Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Legal and Illegal

New opinions are surfacing about the Harrison case.

Mike Freeman says Marvin is wrong just for owning the kind of gun he owns.

Sal Paolantonio thinks Marvin is wrong for living where he lives.

Both men are incredibly wrong.

Let's be clear: If Marvin Harrison shot someone for any reason other than imminent self defense, he should go to prison.

If Marvin Harrison gave his gun to someone else to fire it for any reason other than imminent self defense, he should go to prison.

But if Marvin Harrison is guilty of living in a violent inner city neighborhood and legally owning a registered firearm, then his critics need to get a life. It is a normal thing for a man to want to live near his family and friends. No matter how rich someone is, he has a right to live where he wants and run whatever kind of legal businesses he wants. Harrison's gun might have been used in a crime. It might have been used in self defense. Harrison may have acted reasonably; he may have been negligent; he may have been murderous. These are the only issues. Anything else is just self-righteous blather.

Arguing that there is no reason to own such a gun as Harrison's is like arguing that there is no reason to own a Lamborghini or a Porsche. In one sense that's true. A 1970 VW Bug will get you to work just the same, but rich people tend to like nicer, fancier versions of everything. Those that like cars own nicer cars. Those that like to cook have deluxe kitchens even though the old Sears range will boil water just the same. Some people like guns. Personally, I don't. I have moral reasons for disliking firearms and not owning one. Those are my issues and choices, however. Harrison likes guns. He is rich, therefore he likes expensive tricked out guns. That is neither surprising, nor illegal, nor inherently immoral or stupid.

He's guilty or innocent based on what he did or didn't do. Not based on where he lived and what kind of gun he chose to legally own and carry. A shooting isn't any more evil or heinous if the gun is a small pistol or a crazy Belgian hand cannon.

Demond Sanders: Well said. This is a ridiculous effort from Mike Freeman. I'm actually kind of shocked that Kravitz let Freeman beat him to this kind-of-obvious-totally-unfair-jump-to-conclusions column.

In other news, the ad wizards have combined two of my favorite things: Indy car racing and Indiana Jones. Yes, I will be rooting for Marco Andretti's #26 car on May 25th.

DZ adds: I'll add Prisco's piece to the end of this. He sort of gets off track when he talks about Harrison sitting alone on the bench (he does it when he's caught 3 TDs. He does it when he's got 2 catches for 13 yards), but he does do a mostly credible job of basically saying, "We have no idea who this guy is." The first page is a little weird, but he rights ship on page two.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said.

chipbennett said...

What do you want to bet, Marv couldn't win no matter what here?

Had he moved out to the 'burbs, he would have been "guilty" of abandoning his "people".

Had he owned, say, a jewelry store instead of a bar, he would have been "guilty" of selling out and of abandoning his roots.

On the other hand, perhaps Harrison just wanted to contribute to his community, in order try to bring some economic benefit to that community?

Bad things happen in rough places. I'm sure Harrison knew the risks full-well.

As for his guilt, I'm perfectly content to let the legal system do its job. No need to jump to sensational conclusions. As you said, the truth regarding his actions will determine his guilt or innocence.

Anonymous said...

In other news, Dominic Rhodes is expected to come back to indy

SOurce: Adam Schefter NFLN. stampedeblue.com

Jacob Burch said...

dom dom coming back, looks like:

http://rotoworld.com/content/HeadLines.aspx?sport=NFL&hl=116052

Jacob Burch said...

damn my laggy browser.

Anonymous said...

A Five-seveN is not a "Hand-Cannon" it is not comparable to a desert Eagle. It uses low caliber, moderate penetration ammunition and is practical for self-defense.

Anonymous said...

Ask anonymous if he's ever squeezed a desert-eeg.

Anonymous said...

Anon-

have you ever fired a desert eagle before?

Unknown said...

W.T.F.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/05/06/wild-claims-in-harrison-case/

Anthony Bullard said...

This was a custom weapon, not a factory gun. It was converted to fire high-grain, .50 caliber bullets. I am still not certain if it would be quite like a DE, but I can only assume so until more details come out. Let's stop the speculation until Marvin is charged or cleared.

Bob M. said...

Kevin, that is an awesome load of bull manure. The comments after it are pretty robust as well; some reasonable, some donwright funny.

Well, this is truly a peculiar sounding case. Maybe it's all been orchestrated by Bill Polian to distract folks from Marvin's damn swollen knee!

There was an NFL column (maybe Michael Silver's old one at SI.com?) in which the players were asked similar baseline questions from week to week, and one was "hunting or fishing?" IIRC, Peyton said "fishing." I can only assume that Marvin would answer: "Hunting. Humans."

And yes, that was an attempt at humor. Maybe if we win the SB again this season Marvin will be asked to host SNL (wouldn't that be a riot) and that'll be the basis of a few skits.

Deshawn Zombie said...

Wow, that's some hilarious stuff. I had heard that Harrison's father was dead (wasn't that in one of those ESPN pieces?). That's crazy stuff...

Anonymous said...

DZ:

How you gonna hate on Votto?

The position may be oversaturated, but it's oversaturated with no-talent punks.

Not Youk of course. Youk is the man.

1-1, HR, RBI, 5.000 OPS is his line this afternoon. Lookin like a good deal already.
- JC

Anonymous said...

Add a swipe to that.

Deshawn Zombie said...

I didn't hate on Votto. I love Votto. I have him on my fantasy team too (and Youk for that matter). I'm just saying that as a baseball player he's great. But, his fantasy value is surpressed by the flood at that position.

Deshawn Zombie said...

Ha. One of the Cubs announcers just channeled his inner "Major League" on Votto's second bomb: "I thought maybe he hit it too high".

As I TOLD you in that email, JC: The kid can rake.

Deshawn Zombie said...

For anyone who cares: my Dunn/Votto driven fantasy line of the day this far:

3/4, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 3 Runs, SB. Not a bad way to start the day.