Don’t Free Plaxico Burress

It’s a bad idea to make Plaxico Burress the newest poster child for Second Amendment rights. Dave Kopel gives it a noble try in today’s Wall Street Journal, but I think he misses something important.

His main point, that the plain language of the 2nd Amendment and the recent SCOTUS Heller decision make New York City’s gun ban (and Burress’ criminal charge for merely possessing a handgun) unconstitutional are, I believe, right on. However, Burress did endanger lives with his negligent handling of his firearm and I think he’s fortunate that he wasn’t charged with something more serious. The facts of the case, as Kopel relates them, are pretty clear. Burress tucked a loaded handgun in the waistband of his sweatpants. The gun wasn’t safe because it went off when his finger accidentally hit the trigger. Burress had at the very least been drinking alcohol at the time the gun went off, and he may very well have been drunk. That all adds up to criminial negligence. It’s not clear whether Burress had a valid concealed carry permit for the state of New Jersey, where he now lives (He had one in Florida, but it’s much tougher to get one in the “almost never issue” state of NJ than in the “shall issue” state of FL). If we assume, fairly, that he didn’t have a valid conceal carry permit, then he broke yet another law by carrying the gun in New Jersey..

So even if New York City didn’t ban guns, Plaxico Burress likely could have (and probably should have) been charged with the illegal carry in New Jersey and at least one count of reckless endangerment in New York. The simple fact is that he was careless and, no matter how much Kopel tries to downplay that carelessness, it could easily have led to someone’s death. I’m willing to be that had he been charged with negligence, it would have carried a more stiff penalty than the gun charge he’s facing now. The prosecutors appear to have taken it easy on him.

I agree that New York’s gun ban runs directly counter to the Second Amendment and should be struck down. I don’t think that we gun rights proponents need to use the wildly reckless Plaxico Burress as our poster child to get that done though.

Other Posts of Interest:

• SCOTUS Says You Do Have an Individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms
• DC’s Heller Dishonesty
• If They Can’t Track 36K Guns, What Are They Going to Do with a City Full of Them?

Tags: Dave Kopel, Plaxico Burress, SCOTUS, Second Amendment, Wall Street Journal

Category: Guns Guns Guns