Good News For Da’Quan Bowers

As they should have been a long time ago, felony gun charges against Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Da’Quan Bowers were dropped this week by New York authorities.

If you ask us, these charges never should have been filed in the first place …

What did Bowers do? For those of you who missed our original report, he inadvertently carried a lawfully registered firearm into LaGuardia Airport back in February – prompting authorities to charge him with the same criminal weapon possession charge that landed Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver Plaxico Burress in jail for twenty months in 2009.

Bowers, 22, never tried to board his flight with the gun. In fact when he realized he had it in his luggage, he did the right thing and alerted airport personnel. And for this demonstration of good judgment, the Queens County district attorney’s office wanted to lock him up for two years.

Thankfully for Bowers (and his fans), the criminal possession charges were dropped this week – enabling Bowers to plead guilty to a disorderly conduct charge (and pay a $350 fine). That’s according to USA Today reporter Mike Garafolo, by the way.

Frankly we think even that level of punishment is unwarranted … which is saying something in light of the fact we’re University of South Carolina Gamecock fans (Bowers played his college ball for Clemson).

“Government is out of control in this country – waging a non-stop war against our Second Amendment rights – and Da’Quan Bowers is the latest victim of its ever-escalating ridiculousness,” we wrote two months ago.

Hopefully this episode will serve as a check on that ridiculousness, but we’re not holding our breath …

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