Plaxico Agrees To Two Year Jail Term

I think that Burress's penalty is overly stiff. But I also see two mitigating factors:
1) it was NYC, where they have a serious gun crimes problem. In a way I can understand why the penalties are so tough.
2) since the gun went off accidentally, what if it had been pointed accidentally in a different direction and an innocent person had been hit? What if a ricochet had hit an innocent person? Plax can hardly say that he could have prevented such events.

We do not punish harshly for "what if" crimes, we punish harshly for actual crimes. Just like a first DUI offender gets more of a slap on the wrist...but IF he killed someone (and his name was not stallworth) he'd go to jail for a LOOOONG time. There are all sorts of "what if" scenarios. We ALL speed, so "what if" we sped and lost control and hit someone? We would be punish MUCH more severely than if we got a speeding ticket.

Punish the crime, not the potential crime.

IF he killed someone (and his name was not stallworth) he'd go to jail for a LOOOONG time.

Punish the crime, not the potential crime.

You keep forgeting one very important fact,the victim..."contributory negligence"(there is a vidio). There was no malice by Sallworth(stupidity,yes)....he can do more good for the Family of the victim out of jail then in it.

I got yelled at on the Giant site ..so why not here.Stallworth and by no means am I making exscuses for him ....was dumb, stupid and just down right ignorant but he didn't have any malice or intent and there is a vidio of the person running out infront of him,now becuase of that, had they gone to court there might have been a chance that the jury would have gone against the victum ...you see in Florida if he contributed in anyway in his own death then the family would have gotten nothing,crazy yes but the law.

Why am I surprised....I'm not really. It is a ggirls site!

Break the law, carry a gun to a club, all for what? And your dumbass doesn't even know how to properly secure a weapon. Could have easily killed an innocent patron.

He's getting just what he deserves!

You and Joeredskin are absolutely right...I just can't stand to hear that Burress is getting hard time for breaking a law that didn't hurt ANYONE (other than himself).
Sorry, but I do believe that professional athletes are "targets" and they deserve the right to protect themselves. Of course Burress is an idiot shooting himself. This is NOT a 2 year offense people. This should have been a probation and community service sentence issue.
It's just not right to look at Stallworth killing someone and getting 20 days...and Vick torturing living beings and being barbaric and getting a similar sentence to a guy that didn't hurt anyone, nor did he have intent to hurt anyone. He just carried a gun and accidentally shot himself. We have some serious issues in this country in terms of actual issues. Just cause NY has no handle on crime in their state doesn't mean they should make an example of a completely innocent man.

They didn't. They made an example of a guilty one.

Actually, I don't entirely disagree with you. It's a draconian law but one that a majority of New Yorkers support. If you don't like the law, don't move to NY.

We do not punish harshly for "what if" crimes, we punish harshly for actual crimes. Just like a first DUI offender gets more of a slap on the wrist...but IF he killed someone (and his name was not stallworth) he'd go to jail for a LOOOONG time. There are all sorts of "what if" scenarios. We ALL speed, so "what if" we sped and lost control and hit someone? We would be punish MUCH more severely than if we got a speeding ticket.

Punish the crime, not the potential crime.


gun laws are a serious issue. even with a permit you cannot carry a loaded weapon in certain places, if you do and if you get caught, the penalty is severe. even worse if you discharge your weapon.

They didn't. They made an example of a guilty one.

Actually, I don't entirely disagree with you. It's a draconian law but one that a majority of New Yorkers support. If you don't like the law, don't move to NY.

While some view it as harsh, maybe just maybe these players will have a little more selfcontrol when going out.

He really got of lite because the manditory sentence is something like 3 1/2 years. If you think they made an example of him you would have to look at other cases where someone carried a gun into a bar and it went off by accident. I dont think the time fits the crime in this case but the law is the law. He was in the wrong place for that to happen and in just about any other state or city he probably would have had his gun permit taken away and maybe served 30 days or maybe just probation.

We do not punish harshly for "what if" crimes, we punish harshly for actual crimes. Just like a first DUI offender gets more of a slap on the wrist...but IF he killed someone (and his name was not stallworth) he'd go to jail for a LOOOONG time. There are all sorts of "what if" scenarios. We ALL speed, so "what if" we sped and lost control and hit someone? We would be punish MUCH more severely than if we got a speeding ticket.

Punish the crime, not the potential crime.

I essentially agree with you. Killing should be punished much more harshly than potential killing. The point I was trying to make is hidden in your comments, though. Notice that we do punish drunk drivers, even if they don't injure anyone, on the principle that they could have. We do, in fact, punish potential crimes, because that is what drunk driving laws are all about.

I essentially agree with you. Killing should be punished much more harshly than potential killing. The point I was trying to make is hidden in your comments, though. Notice that we do punish drunk drivers, even if they don't injure anyone, on the principle that they could have. We do, in fact, punish potential crimes, because that is what drunk driving laws are all about.

Excellent point. A+ professor!

Indeed, the criminal justice system does not punish "what if" crimes. It only punishes actual violations of the law.

Plax is not in jail because he took a gun to a nightclub where it accidentally went off. That is not his crime.

His crime is that he carried a concealed handgun which was unregistered. There isn't a lot of "what if" in there; he did exactly that.

Whether or not anyone likes it, that is a crime in NYC. And if anyone thinks that such a law violates the 2nd Amendment of the Constituion, then you also need to believe that there have to be thousands of idiots practicing law in NYC for the past several years because none of them has figured a way to get their aruguments heard in Federal Court to make the NYC law null and void. Highly unlikely...

You don't have to like it, but that is the law in NYC and Plaxico Burress broke it. Even his lawyer - - the same guy who got P-Diddy off on similar charges about 2 years ago - - said that Burress' case was virtually indefensible.

The law is there because the people who make laws in NYC voted it there and the people in NYC have kept those folks in office so the people there cannot be super-offended by the law. If you don't like that law, live somewhere else. If you have to live in NYC or visit there, obey that law or you might be spending time in the Crossbars Hilton with a roomate named Big Bopper.

Burress is not guilty of a "what if" crime. He is guilty of carrying a concealed unregistered handgun in NYC. That is what he plead guilty to; that is why he is going to jail.

TECHNICALLY, the security guard at the nightclub who picked up the gun after Plax shot himself is also guilty of violating this law; so is Antonio Pierce who took the gun from the security guard and then took it back to Burress' home in NJ. The grand jury chose not to indict Pierce so the argument that Burress only got charged because he was a "celeb" doesn't hold a lot of water because Pierce is a comparable "celeb". I don't believe the security guard was ever brought to the grand jury for consideration.