Methinks it’s because, deep down, he believes owning guns is and should be illegal. Despite handgun ownership being LEGAL in NY with a little paperwork (he sure has the funds to have a lawyer work thru the worst that even NYC would put him thru for one), and despite knowing unlicensed ownership in NY being a serious crime, he obtained and carried the weapon thru illegal means and in continuing violation of the law. Upon being caught and charged, he pled guilty (or mounted an inept defense) because he assumed he was. It never crossed his mind that being armed in defense of self, family, etc. is an INALIENABLE RIGHT for which he should, with his huge income, hire the best lawyers to defend (and even benefit state residents by overturning the oppressive prohibitions). Duly punished for what HE believed a crime, he indulges his remorse by promoting the notion that what he did was a crime.
Nobody ever cornered him and explained “you did nothing wrong, in fact what you did is explicitly protected in the federal Constitution and reflected as a civil right in state law; now get off your sorry *** and put some of that money to use to defend your rights and relieve the state’s residents!”
He did not see himself as an upstanding citizen exercising a right to defend life.
He saw himself as a bada$$ indulging the visceral excitement of a life of crime and money.
When caught, he acted according to his beliefs.
VERY well stated: he thought he was being a badass rather than being a conscientious exerciser of his 2A rights.
Colonel, USAFR