So Roger's policy on guns for NFL players seems to basically boil down to, if you feel unsafe then get out of there. Or in other words you shouldn't need a gun stay somewhere safe.
Hey Roger, I'm thinking that Sean Taylor of the Washington Redskins probably didn't want to get out of his own home, or what about Jerome McDougle?
Do I think that players should be hanging at nightclubs that might be a bad spot? No, but to have the attitude that Goodell seems to have, that if the players just stay out of the shaky nightclubs they will be fine and never need worry about being attacked is a little bit over the edge as well. A lot of these guys get paid millions, that in and of itself makes them a target, then add to that the psycho sports fan fringe.
Now, on to the Plaxico Burress' accidental shooting.
Burress was injured in the early morning hours of Nov. 29 when a .40-caliber Glock he was carrying in his waistband slipped down his leg, and as he grabbed at it, he accidentally pulled the trigger and shot himself in the thigh.
What isn't mentioned in the article was that he was treated by a Doctor that was called in, not the attending ER doctors, also that he was treated under a false name. Now add to that carrying a Glock in the waistband, just plain stupid. I am no fan of Glocks, they shoot well, are quite accurate, are very durable (other than the plastic sights that they originally came out with) but the one truly fatal flaw in their line is the safety system, or lack there-of. They use a safety that is incorporated in the trigger, it is meant to make the gun "safe" but also simple to draw and fire, so in a crisis situation you don't have to fumble with a safety. The problem is if the trigger assembly gets caught on something, holster, waistband, shirt tail etc., or if you finger the trigger before you are on target, the gun fires. There are a significant number of accidental self-shootings and accidental discharges with this line of firearms, that alone in my book makes this a line to avoid. Do I think that these might be good for law enforcement? Perhaps, but I think that they require an entirely different level of safety training and day to day care in handling, in an emergency though I do see the advantage.
So as far as Burress goes, he gets paid tons of money, he can't afford a proper holster and training? Nah, he's just an idiot.
And of course the folks at SI in the Christmas Story spirit have a good comparison between Plax and Ralphie, check it out here.
Roger Goodell said the NFL has a strict gun policy in place. - NFL - SI.com
