I just found out yesterday that Plaxico shot himself in an accident on Saturday, and now it looks like he is going to try to take a bunch of people down with him:
The New York police said on Monday that a hospital failed to notify them when Giants receiver Plaxico Burress arrived there early Saturday morning with a gunshot wound to his thigh, despite a state law requiring a doctor or hospital to report such violence to the authorities “at once.”
As a result, it took police detectives more than 13 hours to learn that Burress had been taken to the hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, after he accidentally shot himself in the right leg in a Manhattan nightclub.
“We are investigating the hospital’s failure to notify us, as required by law,” Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman, said Monday evening.
From what I understand, Bloomberg is grandstanding on the issue (and really, if there is an issue that doesn’t bother me when pols grandstand, it is gun violence), but Plaxico does face some very serious charges for having an unlicensed gun. If I heard correctly, he could face a mandatory minimum of three and a half years, which would effectively end his career in the NFL.
For the record- I detest mandatory minimums, think they should be abolished, and that we should let judges be judges again, but really am going to have a hard time crying for Plaxico. When will these guys learn to get bodyguards, and when will they learn that the law applies to them too? On top of everything else, he now appears to be sullying the name of the hospital that treated him, because you can almost guarantee that someone there did not report the incident because of who Buress is.
Incertus
The bit Stewart did last night on this was awesome–especially the bit about wearing some pants with greater heft if you’re going to put a gun in the waistband.
Bob In Pacifica
Early on in my life I decided not to go places where I have to carry a gun. After my time in the army.
John Cole
This. Especially if you think you are going to be drinking at that place until 2 am.
I still find myself sitting with my back to the wall whenever I am in a public place.
Garrigus Carraig
What does the hospital gain from heeding Burress rather than the law? Burress has no power over them, nor do the Giants. Someone’s gonna get fired, as well he/she should.
I’m guessing the vortex of stupid in whose center Burress lies just dragged them in. I feel dumber every time I read about this.
Frank Sobotka
My understanding is the 3 1/2 year minimum only applies if they can prove Plaxico had his gun on him with the intent to use it on someone else. He is claiming he only had it on him because he had so much money/jewelry. A lawyer friend I know says, given his lack of priors (and his celebrity status) he’ll get probation and a hefty fine.
As for the hospital — what the fuck were they thinking?
Svensker
It’s so sad. The guy is awesomely talented (not to mention simply beautiful to watch) and also a total fuckup. What a waste.
Fritz
Pity he didn’t learn any elementary gun safety before he started carrying.
Cassidy
@Bob In Pacifica: I hear ya. The gun(s) is for home and and for enjoyment of a hobby. Taking it out in public is not an option.
South of I-10
Obviously needs a gun safety class. I think it is really stupid to take a gun to night club, alcohol and guns don’t mix very well. That aside, could he have had a concealed carry permit? I don’t know the laws in New York.
Paul L.
Because the victims of gun violence have absolute moral authority.
;.
Keith
Wow, that’s a bit amazing that for carrying a handgun one time, you can be forced to serve approximately the same amount of time (at a minimum!) that Michael Vick served for multiple counts of felony dogfighting & mistreatment of animals.
Garrigus Carraig
@South of I-10: He had an expired concealed-carry permit in Florida, which would not have been recognized by New York even if still valid.
I guess he’ll be headed for the Cowboys, once this all shakes out.
Cassidy
@South of I-10: Technically yes, but NYC’s gun permits are notoriously hard to get.
Hey, hey, hey, enough of the Cowboys cracks. Everyone deserves a second chance.
John PM
I go back and forth on the issue of letting judges be judges. The phrase I hate the most in the law is "abuse of discretion," which is the standard under which an appellate court reviews most of the rulings of a trial judge. In practice, this means that a judge’s ruling will not be overturned on appeal as long as the judge can provide the bearest shred of reasoning for his/her decision. On the other hand, mandatory minimums do not allow for the consideration of extenuating circumstances which could reduce a sentence. However, with sentencing guidelines, you can reduce the disparity between sentencing from judge to judge. I think the best resolution would be no mandatory minimums but firm mandatory maximums for each crime.
Garrigus Carraig
@Paul L.: I think you just pwned yourself.
Josh E.
Why haven’t the wingnuts rallied to his cause? Aren’t they always telling us after incidents such as VaTech or Columbine that the problem is lack of concealed weapons and a lack of manly men willing to put their self-defense in their own hands? Here you have a guy doing exactly that, and I don’t hear anything from them. Why isn’t he a victim of an unjust nannystate in the eyes of Confederate Wankee and Glenn Reynolds? Plaxico should be their MLK.
Comrade Stuck
He is, and will continue to be eternally punished for being an idiot. This is one reason I don’t plan to set foot back in the east. Too damn many dumb laws. No gun laws of much consequence here in the high desert. No gun registrations and everyone not a felon can strap on a sidearm and is free to shoot themselves in the leg any time they please.
Funhouse Musing # uno
you can’t deter stupid, no matter what laws are passed.
ET
Garrigus – this is all about doing a favor for a famous person. It requires no quid pro quo and likely one was never assumed. It is all about people liking the, what I like call, "A Brush with Greatness." It makes them feel "special" or "in." It’s part and parcel of the celebrity culture that much of America loves even though it says it doesn’t.
Paul L.
@Cassidy:
Unless your name is Charles Schumer.
random asshole
Doctors aren’t stupid about these things, especially in New York City. If it wasn’t reported, I doubt it’s so much a result of who Burress is as it is the fact that someone probably paid off a doctor.
Garrigus Carraig
@ET: Maybe so, but the density of celebrities here makes that approach somewhat burdensome, which is why so many eschew it.
Cassidy
Stupid should hurt.
South of I-10
@John PM: I would like to add manifest error to your list.
Comrade Stuck
@Cassidy:
A bullet in the leg ain’t Tea with the Queen.
Comrade Darkness
Legality aside, what idiot sticks a firearm in their waistband like some two-time movie hood/cop? Aye, what a moron. There are a plethora of concealed weapon holsters out there and he certainly could afford one. Clearly deficit at thinking things through.
gex
He should get himself some of that retroactive immunity that’s all the rage these days. Failing that, I hear that W’s been very generous in his gun related incident pardons…
minstrel boy
when i taught small arms in the navy i used to begin every class by having the young sailors put on the .45 and it’s attendant webgear. i’d watch them while they accustomed themselves to the heft and presence of that big pistol and it’s accessories.
then i’d give them the biggest lesson of the day.
"gentlemen, the first thing you have done by putting on that gunbelt and pistol is to have increased your chances of being in a gunfight by one. hundred. percent."
somebody should have told that to plaxico.
blogenfreude
@John Cole: I work 2 blocks from the club where the incident took place – in this part of midtown, the most dangerous thing is the big shots’ motorcades that scream in and out of the Waldorf. No way he needed to pack heat in this neighborhood.
Comrade Stuck
The kind that’s lucky they didn’t their Johnson off instead.
J. Michael Neal
Duh. He went to Michigan State. Probably graduated near the top of his class.
dr. bloor
I’d actually be interested in knowing how he ended up at Weill Cornell rather than NYU/Bellvue in the first place. Bellvue is closer to Latin Quarter, and their ER has, shall we say, a bit more experience with gunshot wounds.
DrDave
I am a lifelong Giants fan who really appreciated Plax’s play–injured as he was last year–but I cannot comprehend this year’s monumental stupid.
Missing meetings and practices, domestic disturbances, banged up rental cars. I would not have expected such self-destructive behavior from him. That said, the Jints have been fine in his absence. Toomer, Smith, and Hixon are playing well; Kevin Boss is stepping up.
So if Plax ends up in Dallas or Oakland, so be it.
Paul L.
@minstrel boy:
If you were training me, the first thing I would have thought on hearing that is "What a ignorant self important demagoging @$$"/
And what are chances of not being a dead victim like retired United States Marine I mentioned above who took "the law in his hands" by putting on that gunbelt and pistol.
tim serbo
another extremely constructive contribution to the discussion from Paul L. i’m disappointed, though, that he neglected to mention Mike Nifong’s part in this whole mishegas. c’mon, Paul, ya gotta bear down!
r€nato
Comrade Stuck beat me to it.
Zifnab
Paul L, please drop the pretense and get to the point. What does this have to do with Mike Nifong and the Duke Lacross Rape case?
D-Chance.
When will these guys learn to get bodyguards, and when will they learn that the law applies to them too?
If you can perform well enough in athletics, no laws or rules apply to you. You get promoted from grade to grade in school despite being illiterate, you have your ‘posse’ constantly hovering about you, you have every gold-digging babe throwing herself at you, you have million- and billion-dollar institutions pushing money towards you… the sky’s the limit. "No" is not a word in anyone’s vocabulary. Just keep making plays on the field, and society will bow at your feet. See: Vick, Michael. Hell, see: Vick, Marcus. How many chances did they get before their fall? Pac-man Jones? (insert name of dozens of other athletes here?)
But the above applies to all fields, not just athletics. If you can prove yourself a whiz in business, you can "do your own thing" with little to no consequence. Ditto for actors/actresses. Musicians. Politicians. Anything that’s high-profile. Society craves idols to worship, and they’ll overlook any discretion their "gods" may engage in until it becomes so egregious that they can no longer dismiss it.
Not to say that these people should be forced to live a, dare I say, CONSERVATIVE lifestyle… no one expected Burress to spend all his time stuck in his crib with warm milk and cookies, watching Disney movies 24/7; but at some point, the concept of "personal responsibility" (yes, it is a conservative thang, I guess) has to be instilled on these people. And it shouldn’t take 20 to 30 years into one’s life to learn this lesson. It’s a failure of everyone at every stage of that individual’s life… from parents to teachers to coaches to administrators to business owners to agents to corporate chiefs to the fans themselves.
Josh Hueco
@D-Chance.:
Shorter D-Chance: I’m with it. I’m hip. Tucka, tucka, tucka, tucka, tucka, tucka, tucka, tucka…MAC-arena.
Zifnab
When you say "conservative" lifestyle, do you mean living like "Hot Tub" Tom DeLay as you make your way down K-Street in pay-to-play politics, taking rides on corporate jets and junkets at St. Andrews Golf Course? Or like Ted "This Old House" Stevens, with his hundreds of thousands of unpaid house renovations? Or like Sarah "$150k wardrobe" Palin?
Or should you just buy a million dollar horseless Crawford Ranch before you run for President?
I’m not really sure what you mean. Please clarify.
Jay
And just some hours away anyone can carry a gun in a concealed manner and not get in trouble at all. Or course Vermont is a really white state. He’s at more risk of violence because of who he is (and a bodyguard may or may not protect him at a critical moment) than any Vermonters. He didn’t hurt anyone but himself. If he hurt someone else then he should be punished for that but that’s not what happened at all. Anyway, I’m sure the NRA will swoop in and take on the NY law right? Where are all the conservatives screaming about the right to bear arms?
The Moar You Know
What a moron. One in the chamber and jammed in his waistband. You don’t fucking carry on a full chamber, and that goes for both revolvers and semi-autos.
Too bad he didn’t blow his balls off.
Cassidy
@ Moar
Uh no…if you’re gonna carry, then carry like your gonna use it. The round in the chamber is not the problem. The cheap gun (Ilm assuming) w/out multiple safety features and lacking a holster was the problem.
Andrew
I read that used to be the case, but a few years ago the intent part was dropped and now it’s merely posession.
I don’t know anyone who knows anything about guns who recommends concealed carry without one in the chamber. No one is doing the Israeli draw. The key is that you don’t carry it in your waistband.
Andrew
It was a glock. Pull the trigger go bang. The lack of holster was the problem (well, the moron without the holster was the real problem).
Tsulagi
I’d go with that.
So this dumbshit was carrying a Glock, a weapon with a light trigger pull and no external safety, in his waistband? Brilliant. That’s a dick removal system just waiting to be activated.
Sounds like maybe he was pulling the weapon from his waistband not realizing he had his finger resting on the trigger. Lucky he just shot himself in the thigh.
However, if I was on the jury and my only option was to convict giving a mandatory 3.5 year sentence or not, I’d go with not. What would be the costs to house this guy for that sentence? $100k? More? I wouldn’t pay 100k for another guy’s stupidity.
Don
I live here in Virginia and I’m opposed to the restriction on our concealed carry law prohibiting concealed carry into any establishment that served alcohol. (Open carry, oddly, is just fine)
HOWEVER, for some clown to carry a pistol around while out drinking is flat-out reckless and should be criminal in and of itself. I -might- support an exemption for professional law enforcement, though even there the number of ways something that can go bad when a drunk has a gun outnumbers the circumstances where it could be good are about 10000:1.
Throwin' Stones
@DrDave:
The Bengals welcome this kind of behavior.
Xanthippas
Because the point of carrying the gun was to show it off, and only a nerd and a lower worries about things like gun safety and wearing a holster.
jk
Apparently he checked in under a fake name … Harry Smith and claimed to have been shot in an AppleBee’s. I have no real idea if this is true as no major news sources that I can find are reporting this. Maybe that is the hospital’s excuse for not reporting it sooner, but that doesn’t really make sense either as they should have reported a gunshot wound to a "Harry Smith."
Comrade Kevin
@jk: Was he perusing the salad bar with David Brooks?
Fritz
@41 — I have a concealed-carry permit and a Glock pistol. When I carry, I carry with a round in the chamber and the pistol in a good holster. That is pretty standard.
@45 — I would not say a Glock has a light trigger pull. A Colt .45 or a Browning Hi-Power (both of which I own), sure. But a Glock has a much harder trigger pull than either of those. But, yeah, it is insane to carry a Glock in anything that doesn’t have a positive shield around the trigger guard.
Tsulagi
Wrong.
Glock has a longer-distance pull due to its internal safeties in the trigger assembly, but not heavier. Stock, Glock models typically have a trigger pull of 5.5 lbs. Mil-spec on a Colt 1911 was 5.5-6 lbs. So about the same. I believe spec for the Browning Hi-Power is 7.5.
Of course they can be modified for a lighter pull. Real easy with the Glock as a cheap $10 disconnector widely available will drop the pull down to 3.5 lbs.
Not a Glock fan, though. Personally I luvs my HK45.
Jay C
@dr. bloor:
Since the Latin Quarter is about halfway between Bellevue and Weill Cornell, I’m guessing that either the EMT crew from the latter were the ones who caught the 911 call; OR Burress (or one of his posse) suggested they go uptown, as Cornell is in a MUCH better part of town – and thus, presumably, more celebrity-friendly (Fail).
AnneLaurie
I’m thinking that a guy who calls himself a "Confederate Yankee" is not going to be eager to defend a big not-white dude’s Second Amendment rights. Many of the SA-Absolutists of my acquaintance use ‘defense against scary minority thugs’ as their first-level argument in favor of mandatory concealed carry, so maybe I’m just an old white-lady cynic.
Glenn Reynolds, on the other hand, is only defending concealed carry until his deeply awesome laser-shooting robot body upgrade arrives in the Singularity mail.
Cassidy
@Tsulagi: I’ve neer liked Glocks. I don’t even like shooting them. I’ve got big hands/ long fingers and I feel like I’m holding a child’s building block. Plus, I like the external safety featurs on my Colt. I’ve never understood the fscination with Glock.
rachel
H&K makes some sweet shootin’ pistols, but there’s something about a Colt .45 revolver…
Reed
AnneLaurie mentioned:
.
Lol. What would’ve happened to a bling-loving, nightclub hopping sports personality carrying a heuristically-programmable semi-sentient pulse weapon?
Josh Hueco
@rachel:
I had a friend who owned a H&K USP 40. It was like a cannon with a handle, but no recoil. A beautiful thing to (be)hold.
Tsulagi
@rachel:
My dad has one of those. When pulling the trigger on that thing felt like I should be wearing some cowboy chaps, or a tin badge or something. It’s sweet, though.
Dave_No_Longer_Laughing
You fucking idiot. What the fuck are you on? Crack? NO ONE – especially the collective NRA, a Civil Rights Organization, dickhead – advocates bringing a gun into a bar. And they certainly don’t advocate shooting oneself, jerkoff.
Why don’t you shit in your hat and wear it, you idiot retard freedom-hating cocknozzle.
Comrade Glocksman
Two comments.
One, Plaxico should have stayed in Pittsburgh and applied for an easy to obtain Pennsylvania gun permit.
If he’d done that, this incident if it took place in Pittsburgh might have resulted merely in the suspension of his LTCH, as we call a concealed carry permit here in Indiana, instead of facing felony charges in hoplophobic New York City.
Making light of it, this Steelers fan would call it karma. :)
Two, what was the dumb sonofabitch thinking??
I’m legally licensed to carry here, but I rarely do so and I sure as hell would leave the gun at home if I planned a night of clubbing and drinking.
Guns and alcohol don’t mix.
Period.
As far as a glock’s trigger goes, IMHO the pull feels heavier than the stock specs say it should.
My guess it’s that way because it seems to ‘stack’ shortly before the endpoint is reached and the gun discharges.
I owned a stock Colt 1911A1 that had the same pull weight, but the trigger felt much more ‘even’ through its range, while the glock is almost like a short travel DA revolver pull.
I say ‘almost’ because I can’t really think of a better way to describe it.
Chinn Romney
I feel for Burress. He heard Pacman Jones and his Posse was in town doing the clubs, so naturally any sane person wants to be prepared. Yes, he used to have a team of Body Guards, but once he found out that Cincinnati wasn’t on the schedule this year he let them go. The economy’s in the crapper, don’t you know.