Additional details of the Plaxico Burress incident came to light at the New York Giants wide receiver’s arraignment yesterday afternoon. For earlier GP coverage, see this and this.

In the New York Times:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the Police Department criticized the Giants, who they said neglected to notify the authorities of the shooting, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where Burress was treated, for failing to call the police about his gun-related injury, as state law requires.

The NFL says that it did, in fact, contact the police. Burress is out on $100,000 bail.

Here’s the story of what went down:

Burress arrived at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Manhattan at 1:20 a.m. Saturday morning, with four others, including two teammates.

The criminal complaint, released by prosecutors Monday, said that an onlooker then saw Burress near the V.I.P. area of the club holding a drink in his left hand and fidgeting his right hand in the area of the waistline of his pants. The witness then heard a single “pop” sound before hearing Burress say, “Take me to the hospital.”

Burress was on the ground, with his legs shaking, when a bloody gun — a .40-caliber Glock pistol — fell out of his pant leg and onto the floor, the onlooker said. Investigators believe that Pierce was standing next to Burress when the gun went off. The bullet, which broke through the skin of Burress’s right thigh and pierced muscle tissue, traveled through the leg before lodging itself somewhere in the club.

The handgun was later found, minus magazine and with an empty chamber, in teammate Antonio Pierce’s vehicle.

I think it’s safe to say that no one was following any safety rules. Or common sense. Or the law, for that matter.

Expect the Brady Bunch to jump on this and claim that Burress represents one of the “law abiding gun owners” and, as one, is an example of why gun ownership should be outlawed. Never mind that Burress was in possession of an illegal gun without a permit to carry any concealed weapon in a state that didn’t honor the permit he previously had in an establishment that serves alcohol and was drinking.

Plaxico Burress & Antonio Pierce partying after their Super Bowl win in February

He surrendered to New York City police this morning, and more details about this incident are emerging:

[His lawyer, Benjamin] Brafman said Burress held a gun permit in Florida. Online records show that the permit expired May 21. Even if it were renewed, it would not matter. According to New York law, one must hold a New York gun permit to carry a concealed weapon in the state. Burress does not.

Burress also did not have a permit to carry a firearm in New Jersey, his state of residence, according to Chief Robert Coyle of the Totowa Police Department. He added that a Florida permit was not recognized in New Jersey. “He wouldn’t be able to carry here at all,” he said.

Linebacker Antonio Pierce is directly involved as he appears to have carried Burress’ gun into New Jersey.

The story includes some comments by Giants co-owner and president John Mara:

To prevent situations like Burress’s, the league and its teams meet with players every year to try to educate them about gun possession and the complications of it, Mara said.

“Players, for whatever reason, feel the need to carry guns,” Mara said before the game. “It’s not something that we’re particularly pleased about, but that is the choice that they make. You’d like to think that most of them are licensed to do that, but I’m not sure that is always the case.”

Just a week ago I pointed out a post at Rustmeister’s Alehouse discussing security issues surrounding NFL players.

Uncle points out that Mike Ditka says the NFL should prohibit players from owning guns.

What’s a bigger problem in the NFL? Gun incidents or motor vehicle incidents? I’d be there are a thousand speeding/DUI/accident stories involving NFL players for every gun-related story.

I missed the part where Ditka said the NFL should prohibit players from owning cars.

And, yes, I’m aware that there’s a difference between owning guns and owning cars.

The difference is that one of them is a God-given right that is guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

UPDATE: Link to the NYT story corrected to point to the same story it pointed to when I wrote this. More details about exactly what happened: Burress Arraigned; More Details

WR Plaxico Burress

Giants WR Burress suffers accidental gunshot wound

New York Giants star wide receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg Friday, according to multiple media reports.

Burress was hospitalized with gunshot injuries Friday night that were not believed to be life-threatening, FOX Sports.com reported Saturday.

A spokesman for the Giants on Saturday told PA SportsTicker that the team had no comment, although they acknowledged they are aware there was an incident.

Details are few. Gun cleaning accident? Hunting accident? Something more serious, possibly not an accident?

The sketchy information makes one wonder, but I’ll buy the accident story unless something more convincing surfaces.

UPDATE: Apparently happened in a nightclub. So was Burress carrying a concealed weapon? With a permit? In an establishment that serves alcohol? Was he drinking?

UPDATE 2: More info here.

Charter Arms announces the Charter Arms Rimless Revolver (CARR) a revolutionary new rimless revolver for popular semi-auto cartridges.

From the press release:

Available Calibers: Charter Arms will first offer the .40 S&W chambering, followed quickly by the .45ACP and 9×19 mm Parabellum (the 9mm Parabellum revolver will also chamber factory .380ACP). All three of Charter Arms’ Rimless Revolvers (9mm, .40 and .45) are rated for higher velocity +P loadings.

The advantage is now the average gun owner can own an affordable, trouble-free revolver chambered in these popular semi-auto rounds without the need for specialized ammunition clips and a specialized gun.

Back up and self-defense: For law enforcement work the always ready-to-fire, fiddle-factor-free revolver is the back up to have; especially if is the same caliber as the officer’s carry gun. As a primary self-defense carry gun, these three calibers mean reliable protection in popular semi-auto self defense-calibers.

If more power is needed, step up to +P ammo. The advantage with Charter Arms Rimless Revolvers is they will fire any mix of cartridges while maintaining 100% reliability. For plinking with .45ACP or 9mm surplus and discounted military type ammo, the affordable Charter Arms Rimless Revolver will prove to be very economical and it’s also a .380 revolver. Now that is fun!

The secret is the patent-pending Charter Arms Rimless Revolver Round System. Basically, when a round is loaded into the chamber a specialized spring engages the cartridge’s ejector groove. When the cylinder is opened and the ejector rod operated, it extracts and ejects the fired cases.

Models: Initially snubbarrels (2″ 9mm and 2.2″ .40 and .45ACP) as these revolvers are designed for self- defense and back up. The 9mm is built on Charter Arms’ compact and lightweight undercover platform featuring an aluminum frame and weighing only 12 ounces. The .40 and .45ACP built on the popular and robust Bulldog frame due to the larger diameter of these cartridges while maintaining a compact profile.

Availability: First quarter of 2009.

MSRP Prices: 9mm $399.00, .40 $449.00, .45ACP $449.00

That .40 looks pretty good to me. Particularly for carry. I expect that these will sell well to a wide range of shooters.

Alphecca notes that the concealed carry permit renewal rate in Minnesota, with the first batch of permit holders coming due, is only about 50%.

That seems odd.

This is something I’ve meant to link to for some time: An animated map showing the progression of CCW laws by state over time 1986-2006.

It’s been around for a while, bit it’s worth a look if you’ve missed it before.

Why I intend to carry a handgun

I never felt unsafe. Not until I moved to Florida alone. Now I’ll take my chances on fighting for myself. I haven’t had much luck with the kindness of strangers.

Not completely sold on her given reasoning as being anything earth-shaking, but then you shouldn’t need an earth-shaking reason to decide you might like the ability to defend yourself.

Is my mother supportive? No. She jokes about it with my brother and calls me little (Sarah) Palin but something tells me she’s not sold on the idea.

“Why would you want a gun?” she said. “What if someone uses it on you?” “What if it goes off by accident?” “Do you even know how to use a gun?” “What if the other person has a gun too?”

“Little Palin?” That’s hilarious. I’ve decided that Palin truly is a Republican star. Not necessarily because of how much Conservatives like her, but because of how much Liberals hate hate hate her.

And I guess I’d sure want a gun “if the other person has a gun too.” Especially then. But I’m familiar with the (lack of) reasoning her mother displays in her questions. The writer is from Washington, DC, and I’ve seen the same line of thinking from Chicago natives. It has just been driven into so many people in places like that that guns are evil evil evil. They simply cannot imagine a way to regard firearms with anything but pure revulsion.

I’ve read a number of similar “gee, I’ve never owned a gun before but now I’m getting my concealed carry permit” stories by journalists in the past year or so. I always wonder if it negatively affects their careers.

Q&A meeting set on concealed carry law

Residents are urged to attend an informational meeting regarding the concealed carry law referendum that is on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Benton Public Property Commissioner Ronnie Baumgarte said the meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. in the Benton Elks Lodge, 167 Industrial Park Road.

Illinois Carry spokesperson Valinda Rowe said the town hall meeting would include a question-and-answer period.

Illinois is one of only two states with no form of concealed carry law for general citizens. The upcoming referendum would not change any laws, but it could be a first step in the right direction.

“Illinois needs to look at this and join the rest of the country in passing the concealed carry law,” Rowe said. “Michigan passed a concealed carry law in 2001. At that time Jennifer Granholm was the attorney general and she was against the law. Seven years later, she is now governor. All of her fears have been proven unfounded. The law works great in Michigan and in all of the 48 states in which it has been passed.

“We have not been able to get the leadership in Springfield to move this legislation through the system,” Rowe said. “Tonight’s informational meeting will help residents understand the need to pass the referendum to send a message to Springfield to adopt legislation pertaining to a concealed carry law. I encourage citizens to attend the meeting.”

The Buckeye Firearms Association reports that the Ohio Department of Transportation has ordered that all “No Guns” signs posted at Ohio rest stops be removed.

This action is in response to passage and implementation of Senate Bill 184, which included several major fixes to Ohio’s concealed handgun licensure law.

The law took effect September 3, but gun owners continued to see the problematic signs at highway rest stops.

Police search for suspect after 4th robbery of pizza delivery driver

Police are investigating four separate robberies of pizza-delivery drivers since Tuesday, with the latest hold-ups coming within an hour of each other Thursday in the same two-block area, authorities said.

No CCW in Illinois, of course.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, in Iowa, pizza guys get to fight back. And sometimes get fired for it.

Well, despite losing his job for defending his own life, the pizza guy lives on while the loser who tried to rob him will be sentenced, along with his co-conspirator girlfriend, in December.