Police Find Loaded Gun in Car of Deceased New Orleans Saints Player

On Tuesday police discovered a loaded semiautomatic handgun in the car of deceased New Orleans Saints player Will Smith.

Smith was shot and killed Saturday night during an altercation that took place following a traffic accident. The alleged gunman, Cardell Hayes, was arrested and charged with second degree murder. But he claimed he shot Smith in self-defense.

New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) now say they discovered a gun in the car Smith was driving but “no ballistics evidence or shell casings were recovered to show that the weapon was fired.” ESPN reports that the gun in Smith’s car was a loaded 9mm.

It needs to be noted that Smith’s wife, Racquel, was a passenger in Smith’s car at the time of the altercation and was shot in the leg. The NOPD has not released any evidence as to whether Racquel was involved in the altercation.

Following the first reports of Smith’s death — and prior to the discovery of a gun in Smith’s car — Saints’ head coach Sean Payton disparaged private gun ownership and made clear that he hoped Smith’s death would result in more gun laws being passed. According to USA Today, Payton said “I hate guns” and he described arguments to own one for self-defense as “madness.”

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