Well, what, actually, did Plaxico do wrong besides break the law? It seems to me that he carried a potentially dangerous weapon stupidly and negligently, as proved by the events that followed. Fortunately, no one was injured by his negligence, as is often the case with common stupidity. Had someone been injured, he would have been civilly liable apart from any criminal law, so there is no need for the criminal law to react to the issue of possible actual damages, since that is already addressed by civil law. The question is really what we as a society wish to do about unintentional stupidity. I may be mistaken, but I believe that we don't generally discourage people from unintentional stupidity by anything more than very specific laws proscribing the stupid conduct and providing for significant fines if the law is disobeyed and the person is caught. With all of New York's and NYC's laws against handguns, I'll bet there isn't ONE that tells Plaxico and other slow people how to carry a handgun safely. The dip***ts who pass these laws have no more useful advice to give Plaxico on carrying a gun than they do on brain surgery.
I think he's stupid and irresponsible. I think that he should be fined enough to make him notice it (which, in his case, is quite a bit money). While I understand and sympathize with the arguments comparing his case to others, I think the NY law is dead wrong, as usual, and I think that ALL citizens (and legal aliens, for that matter) should be treated as the Constitution of the United States directs.
