That's Just A Little Bit More than the Law Will Allow
Legal blogger Josh Blackman highlights a revealing passage from a L.A. Times story on pro basketball star Gilbert Arenas' illegal gun troubles. Here's the Times (emphasis added):
Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas says he took unloaded guns from his locker in a "misguided effort to play a joke" on a teammate. Arenas released a written statement Monday after meeting with law enforcement officials. Arenas' lawyer says the player voluntarily met with prosecutors and detectives and answered every question during a two-hour interview. In his statement, Arenas repeated his assertion that he brought four guns to the Verizon Center to store in his locker in order to get them out of his house and away from his children. He said he mistakenly believed that recent changes in District of Columbia law made it legal for him to store unloaded guns there.
As Blackman notes, "Arenas undoubtedly is referring to Heller here. Amazing how the landmark case, even if misunderstood by this athlete, has made it into the cultural zeitgeist."
Still, Arenas isn't without his champions. The Legal Times blog quotes Philip Van Cleave of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, who says, "Everything Gilbert Arenas did in D.C. would be hunky dory in Virginia. On one side of the bridge over the Potomac, he's a law abiding citizen, but step into in D.C. and you can be viewed as a dangerous criminal."
