Posted on 12/01/2008 11:41:39 AM PST by Jersey Republican Biker Chick
A fuming Mayor Bloomberg said Monday he wants Giants player Plaxico Burress prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law" for accidentally shooting himself in his leg with an illegal handgun.
The mayor also called on prosecutors to throw the book at officials of the Giants and New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell for reportedly not alerting police about the shooting immediately, as required by law.
The incident reportedly occurred early Saturday inside the crowded LQ nightclub in midtown. Sources said the loaded gun Burress was packing slipped down his pants leg and went off as he fumbled to grab it. He was struck in his right thigh.
"It's pretty hard to argue the guy didn't have a gun and that it wasn't loaded," said Bloomberg, lashing out at the Super Bowl receiver. "You've got bullet holes in and out to show that it was there."
Bloomberg, who has been leading a national crusade against illegal guns, noted that under New York law if you are convicted of carrying a loaded illegal handgun "you go automatically to three-and-a-half years in the slammer."
"And I don't think that anybody should be exempt from that," he added. "And I think it would be an outrage if we don't prosecute to the fullest extent of the law."
"Our children are getting killed with guns on the street," the mayor commented during an unrelated press availability in the Bronx. "Our police officers are getting killed with guns in the hands of criminals."
A mayoral spokesman said Bloomberg was referring to the state law he successfully pushed through Albany last year that changed the penalty for illegal possession of a loaded illegal handgun from a one-year sentence to a mandatory minimum 3 1/2-year sentence.
The mandatory sentencing would apply if Burress is convicted as charged, but not necessarily if he is offered a plea bargain.
The mayor said that "people who live in the public domain" should be especially held responsible for their conduct because "they are the role models for our kids."
Not prosecuting celebrities and notables who "make their living because of their visibility" would make "a sham, a mockery of the law," the mayor asserted.
As for hospital officials who allegedly didn't immediately report that Burress had been brought to the hospital and treated, the mayor said, "It's a misdemeanor, it's a chargeable offense, and I think that the district attorney should certainly go after the management of this hospital."
He scoffed at the hospital's "lame execuse that they didn't know. This is a world-class hospital in a city where we all know what goes on in the streets of our city and where all should be working to get guns off the street."
He said those who treated Burress didn't immediately call the police and the hospital management "should make sure that the people that didn't no longer work there."
The mayor said the police only found out about the shooting incident from a TV report.
"The hospital didn't call and the Giants didn't call," he said. "And the Giants should have picked up the phone right away as good corporate citizens. I don't care whether (there is) the legal responsibility for them to do it."
“...inside the crowded LQ nightclub...”
My state (NM) allows open carry, and the CCW license requirements seem pretty reasonable to me. But even here, you can’t take your concealed handgun into a place where alcohol is consumed. I’ve heard people say that is an unreasonable restriction, but personally I’m OK with it.
Yeah, whazzup with Bloomberg wanting to lynch the young fellow?
Well I am still bitter about the "Tuck Rule"!! It was a fumble damn it!!
;oP
Vick should be suspended from the NFL for life.
Whether the law is an assault on people's right or not, it is still; the law in NY. He broke it. He should not get preferential treatment because he is an NFL player. He should be judged the same as any regular citizen would be.
The tuck rule resulted in a controversial finish to an NFL playoff game on January 19, 2002, between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders.
Neener, etc.
Bloomberg = voter mandated term limits ..pfft
Bloomberg = gun laws ...off with his head
prissy billionaire hypocrite
Damn, why couldn’t this had happened before the Giants-Packers NFC title game? Plaxico completely made Al Harris his b-—h.
thanks, bfl
Amen to post 44.
New York state is sooo screwed up.
I get nervous driving in NY with a gun in the car.
It’s an unjust law. People have the right to protect themselves, and when the law and one’s God-given right to protect oneself conflict, self-protection comes first.
I live in Oregon, a must-issue CCW state, and am legally licensed to carry, and I do carry. If I did that same thing in NYC I’d go to prison for 3 1/2 years.
Do you not see the unjustice in that?
Ed
You may see it as injustice but it's still the law.
>Screw the law when it compromises your God given rights. The right to self-defense is non-negotiable.<
Wrong. The right to move out of NY state is held for all. If a city of anti gun rights people wish to enforce their laws AND the people of that city don’t resist them, then I say leave the laws alone because that’s what the people want.
I can live my life in total peace knowing that I will never go to NYC or Chicago. I met a guy and his wife last year who moved out of California when they passed the law about no .50 caliber weapons in the state. He wasn’t upset, nor was his wife. They sold the house and moved to Nevada.
Plaxico could have said he wanted the Giants to provide him with security when he goes clubbin’. I am sure they would have made arragements for that in his contract if he’s so valuable to them.
So then what are you going to do when gun bans go federal and nationwide? You going to move elsewhere?
My right to self-defense cannot and will never be abrogated by legalisms.
Because it's more "gangsta" to do it the stupid way.
Poor choice of words. Unfortunately, and by definition, yes it can....
Main Entry: ab·ro·gate
Pronunciation: \ˈa-brə-ˌgāt\
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): ab·ro·gat·ed; ab·ro·gat·ing
Etymology: Latin abrogatus, past participle of abrogare, from ab- + rogare to ask, propose a law more at right
Date: 15261 : to abolish by authoritative action : annul
2 : to treat as nonexistent
I believe Mr. Burress is about to learn just how thoroughly his right to carry a gun can be abrogated. As would yours would be, were you to be caught in the same circumstances.
We can (and do) agree that the law in question is not a good one, but raybbr is correct: it is the law in NY. Your penalty for defying that law in NY could be rather dire, depending on your willingness to assert your right.
When they go nationwide that’s when I’ll have to decide who has earned a spot in the crosshairs.
Darwinism at work.
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