Don't shoot yourself in NY!

NFL Super Bowl star Plaxico Burress pleads guilty to weapons charge and accepts plea bargain deal to go to prison for two years. That was the way our local newspaper wrote it. In case you've been on a desert island, Burress stuck a loaded handgun in his jogging pants and went to a NY night club. The thing went off, the bullet lodged in his thigh. And he is going to prison.

It is hard to argue with the law. Carrying a gun in a public place in such a way that it accidentally fires is public endangerment, which is, and should be, against the law.

Big mistake, Plaxico. But think of the reason why he did it.

More and more NFL stars are being assaulted by thugs hoping to prove their toughness by beating up someone they consider the very symbol of toughness, NFL football players. Anyone who has ever gone through full military foot-soldier training knows their is a vast difference between being able to stand up to the poundings of professional football play, and being able to survive a no-rules fight with some one interested only in inflicting bodily damage. NFL players are unequaled in the first. Largely inexperienced in the latter.

I remember Army Infantry basic training noncoms trying to explain to we rookies that hand-to- hand combat in war is not a college level wrestling match. Your opponent has one thought in his mind: your death. No rules. No ethics. He will rip your guts out unless you rip his out first.

Playing football has an entirely different mission: stop the forward progress of the ball. Yes, it requires brutally attacking the ball carrier. But when he is stopped, it is "mission accomplished". But the thugs attacking an NFL player in the street want to rip his guts out.

Surely Burress had no desire to shoot anyone, much less himself. But if attacked, he wanted to be able to produce an "equalizer" which would say, "Back off... I can defend myself."

I am a strong advocate of gun rights. I own four guns, all purchased and used for hunting. But I fully appreciate the use of a gun for self defense. Burress' most costly mistake was in not hiring a bodyguard who would have been capable of safely handling a gun and legally licensed to carry one. It was also a mistake to carry a gun and not know how to do it safely.

Therein lies another important lesson to be learned. This year, gun sales have soared. Americans across the country are buying guns because they feel a greater need for more personal security. (I suspect that Plaxico Burress was one of the new gun owners.)

I was in a large sporting goods store recently and witnessed several people wanting to buy 9mm ammunition. The store, they were told, was sold out. That could have been partly caused by government restrictions on manufacture of the ammunition, but was surely acerbated by increased demand.

So, here is the lesson. If you have recently purchased your first gun, do a bit of what we were required to do in Infantry basic training. Learn everything there is to know about the thing. Be sure all live ammunition is in the other room, then play with the gun. Take it apart and clean it. Put it back together again. Operate the safety over and over. Get to know everything there is to know about the weapon. Be certain you can handle the thing in the dark, with your eyes closed, and know exactly what you are doing. Then go to a shooting range or any safe, approved place, and practice firing that gun. Practice all you were taught about safe gun handling, and make sure you know how to hit your target.

Respect your weapon. In Army basic, woe be unto the rookie who got careless and dropped his rifle. He would have to carry it with him twenty four hours a day. Carry it to mess hall. Take it to bed with him. And never, ever let it get dirty.

If you buy a gun, put a trigger lock on it and store it safely somewhere without that period of total, intimate familiarization, you are asking for trouble.

And, above all, protect your gun. In the Army, a rifle is called a "piece". I remember a salty old non-com saying words to the effect that "In civilian life you had a piece (meaning girlfriend) whom you would protect against any danger. In the Army, your rifle is your piece. Protect it the same way." Twice in my lifetime I have let one of my guns fall into someone else's possession. In both instances, they were used in some abusive fashion. It is one thing to learn gun safety yourself. It is another to risk letting some untrained person have access to your gun - even for a moment.

Okay, I apologize for the sarcastic title of this post. I really feel sorry for Plaxico. He made a mistake - a dangerous one. He is being punished severely. Don't let it happen to you.