Terry 'Tank' Johnson
was milling about with some of his Chicago Bears teammates
during media day at Super Bowl 41 in Miami when someone popped
the question.
Why does such a big
man (1.8 metres, 136 kilogrammes) need so many guns?
"Ah, well, I'm
not sure, know what I mean?" Johnson said. "I'm from Arizona,
man. I live in the desert and that's the kind of stuff we do in
the desert."
At a time when
when the United States is weakening its gun laws, more American
athletes are turning to firearms for protection and security.
The 25-year-old
African-American Johnson was released from an Illinois prison on
Sunday after serving 60 days for a parole violation in
connection with a gun charge.
Johnson was
sentenced to 120 days in March following a raid at his home
where he was charged with the illegal possession of six firearms
and about 500 rounds of ammunition.
Johnson has been
arrested three times since 2002 and police have been called to
his home more than 30 times.
Soon after his
latest arrest, Johnson's best friend and "bodyguard" was shot
and killed at a Chicago nightclub.
Despite being a
free man for the first time in two months, Johnson's immediate
football career remains in limbo.
He was scheduled
to meet with National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell
on Wednesday in New York and could face a lengthy suspension
from the league.
Athletes have
been known to take guns into the locker room, on team flights
and carry them in their cars.
"The majority of
players in the NFL have guns," former NFL tackle Lomas Brown
told The New York Times in 2003.
"Just about every
player I played with had a gun. Almost every player I knew had
one. Guns are rampant in football. You have all these players
packing guns wherever they go. It is a disaster waiting to
happen."
There have been a
number of off-field incidents recently involving athletes and
guns.
National
Basketball Association player Stephen Jackson, of the Golden
State Warriors, was arrested in October for reportedly firing a
gun in "self-defence" after a dispute outside an Indianapolis
strip club.
Denver Broncos
player Darrent Williams was shot dead in his limousine outside a
Denver nightclub five months ago following an earlier
altercation.
Nine members of
the Cincinnati Bengals have been arrested in the past 16 months
and in 2006, 15 NFL players were arrested on violence related
charges.
Many athletes say
they need guns because their celebrity and wealth makes them a
target.
On the grand
scale, violent gun crimes are so common in America they are part
of the everyday culture.
The massacre of
32 people at Virginia Tech school on April 16 was not so much an
abhorrent act but its significance is derived from the number of
dead.
Sadly, the
shootings in Virginia Tech, the 1999 Columbine massacre and the
killing of five little Amish girls six months ago in
Pennsylvania have not evoked enough outrage to spur US lawmakers
to enact tougher gun control laws.
It seems
Americans have become inured to gun violence. Owning a firearm
in pro-gun states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama
is as basic as owning jewellry or a cell phone. Gun owners even
try to pack their heat with them when they venture into
neighbouring land border countries like Canada and Mexico.
There are more
firearm murders committed on average in the US (85) in just
three days, than over an entire year in Australia which averages
about 55 firearm murders annually, Canada's Maclean's magazine
reported last month.
Canada averages
222 firearm murders a year compared to over 10,000 a year in the
US.
There are an
estimated 283 million guns among 57 million private gun owners
in the US -- one for almost every American citizen, said
Maclean's.
The NFL is trying
to crackdown on bad behaviour among its players with lengthy
suspensions, tough new rules and counselling.
NFL commissioner
Roger Goodell recently suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback
Adam "Pac-Man" Jones for the entire 2007 season after someone,
alleged to be in his group, shot two employees of a Las Vegas
nightclub injuring one of them seriously during NBA All-Star
Weekend.
Police believe
the gunman took the firearm into the nightclub before the
shooting took place outside.
The NFL's
personal-conduct policy also requires players who engage in
criminal activity to get a psychological evaluation and, if
needed, take anger management courses.
Players convicted
of a crime also face heavy fines.
