LA Prosecutor Declines to Proceed with Assault Weapon Case Against NFL Player

Denzel Perryman isn’t the star of the NFL. He’s apparently a solid player, with a Pro Bowl appearance in 2021 and a career entering its 11th season, which isn’t too shabby. He’s also someone who gets paid a lot of money to play the game.

Like a lot of other NFL players, he spends at least some of his money on guns.

We know this because he was recently stopped, then arrested for having two so-called assault weapons in his back seat in the People’s Republic of California. Los Angeles, in particular, which is where the team he plays for calls home.

Yeah, it’s stupid. The restrictions are unconstitutional, and we all know it.

Luckily, this one has something of a happy ending.

An NFL linebacker who was arrested in Los Angeles County with two so-called “assault weapons” has been released from jail.

On Monday, Denzel Perryman of the Los Angeles Chargers was released after three days when Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman declined to press charges.

Notably, on the day after the arrest, Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and a longtime Chargers fan, said the charges against Perryman should be dropped, along with charges against anyone else who has been arrested for possessing such firearms.

“District Attorney Hochman should dismiss the charges against Mr. Perryman, and everyone else affected by this unconstitutional and immoral law,” Combs said in a news release announcing the organization’s support for Perryman. “Law enforcement should not be putting people in cages for exercising their fundamental rights. This insanity must end, and it must end now.”

That’s good news.

The only thing I have an issue with is whether or not a regular person would have gotten the same treatment, versus a standout professional football player who played for the home team.

Were the charges not pressed because Hochman thinks the arrest was bad or because the law is stupid, or because he didn’t want to rankle local Charger fans who also vote over who will be district attorney?

Combs’ comments are absolutely correct, of course, and I won’t fault him for taking a more personal interest in this because Perryman played for his team. Combs is consistent when it comes to gun rights, so I know he’d feel the same way if literally anyone else got arrested for the same thing.

Hochman, however, doesn’t get that grace.

Yes, I like the outcome. Don’t get me wrong.

I’m just bothered because the next guy won’t get the same benefit from Hochman that Perryman got.

The so-called assault weapon restrictions in the state are what need to go more than anything. Perryman’s arrest drew some attention to that, and the decision not to press charges will likely make that attention go away, but it shouldn’t.

Yes, Perryman should be free to go without prosecution. That’s not a question in my mind.

It’s just that everyone else should be free as well. Modern sporting rifles like the AR-15 aren’t a threat, no matter what some might like to claim, and Perryman having them isn’t an issue, either. Everyone should have them if they so desire, and Hochman is one of the people who tends to prefer the status quo.

For everyone else, at least.

Editor’s Note: We can’t all depend on celebrity-style “justice”, which is one reason why it’s so important to get rid of these unconstitutional gun laws. 

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