Speaking in the wake of the murder of former New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Will Smith, head coach Sean Payton labeled private gun ownership “madness.”
Smith was shot and killed during an altercation following a traffic accident in New Orleans on Saturday night. Cops arrested Cardell Hayes, a former high school football star in the Big Easy, for Smith’s death and charged him with second degree murder.
According to USA Today, Payton said he could not sleep after learning of Smith’s death, so he drove to the site of the incident at 5:45 a.m. Sunday then researched the .45 caliber round that he believes was used in the shooting.
Payton did his research on internet sites, where he said he learned, “[The .45] was designed back during World War I. And this thing just stops people. It will kill someone within four or five seconds after they are struck. You bleed out. After the first shot (that struck Smith’s torso), he took three more in his back.”
He then criticized the push to own guns for self-defense. He said, “Two hundred years from now, they’re going to look back and say, ‘What was that madness about?’ The idea that we need [guns] to fend off intruders … people are more apt to draw them (in other situations). That’s some silly stuff we’re hanging on to.”
The Super Bowl-winning coach describes himself as “not an extreme liberal” but nevertheless confesses: “I hate guns.”
Payton does not hide the fact that his formative years came attending high school near Chicago. That is important because it helps the reader understand that Payton “has always been anti-gun.” He was against private gun ownership for self-defense before Smith was shot and he is against private gun ownership for self-defense now. USA Today puts it this way, “If Payton had his druthers, we’d live in a country without guns.”
USA Today reporter Jarrett Bell says Payton hopes Smith’s death “will be the kind of situation that will force people to change some laws.”
No word on whether Payton will begin lobbying the NFL to remove the guns from the myriad security members who carry them at NFL games for the defense of players and coaches.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com
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