I don't have any more use for badly behaving pro athletes than anybody else, but Dave Kopel is right on this one:
New York Giants star receiver Plaxico Burress is facing a mandatory 3½ years in prison and the end of his football career. His crime? Not having a license, which New York City never would have issued him, for the exercise of his constitutional right to bear arams.
To be sure, Mr. Burress got caught because of what appears to have been stupid and irresponsible behavior connect with the handgun. But he does not face prison for shooting himself. His impending mandatory sentence highlights the unfairness and unconstitutionality of New York City's draconian gun laws.
The Heller case, for the first time, established the bearing of arms as an individual right, but, as this piece points out, the Supreme Court did not rule on whether the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments. As this case (or one like it) winds it way up the judicial ladder, that oversight might be corrected. So we may eventually have to thank Burress for his stupid behavior.
