Plaxico: He made a Giant mistake
Former Giants star Plaxico Burress had stern advice Tuesday for accused guntoting hoopster Raymond Felton, saying the Knick was probably ignorant of New York City’s tough firearms laws.
Burress infamously shot himself in the leg with an unregistered gun on Nov. 28, 2008, at a Manhattan nightclub, for which he served 20 months behind bars.
“You just need to be smarter, make better decisions and be knowledgeable about the laws in the cities and different states if you do want to be a gun owner to prevent situations like this,” Burress told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”
“Maybe he just needs to be smarter and be knowledgeable of the law.”
The Super Bowl winner said it took him several days back in 2008 to realize how much trouble he was facing.
“I didn’t understand the nature of my crime until about maybe three or four days after . . . and [not] knowing the repercussions for owning a firearm in New York City unregistered,” said Burress.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know that I couldn’t carry the weapons in New York City at that time.
“If I would have known then, my situation would have never happened,” said Burress, who no longer owns guns.
Burress said he thinks Felton will be forgiven by fans and will soon learn who his real friends are.
“I believe the City of New York will support him,” Burress said. “It’s an unfortunate situation . . . I’ve been through something of that nature.
“Going through that really let me . . . understand who the people that cared about me [are], and I’m a better person because of that.
“It was over 5¹/₂ years ago. It’s just one of those things I’m a part of. I own it,” said the nowPittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, who hopes to rebound from an injuryplagued 2013. David K. Li