NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress will never be accused of being the smartest person around. If that qualifies as the understatement of the year…so be it. You only have 7 days to top it. 'Twas the night before Christmas and all through Plaxico’s house, not a creature was stirring, not even the guns the po-pos found.
Story HERE
Yes, authorities conducted a surprise search of Burress’ New Jersey home and found a handgun, rifle and ammunition for both. And oh yeah, the bloody clothes from when he shot himself in the leg at a nightclub.
Do note, the nightclub incident was almost a month ago. Also note, as of this editorial, Burress has yet to verify legal ownership and registration of the handgun found (a legally registered rifle was also confiscated).
In my initial research I took an informal poll of the message boards and blogs which featured coverage of this story. The sentiment was about 50/50. Half sided with Mo’Kelly that Burress is an inestimable idiot while the other half excused or explained away his behavior on some level.
Granted, this was anything but a scientific study, yet it was stunning how ANYONE could make excuses for Burress. From chants of “racism” (the surprise search) to outright ignorance of the NY/NJ gun laws…it was borderline unbelievable.
Note Mo’Kelly said, “borderline.” After awhile, this ceases to be surprising.
The common arguments submitted were along the lines that professional athletes are “targets” and have to go about protecting themselves in ways that ordinary people do not. On the surface it’s a reasonable argument. Javon Walker was robbed and beaten unconscious in Las Vegas. Alphonso Hodge was robbed at gunpoint at a Waffle House. Sean Taylor was killed in a home-invasion. Darrent Williams was murdered in a drive-by shooting of his limo. In fact, Burress’ teammate Steve Smith was robbed at gunpoint just days before Burress’ club incident.
The list goes on and on and that’s just a short list of NFL players who’ve been the victims of urban violence.
Whether professional athletes are targets is not the issue and the facts are clear that they are. The issue here is in how athletes choose to protect themselves...or more expressly, how they endanger themselves. The distinction explains why actor Will Smith, 10-100 times more visible/wealthy than most any NFL athlete, doesn’t feel the need to carry a gun with him to movie premieres. If you are going to a place where gunfire may presumably erupt, then you are choosing to put yourself in harm’s way and making yourself a target.
Safety for a professional athlete is NOT inherently different than safety for a lay individual. Safety begins and ends with smart choices made by the individual. Although I mentioned that NFL’er Alphonso Hodge was robbed at an Atlanta Waffle House, I didn’t include the facts that he was robbed of $8,500 in cash, 2 diamond earrings valued at $6,000, and a $20,000 bracelet. Safety first begins with common sense decisions that don’t increase one’s danger quotient.
Any person walking around with $35,000 in cash and jewelry can reasonably assume they are a target for urban violence. No gun will ever make that person safer because his/her decision-making process is already flawed at best. Bank robbers usually don’t make away with $35,000 scores and they have to navigate armed guards, silent alarms and lexan glass. Of COURSE a person at the Waffle House with $35k is a more attractive “mark.”
Although we all know about Burress’ gun troubles, I didn’t mention how just recently Burress was sued for a car accident in which he had let his premium lapse and had no coverage at the time of him rear-ending another car. No gun would’ve ever made Burress safer because obviously his maturity and responsibility level is that of a child. So not only did he not pay his insurance, he obviously refused to pay the damages either, hence the suit.
Safety doesn’t come in the form of a gun. In fact, for all the robberies we’ve read about, I dare you to find one instance in which a gun (or guns, plural) protected the life of a professional athlete, especially outside of his home.
Going further…
If these African-American men/athletes understand that they are “targets” then that reasoning should apply to each aspect of his safety. It’s not enough to argue that athletes are “targets” yet disregard how they routinely put themselves in “dangerous positions” with the judicial system. Michael Vick and OJ Simpson readily come to mind.
If you are compelled to have a gun, purchase it legally and register it accordingly. There’s never any reasonable excuse or explanation for having an unregistered gun or carry it without a permit.
Never.
One can’t argue the “sound reasoning” of possessing arms for personal protection, yet disregard the “sound reasoning” of going about it legally. "Sound reasoning" also includes avoiding those persons and places which may increase the likelihood of you becoming a statistic. Safety begins and ends with common sense. So, for all of Burress’ effort in “protecting“ himself, he’s been shot, faces multiple felony counts, and his football career in jeopardy. All of the things his gun cache was supposedly designed to protect, the cache is the principal reason they all will likely be taken away.
There is no reasonable argument to make on Burress’ behalf. A multi-millionaire should never need to have “questionable” firearms in his house or worse yet at the club. Ever. And to try to explain it away with “racism” or “self-protection” is almost as ignorant as the actions themselves.
The moment we as African-Americans stop searching for excuses to own firearms, especially the illegal ones, is the moment our communities begin to become less violent. It is the moment that fewer of our men go to jail and worse yet are killed.
The Mo'Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published weekly at www.eurweb.com. It is meant to inform, infuse and incite meaningful discourse...as well as entertain. The Mo’Kelly Report is syndicated by Newstex and Blogburst. For more Mo’Kelly, http://www.mokellyreport.blogspot.com.
Morris W. O'Kelly can be reached at mokellyreport@sbcglobal.net and he welcomes all commentary.
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