Arm like a cannon, head like a cannonball

So in the wake of the Plaxico Burress self-shooting and the Gilbert Arenas locker-room showdown, Major League Baseball has decided to either enforce or implement a gun ban at all stadiums including the locker rooms. I say "enforce or implement" because it's a little vague whether or not there already was a league-wide rule or if it's just something that they are going to stress.

Either way, I can't imagine anyone would have a problem with this. You shouldn't be bringing guns to the baseball game. Not the players, not the fans, not the umpires. Leave the guns to the police, is what I always say. I know that I get patted down every single time I go to Yankee Stadium, and I don't think it's because the security guy likes what he sees. I mean, he might...but that's not why he pats me down. Nope, he's looking for weapons. And I applaud that.

Like I said, I can't imagine anyone thinking that this ban is a bad thing.

Meet Ryan Franklin, closer for the St. Louis Cardinals.

That's an epic beard you've got there, Mr. Franklin!

I dig Ryan Franklin.  I dig his intensity.  I dig his talent.  I mostly dig his beard.  But sometimes athletes should know when to shut the hell up.  In a story run by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Franklin had a few words about the new MLB policy on guns.

"If you grew up around it, being in the outdoors and stuff, I was taught as a young kid how to respect firearms," Franklin said following Saturday's workout. "First of all, you don't get stupid with it. Always treat a gun like it's loaded. That's what I taught my son and daughters. There's a place for them."

Nothing to wrong with what he had to say there.  Just plain old good sense.  But he continues.

"There are a few guys that screwed it up for everybody," Franklin said. "If it wasn't for the NFL guy a couple years ago bringing a weapon into a nightclub ... you've just got to be smart."

Screwed up what for whom?  What's he trying to say here?  That if Plaxico Burress hadn't brought a gun to that nightclub a few years ago then what?  He wouldn't have to deal with clubhouse ban on guns?  I don't get it.  

Now, this could be a bit of a hatchet job by the press.  Nowhere does Franklin specifically say that he is angry that he can't bring one of his many guns to the stadium.  You would that that the "there's a place for them" quote takes care of that situation.  Maybe he was just frustrated at being told what to do.  That's the problem a lot of the supporters of the 2nd Amendment have.  They just don't want the government to butt in on their gun fun.

But if I'm Ryan Franklin, an avid outdoorsman and and a proponent of the right to bear arms, my response to this is "Damn right!  That's good advice.  There's no need for anyone to bring a gun to work, whether it's a Pizza Hut, an office building or a baseball stadium.  That's just good old common sense.  I hate that we need rules and laws that specifically state that, but in the wake of recent events regarding guns and atheletes I can see why MLB is doing this."  End of story.

But no, now it seems like he is a bit of a gun nut who is pissed off that he can't bring his shotgun to the game with him.  I'm absolutely positive that isn't true, by the way.  I have no doubt that he was venting about gun control laws in general.  That's fine.  Just pick the right words and time and place next time, okay Big Red?

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. Crash Davis would've known what to say.