would he still be charged with possessing a weapon illegally and why is no one challenging the NYC laws??

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This is not a good case to use to challenge the law. Carry in bars is banned in many states, you have an actual shooting here (even though self inflicted) and you have the lying and attempted cover up.

Not a chance a slimy case like this would get anything overturned.

ETA: typing the same time as legalcounsel

plaxico burress pleads guilty

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Well, he was guilty. And?

No more guns for Plexi.

Whether you agree with NYC's gun laws or not, he was obviously violating them. To say that he therefore wasn't guilty is asinine.

On top of that, the idiot was carrying a Glock in the waistband of his freaking sweatpants.

Let me state that again:

Glock.
In.
Sweatpants.

I'm not a Glock hater. I think they're fine handguns that are inherently safe when handled properly by someone who isn't an outright moron.

It strikes me as fairly obvious that if you're going to carry a handgun for self defense, it might be a good idea to take a class or two on basic firearms safety and concealed carry.

Further, it strikes me that it's an excellent idea to acquire a holster and proper belt in order to securely carry your chosen weapon. In fact, I would submit that anyone who has a serious interest in their own safety would do this.

On top of that all, it seems to me that if your pistol (which you have failed to secure in a proper holster, attached to a proper belt, and threaded through belt loops on a decent pair of pants) falls out of your pants, you probably shouldn't try to catch it.

Of course, if your pistol does happen to fall out of your pants, because you failed to properly secure it, and you do decide to grab for it, perhaps you ought not wrap your finger around the trigger, yanking it rearward and thereby discharging a round. Doing so might demonstrate that you are not only guilty of negligence, but also violation of various local laws.

Frankly, I don't understand why anyone would be aghast at the notion that Plaxico pleaded guilty. He's obviously guilty of violating not only local laws, but the basic rules of gun safety, as well as exercising common sense with regard to his choice in equipment.

ILL toss a question to ponder --
What if this had happened in a club in Vermont??
what crime --- Accidental discharge? a citation and a fine ? Loss of dignity? Certianly no prison time -
remember he had an expired FLA permit-So at one time we was just like the rest of us -and honest gun owner. Now hes a criminal cought up in the miriade of complicated gun laws that clog our nations Law books .

And How about that RECIPROCARRY BILL that failed by 2 votes-???? That would have nullified this crime right off!
I think hes stupid for breaking the law --!!

So at one time we was just like the rest of us -and honest gun owner

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And then after that he decided to knowingly break a law, and became unlike us.

Regardless of any of our views on those laws, he broke them, and he chose to break them. Then he decided to plead guilty.

What more can we really discuss?

And How about that RECIPROCARRY BILL that failed by 2 votes-???? That would have nullified this crime right off!

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No, it wouldn't have. Try to remember that besides illegally carrying, he also caused an illegal discharge of the weapon in a crowded nightclub, removed evidence from the scene of a crime, and violated NY law by finding doctors who wouldn't report the incident.

That's not all going to be magically "wiped away" by some Reciprocity Bill.

No, it wouldn't have. Try to remember that besides illegally carrying, he also caused an illegal discharge of the weapon in a crowded nightclub, removed evidence from the scene of a crime, and violated NY law by finding doctors who wouldn't report the incident.

illegally carrying= It would not have been Illegal

illegal discharge of the weapon -> accidental discharge

removed evidence from the scene of a crime, and violated NY law by finding doctors who wouldn't report the incident. ===== NO REASON to try and hide the evidence -there would have been no reason to do that!!
Had NYC not had such overly restrictive Stupid laws designed to Deny Gun rights !!

There is no question he was guilty. Like the OP, I have a problem with it, he was sentenced to two years in jail for "attempted criminal possession of a weapon". I assume this is a similar charge you would face if police found a gun in the nightstand of your home, or locked in the truck of your car. It seems WRONG to me for someone to be serving 2yrs of time for a victom-less crime when there are violent criminals that get 30-60 day lockups, if they even go to jail.

Like the OP, I have a problem with it, he was sentenced to two years in jail for "attempted criminal possession of a weapon". I assume this is a similar charge you would face if police found a gun in the nightstand of your home, or locked in the truck of your car. It seems WRONG to me for someone to be serving 2yrs of time for a victom-less crime when there are violent criminals that get 30-60 day lockups, if they even go to jail.

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This charge is a plea bargain. That's the only reason he's charged with it. The original charge was worse.

From the article:

Burress was indicted earlier this month on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. He faced a minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years if convicted at a trial.

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He agreed to this particular charge and sentence voluntarily.
He could have chosen to fight this out but he did not.

Carrying a gun shouldn't be illegal anywhere, but we live in reality, not hypothetical.

You go to the land of Bloomberg carrying a gun, especially into a bar, and THEN fire the gun you pretty much have to expect the hammer to fall on you if you get caught.

Reality.

He was being a dumbass.

As a person of note and tremendous financial resources, he could have even probably arranged to have a NYS/NYC carry permit.

He still ****ed up in a number of other ways though...

Agreed. Plaxico is an idiot and deserves what he gets for doing what he did. He broke the law, plain and simple, and his guilty plea is confirmation enough that even he knew he diddled the pooch.

The thing that amazes me here is that his celebrity status as an NFLer was not enough to keep him out of some prison time. Many of these guys, dumb as they are, will often walk because they carry a high profile. Not in this case, though. Was it the gun charge that was at the core of the follow-through on the part of New York authorities, do you think? Or is something else at work? Don't mean to sound like a tin foil wearer; just curious.

No, it wouldn't have. Try to remember that besides illegally carrying, he also caused an illegal discharge of the weapon in a crowded nightclub, removed evidence from the scene of a crime, and violated NY law by finding doctors who wouldn't report the incident.

illegally carrying= It would not have been Illegal

illegal discharge of the weapon -> accidental discharge

removed evidence from the scene of a crime, and violated NY law by finding doctors who wouldn't report the incident. ===== NO REASON to try and hide the evidence -there would have been no reason to do that!!
Had NYC not had such overly restrictive Stupid laws designed to Deny Gun rights !!

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I'm not a big nightclub partier or anything, but we're missing one big point......who wears SWEATPANTS in a nightclub? Come on, this should be the real story here.

BTW, he broke the law. mandatory lectures by him in support of proper gun safety to at-risk kids would have been a more useful sentence than jail. kids look up to him, he could be a good spokesman for gun safety.

Guns and alcohol don't mix... neither do guns and morons.

On the other hand, morons and professional sports...

It should be remembered that New York City is not a fit place for any American that respects the heritage of freedom left to us by the Founding Fathers to be. It is nothing more then an infected, puss-filled pimple on this nation’s landscape.

Had this happened in Arizona, possession of the pistol would not have been an issue. Carrying in a nightclub and negligently discharging it would be. As long as no one was injured or worse, the penalty would have been one year, or less.

Burress is being made an example because of NYC government’s extreme hatred of guns, and nothing else. He must be punished to the extreme, as an example to both himself and others. For me, it is a reminder as to why I would never go near the place.

At least he actually gets what he deserved according to the law, unlike some other idiot pro football players who pretty much got nothing at all for what they did *coughVickcough*

illegal discharge of the weapon -> accidental discharge

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Discharging a firearm inside of city limits is a criminal violation in most places. NYC is not unique in that respect.

and agreed to a two-year prison term for accidentally shooting himself at a Manhattan nightclub.

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For some reason that made me laugh. "Sir, you shall withstand severe punishment for being so stupid that you injured yourself". Stupity should (and in this case DOES) hurt, but in real and figurative terms.