Enough Is Enough: The Plaxico Burress Predicament

Admittedly, Plaxico Burress screwed up! You will not find any logical argument to defend the outcome of his decision to carry a loaded firearm. However, the crucifixion that has occurred as a result of his bad decision has brought about unnecessary repercussions that are unwarranted and unAmerican! 

The only victim in this ordeal has been himself...Really, he shot himself in the leg!

The last time I checked, we live in America, where people are innocent until proven guilty. Unless, in this case, you are a high-profiled athlete or celebrity. While it has not helped his case with public sentiment that he was already suspended and fined this season for making a bad decision, the media and sport pundits have not made any attempts to look at his predicament objectively.

Emmit Smith of all people was calling for Giants to get rid of Burress because he would be a distraction. Smith is the same person that defend Michael Irvin all those years because Irvin was a valuable asset to their team. 

Does the word hypocrite seem accurate? The only distraction that would occur would be in the personal focus of Burress having to deal with a tiresome legal system. 

It is not hard to imagine a star athlete in New York at a nightclub, where anything is bound to happen to jeopardize his/her ability to perform their exceptional talent. In this case, what evidently happened is self-inflicted. How many times before has it been reported that athletes or celebrities are in altercations where they are the ones shot at from someone else. 

In addition, the last time I checked, New York is not the safest place in America to be whether your a high paid athlete or not. Someone of Burress' status is like walking onto a firing range with a huge bullseye pinned to his chest. No matter how you justify it, successful athletes are targets and vulnerable as much or more than most average citizens.

What needs to be considered is the reason and rationale for why Burress carried a concealed weapon. Granted, he did not have a permit, but when has that stopped a criminal from pulling out a gun (registered or not) and shooting someone?

The fact that he had the weapon as a source of protection is a prime example of why we have the Second Amendment, which gives us the right to bear arms. Furthermore, Burress lives in New Jersey, so even if he did have a valid permit, it would not have been for New York (which requires their own exclusive permit).

Simply, this is a matter of government targeting lawful citizens that desire to protect themselves when they wont. As John Locke put it, the government has a social contract with those it governs. In way too many cases, the government fails to uphold their end of the contract, which leaves citizens left to their own means to do what the government should do... Such as self-protection.

Shooting himself in the leg was dumb. But when was the last time you made a dumb decision? How many people do you know that have done dumb things that got them tangled up in our overbearing legal system? Making a dumb decision that hurts no one else beside yourself should not be against the law.

Burress made no attempt to harm anyone or even display the firearm in a threatening manner. He simply just shot himself in the thigh!

Now that the Giants have made their position known in dismissing Burress for the remainder of the season, Burress will be able to focus entirely on making better decisions. No one is immune from making dumb decisions, and if anyone says differently, they are lying.

It was once said, "Liberty is the right to choose, freedom is choosing the right choice." Let's not deprive any American their right to choose and suffer the consequences accordingly.  The humiliation of a self-inflicted gun-shot wound should be punishment enough.