Browns' former top draft pick pleads guilty to gun charges

SFGate.com ^ | April 19, 2002 | AP

[corsair]

Browns' former top draft pick pleads guilty to gun charge

Friday, April 19, 2002 Breaking News Sections

(04-19) 09:37 PDT PITTSBURGH (AP) --

Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Gerard Warren pleaded guilty to a gun charge Friday, five months after he was arrested while attending a party thrown by Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress.

Warren, the Browns' top draft pick last year, was sentenced to one year of probation after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor firearms charge.

Police were questioning a passenger about suspected drug use in Warren's Chevrolet Suburban parked outside a nightclub on Nov. 20 when they spotted an empty gun holster.

According to a police report, a . 45-caliber Lock handgun belonging to Warren was found locked inside a console in the vehicle.

Warren had ownership papers for the weapon, but did not have a license for the gun.

[corsair]

Cleveland Browns football player Gerard Warren did not a have gun license!

[Clemenza]

I know Penn is a shall-issue state, but aside from that know nothing about its gun laws. Is their NY-Style registration? Is it illegal to have a gun stored in your vehicle a certain way?

[Alberta's Child]

Another crime story from the National Felon League.

[NEPA]

I'm a PA gun owner and I don't know of licensing. There has to be something missing from the story. Maybe he didn't have a CCW but you don't need one to carry in your vehicle although the gun has to be unloaded and I believe the ammo has to be separate from the gun (e.g., not kept in the same case)

[B4Ranch]

God forbid he should have saved his life or someone elses with that gun! Then he would have been sitting in prison instead of earning a living.

[Bikers4Bush]

Gun was loaded and in the console next to him. The vehicle supposedly wasn't his and the gun was "locked" in the console which he claimed he didn't have a key for. The police broke the console open and found the gun.

The article is misleading. I've never read anything about them seeing a holster which prompted a search. I doubt that a search prompted by the sighting of an empty holster would even be legal. Instead, they were searching for more drugs after they found some on the guy (also a Browns player but who was subsequently cut) sitting in the passenger seat.

[Alberta's Child]

Whether he should be allowed to carry the gun without a permit is not the issue -- the point is that he knew damn well that it was against the law but carried it anyway.

[DoughtyOne]

I believe that a loaded weapon in the passenger compartment is considered a concealed weapon in most states. Texas and a few others that allow hunting rifles on racks in the rear windows may be the exceptions. I'm not sure how hundguns figure into that equasion in those states.

[Travis McGee]

Interesting legal issues present here.

[PatrioticAmerican]

Most state allow for locked storage in vehicles. Something is missing in this story.

[Travis McGee]

I agree. Trust reporters to twist and mangle any gun story about 179*.

[B4Ranch]

(snip)
How long is it going to be before you will have to show a drivers license and a CCW permit to buy ammunition for the ole .38 or the great 9mm? The fantastic thing about having a CCW is that .......guess who has your name, age, address? yup the BATF. So when you are told to turn in your firearms and you don't, they will know exactly who didn't obey the law! Get ready, 'cause it's coming and too damn soon for my tastes.

Source

[B4Ranch]

Skin color, maybe?

[Joe Brower]

Evidently this guy's mistake was to not "have a permit for the gun". Must be that PA requires such a thing, or just in the city, or... ? Here in Florida, there would be zero problem. To keep a loaded firearm readily at hand in a vehicle requires no such instrument here in the sunshine state. With a shall-issue CCW, you can pack it right on you, in or out of the car.

That's the kind of freedom we need to get (re)installed in the rest of the U.S. For starters, anyway.

[tracer]

PA also issues CCW permits to non-residents with little hassle, and it also recognizes FL permits. His big mistake was keeping his .45 in the "accessible" mode within the passenger compartment of his vehicle if it was loaded (as he no doubt was). And Pittsburg also has its own firearms laws, as I recall.

Re: "Warren, the Browns' top draft pick last year, was sentenced to one year of probation after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor firearms charge," this news item should be filed under "Equal Protection Under the Law -- PA -- Future"......

[wardaddy]

I don't know Pennsylvania gun laws so I can't say without speculating but I'm guessing that the question of drugs opened up a whole 'nother can of worms. Drug searches are a useful tool for LEOs to then do the gun grabbing thing in the course of events. If one is caught with felonious amounts of drugs Fed statutue wise and is also found to be possessing a firearm....even if it's constructive possession...then they usually get a sweet 5 year enhancement to run consecutive to the original drug charge and it's subsequent ajudication. Even more if it's a transfer fee style black gun. In other words get caught with 10 years worth of dope and a machine gun and you are seriously toast.

[paul51]

One year probation sounds a little heavy to me if there was no other crime being committed.

[katana]

The story at the time of the arrest was that the police asked him if there were drugs or firearms in the car and he volunteered that there was a pistol locked in the console between the driver and passenger seats. He told them he didn't have a key to the console and they broke into it to retrieve the gun.

All in all, the quoted comments of the police were that Warren was polite and cooperative.

This will hopefully be the last time he accepts a party invitation from a Steelers player (Plaxico Burris). Pittsburgh is not the friendliest place for a Browns player to hang out.

[gridlock]

... a . 45-caliber Lock handgun belonging to Warren was found...

Yeah, that ol' 45 caliber Lock. A very popular model, I'm lead to understand.

[Squantos]

Time line in this story is making my noggin hurt.......?!?!?! Was/is he on probation from earlier breaking of smae kind of unconstitutional BS law ???

Stay Safe !