Bucs DE Da'Quan Bowers Arrested For Bringing Gun To Airport

[TheImmortalGoud]

Rotoworld

Bucs DE Da'Quan Bowers was arrested at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Monday after trying to get a loaded gun through security.

He was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon after screeners found a loaded .40 caliber firearm in his carry-on luggage. He's appearing in court on Monday evening. Like Shaun Rogers before him, Bowers will almost certainly insist he forgot the gun was in his bag. Rogers was not suspended for a similar incident in 2010. The arrest won't help Bowers' standing with disciplinarian coach Greg Schiano after his recovery from a torn Achilles' tendon limited him to just 10 games and 292 snaps last season. With Michael Bennett slated for free agency and Adrian Clayborn coming off an ACL tear, defensive end is becoming an increasingly big need for the Buccaneers.

[TheImmortalGoud]

He's facing the same charge as Plaxico.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/18/bowers-faces-same-charge-as-burress/

The good news for Buccaneers defensive end Da’Quan Bowers is that he didn’t shoot himself in the leg. The bad news is that this is where the differences to the Plaxico Burress gun possession case end.

Mike Garafolo of USA Today points out that the charge levied against Bowers is identical to the charge that sent former Giants receiver Plaxico Buress to prison for two years: criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

The fact that Bowers wasn’t caught with the gun but volunteered to airport employees that he had the weapon in his bag may not matter. New York has tough gun laws, with a 3.5-year mandatory minimum for second-degree possession.

The only question for Bowers is whether the powers-that-be will choose to attempt to make an example out of the 2011 second-round pick. Since there’s no real difference between second-degree possession and third-degree possession, which has no minimum sentence, prosecutors could cut Bowers a break, if they choose to.

In the context of the Burress case, Sal Paolantonio of ESPN pointed out the wide differences that often arise in cases of this nature, with 24 percent of the defendants who entered a guilty plea to third-degree criminal possession of a weapon being sentenced to possession with no jail time.

Still, prosecutors could regard Bowers’ case differently. Burress took his gun into a Manhattan nightclub, securing it in the waistband of his pants and having it discharge in the building. Though he only shot himself, the end result could have been much worse.

Bowers, if he’d known the severity of the New York law, could have found a way to get rid of the gun short of handing it over and essentially confessing his guilt. Throwing the book at him seems grossly unfair.

Of course, it also seemed unfair to throw the book at Burress. For now, Bowers simply has to wait and see whether the inherently arbitrary wheel of Empire State justice lands on “skate” or “slammer.”

[BigBucs]

Fucker is an idiot. Wasnt there a player who just got knocked for this a few weeks back?

[Glenbino]

This happens so much that I'm beginning to believe that it is on accident. There's no way these guys would have any reason to not check their firearm besides foregetting or just being dumb..

Either way it's pretty clear that none of these guys have any malicious intent behind these instances. Being smart isn't a prerequisite for being a pro athlete.

[NAHSTE]

How dumb and reckless. Only thing that I can think of which is comparable is driving without insurance.

[SuperKevin]

It's a simple mistake really. He simply mixed it up with his "go" bag. I just am glad he didn't accidentally take his pre packed carryon bag to a drug deal by mistake. That would have been embarassing

[EmpireWF]

How much money does he lose from missing this season?

[ralaw]

The fact that Bowers wasn’t caught with the gun but volunteered to airport employees that he had the weapon in his bag may not matter.

Bowers, if he’d known the severity of the New York law, could have found a way to get rid of the gun short of handing it over and essentially confessing his guilt. Throwing the book at him seems grossly unfair.

SMH.....gun owners should always know where their gun is at all times. It is unfortunate that he notified authorities of the gun and may still end up in prison.

Bowers did not try to go through security with his Smith & Wesson firearm. When he got to the check-in counter, he told airline employees he had a gun in his bag, Campbell said. She did not have any information on Bowers' reasoning for having the gun in his bag.

I guess he thought being honest was going to make it better...........he should have just turned around and brought the gun elsewhere and stored it.

[x0xHumblex0x]

how ignorant can one be??!!

[Rudi]

Yeah someone else got popped for the same thing within the last month didn't they? It's slipping my mind who it was but none the less these athletes continue to amaze me with their level of stupidity.

[Glenbino]

Yeah someone else got popped for the same thing within the last month didn't they? It's slipping my mind who it was but none the less these athletes continue to amaze me with their level of stupidity.

I'm pretty sure it was Andre Smith you Bengals super fan you.

[Villain]

That sucks that he's getting charged when he thought he was doing the right thing by letting them know he had it.

[Youk]

That sucks that he's getting charged when he thought he was doing the right thing by letting them know he had it.

Except he was an idiot for carrying a gun and not knowing the local laws, especially in NYC which have insanely strict handgun laws.

[Rudi]

I'm pretty sure it was Andre Smith you Bengals super fan you.

Andre Smith is a piece of shit, I try to block anything related to him out of my mind.

[BigBucs]

Unfortunate considering. I was scratching my head when I heard about this because the dude has been nothing but a model citizen since we drafted him. Hope they let this shit go, monumental mistake but an honest one none the less.