Although this has nothing to do with the Cincinnati Bengals, I believe it's worth mentioning. Today, former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was sentenced to two years in prison relating back to a weapons change against Burress from an incident where he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a New York City nightclub. The weapon that Burress was carrying was not registered in the state of New York.

I know there will be mixed feelings about this, especially coming from professional athletes, but I believe justice has been served. This is not a black vs. white debate, it's about what is right and wrong.

Burress broke the law...period!

No matter what you believe, laws are put in place for a reason. Burress had options, and he chose to make the wrong decision by illegally carrying a firearm into a public place. Luckily he was the only person injured and he didn't accidentally kill someone.

Just months ago, Burress was offered a plea deal that would have sentenced him to two months in prison, but he rejected the deal. As they say...hindsight is always 20/20. Now, Burress will be spending the next two years behind bars.

Regardless of what professional athletes want you to believe, it is not necessary to carry a gun around with them at all times. While what happened to Sean Taylor was unfortunate, random acts of violence happen to innocent people every single day across the United States, not just professional athletes.

With that being said, people are given the right to carry a gun if they take specific training, training that I'm sure Burress had the option to take but for some reason chose not to. If he did take the class and followed all the proper procedures, but the nightclub wouldn't allow him in with his gun...he, again, had an option to go home.

If professional athletes are so concerned with their personal safety, then stay home...again, decisions normal people make on a daily basis. If I feel unsafe, I get out of the situation.

If you want to have 1,000 guns at your home for your own personal safety, that's your right. However, the other innocent people at the nightclub that night also had the right for their own personal safety, a right that was taken away from them when Plax decided to carry the gun in that night.

I'll get off my soapbox for now, but it gives everyone something to think about. As the old saying goes, hindsight is always 20/20.