Guns in the NFL

[PWK]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2321631

"I think the vast majority of players in the NFL have guns," said Brown, who retired at the end of last season. "Just about every guy I played with in the NFL had a gun. Almost every player I knew had one. Guns are rampant in football. You have all these players packing guns wherever they go. It's a disaster waiting to happen."

A league spokesman, Greg Aiello, maintained that players' bags are searched on game days. The NFL has a broad policy that firmly discourages gun ownership and prohibits players from bringing guns to team facilities. League officials say they think the policy has been successful.

 

[Bill St. Clair]

There's a longer version of this article at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/26/sports/football/26GUNS.html?th

 

[geegee]

I gladly leave home on a regular basis and leave my wife alone with my guns. I can't say I'd feel so comfortable if the guns were replaced by professional athletes. geegee

 

[HABU]

The NFL has a broad policy that firmly discourages gun ownership

The NFL is anti? 'Course lots of players in the NFL are straight out of the 'hood.

Who is gonna boycott the NFL now?

 

[Zundfolge]

Who is gonna boycott the NFL now?

I will!

(of course I guess you have to give a damn about football in the first place for it to actually be a "boycott" so my efforts probably won't count)

 

[HBK]

I don't think the NFL is anti, but ESPN is. That Easterbrook guy that writes Tuesday Morning QB seems to be to the left of Kruschev. I hope the NFL is not anti. I always thought the NFL was the last bastion of conservative values in the sporting world.

 

[Matt G]

The NFL has a broad policy that firmly discourages gun ownership

Who is gonna boycott the NFL now?

Me, actually. What with the fact that, professionally, I would almost immediately view anyone who told me that they were professional football players as likely suspects, and the fact that their organization discourages personal firearm ownership-- I have no problem never again watching an NFL game.

Scroom.

 

[Neal Bloom]

Haven't watched an NFL regular season game in years. Really don't miss it.

 

[WvaBill]

I always thought the NFL was the last bastion of conservative values in the sporting world.

They ceded that distinction to motor sports. When your salary is directly linked to how you present yourself, you keep it clean. Or close.

 

[Scooter .45]

Hmmm, one of two possibilities:

1. The NFL's policy toward guns is successful in deterring mass slaughter.

2. Players have proven that large numbers of citizens can own guns without killing themselves or others.

I don't think the NFL or any other sport should promote a political view of any kind. They're in the entertainment business for the fans, and that's all. Why should they risk alienating any of their constituents? Yeah I know, political correctness and all that BS is why they do it. I just don't like it, conservative or liberal, I don't think it has any business in sports.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

I have never really understood why a bunch of grown men would want to watch another group of grown men chase a child's toy around in the yard.

It is a wonderful form of social control, however, as it keeps Joe Sixpack from actually having to think about the shabby state of his government.

I thought felons couldn't own guns, so how are guns rampant in the NFL?

 

[spacemanspiff]

money, lonegunman, money.

besides, hockey is much better than foolsball. my momma said so.

 

[Bill St. Clair]

I wrote the following letter to the editor of the New York Times:

To: [email protected]
Subject: Letter to the editor
From: "Bill St. Clair" <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 07:39:32 -0500

Mike Freeman, in his December 26 column about NFL players owning guns for security, appeared to be talking about handguns, but he just said "guns". In most of free America, outside of the Big Apple that is, people can buy long guns without any permit or license except the Second Amendment. I myself have a number of times in the last couple of years walked into a gun store in Albany with my credit card or a wad of cash in hand, laid down my driver's license, filled out a short form, and walked out with a rifle or shotgun and a supply of ammo. New York's Sullivan Act makes that more complicated with handguns. But in many of America's freer states (I know of 9, but will be surprised if such states are not in the majority), that's all it takes to legally acquire a handgun. And where guns are hard to get legally, New York City and Washington D.C. come to mind, the free (aka black) market provides, as always with anything people want that government has made hard or artificially expensive to get (can you say "cigarettes"? Thought you could).

I'm glad to hear that NFL players have armed themselves. They have realized that their lives are in danger and have asserted their right to life by acquiring the most effective known self-defense tool, the handgun. Like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, self-defense is a bodily function that you cannot safely or effectively delegate to someone else. The police will usually not be there during the two second emergency period when you really need them. A handgun will. Unless you've allowed yourself to be disarmed by government. And if you live in the Big Apple, and obey the law, you have.

The "...self-defense is a bodily function..." sentence is paraphrased from L. Neil Smith's The Atlanta Declaration, which I recommend reading periodically.

 

[badgerrr]

This all makes me wish I gave a rusty farkle about football, to begin with.

So I could stop watching it.

But it's been said before. Watching grown men chase around a childs toy just holds no interest for me. Never has.

 

[peashooter]

Having met a number of NLF players, I wouldn't want them armed, they might shoot themselves (who cares) or someone else. Most of the ones I have delt with that I am sure pack (Steve McNair comes to mind) have the IQ of a tree stump.

 

[WT]

A few years ago NY Jets player Damien Robinson showed up at the game with a Bushmaster and a couple of 30 round magazines. Guess he was really serious about beating Miami.

 

[Correia]

I remember SHOT show a couple of years ago, Rob Leatham was doing a demo for Springfield and he was working the crowd. The Superbowl was on right then. He asked the crowd: "So who are you guys rooting for?"
The answers were great. One guy shouted. "I don't know, who is playing?" Then somebody else yelled "Who cares?"

 

[Mike Irwin]

I know several current/former NFL players. Well armed to the man are they...

 

[Tactical]

Why would a 300 pound muscle bound gorilla need a gun?

 

[Idaho]

Never bring a 300 pound muscle bound gorilla to a gunfight.

 

[RQRWJB]

Back a few years when Missouri was first trying to pass CCW, both the KC Chiefs and StL Rams donated to the anti-CCW side. I believe it was $5000 each, according to the NRA.

 

[Mike Irwin]

"Why would a 300 pound muscle bound gorilla need a gun?"

To keep the other 300-pound, muscle-bound gorillas from stealing his bananas?

 

[Correia]

"Why would a 300 pound muscle bound gorilla need a gun?"

I don't need one. I need 28.

 

[AJ Dual]

It seems to me that it's more of an indictment of what the NFL thinks of it's players (justified or not) than it does of any larger RKBA issues, IMO...

 

[gulogulo1970]

Hey guys, lay off football. Its a wonderful, beautiful sport, even though it keeps me from shooting on Sundays.

Plus, if there wasn't an NFL all those fellas would be in jail or sticking up service stations.

And my Cowboys are in the play-offs!!!