It has been a rough few weeks around the NFL, with an NFL player dying in tragic -- and perhaps avoidable -- circumstances each of the past two Saturdays. It remains to be seen how Jerry Brown's death affects the Cowboys' approach to player safety, but it's clear that Jovan Belcher's decision to kill his girlfriend and then take his own life is having a positive effect on gun-owning players around the NFL.
According to Peter King of Sports Illustrated, "at least seven" players have turned in their guns to NFL personnel over the past week, in the wake of Belcher shooting Perkins and then taking his own life at the Chiefs facility.
One player even reportedly turned in multiple guns, apparently telling the personnel he turned the guns in to that he simply didn't trust himself.
Seven players doesn't even comprise a single unit of a football team, but hearing that a player gave up his guns because he didn't trust himself is ultimately positive news, if a bit jarring at first. Seriously: It means the Belcher incident changed the way someone who carries a gun sees himself in light of said firearm possession.
Guns, as the saying goes, don't kill people. People misusing guns kills people. And the more people who don't trust themselves with guns who are setting down their guns, the better off everyone will be.
It's just sad that it took a tragedy for people to realize that.
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