NBA Players, Leave your guns at home
Stern wants NBA players to leave the guns at home
By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer
October 25, 2006
NEW YORK (AP) -- David Stern understands having a gun to protect your home. He's not convinced carrying one on the streets makes you any safer.
For that reason, the NBA commissioner said Wednesday that he would prefer his players leave their firearms behind when they go out.
"It's a pretty, I think, widely accepted statistic that if you carry a gun, your chances of being shot by one increase dramatically," Stern said during his preseason conference call. "We think this is an alarming subject, that although you'll read players saying how they feel safer with guns, in fact those guns actually make them less safe. And it's a real issue."
It's one that was raised recently when Indiana's Stephen Jackson shot a gun in the air at least five times outside an Indianapolis strip club on Oct. 6. He originally told police he fired in self-defense during a fight in which he was hit by a car.
The NBA's collective bargaining agreement allows players to own licensed guns, but they can't carry them on any league or team business. Asked what kind of firearm rule he would want if collective bargaining weren't involved, Stern said: "I would favor being able to have a firearm to protect your home. Period."
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Originally Posted by Rican219
