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.