Two interesting numbers relevant to Jack Jones' situation

BOSTON -- When news broke Friday night of a Patriots player getting arrested for bringing loaded guns to airport security, the initial reaction was one of shock. How could it not be? Bringing a loaded firearm in a carry-on bag for a cross-country flight is an unfathomable move in most people's minds.

In the days that followed, the reactions and coverage reflected this perception. Again, that is to be expected.

Yet with the arraignment now over, and with nearly two months until the probable cause hearing, perhaps that initial reaction wave is nearing its end.

As it stands now, Jack Jones is still a member of the New England Patriots. His attorney, Rosemary Scapicchio, said that the situation "almost got him fired," which indicates that -- for now, at least -- the Patriots made a decision to not cut ties with the 25-year-old cornerback. While a severing of ties remains a strong possibility for a team that may be extra sensitive to crimes involving firearms, the fact that it hasn't happened yet indicates that the team is at least entertaining the possibility of riding out the storm.

Why might that be? Certainly, the evidence pertaining to the arrest seems cut-and-dried. Yet there are two numbers relevant to this situation that could be at play.

The first number: 6,542

A related number to that one would be $14,950.

So what's the number? It's the record that was set last year, when TSA confiscated 6,542 guns at airport security. Here's another number to go with that one, too: 88 percent of those guns were loaded.

That's a tick under 18 guns per day being discovered at airport security around the country, with about 16 of them being loaded.

The cash number of $14,590 is the fine attached to travelers per violation who are found to have guns at the airport.

In Boston this year, Jones' guns were the ninth and 10th firearms found at security checkpoints in the calendar year of 2023.

Nationally, TSA officers intercepted 1,508 firearms at airport security checkpoints in the first three months of this year, and more than 93 percent of those guns were loaded. That number shows an increase from the first quarter of 2022.

An NPR story from February highlighted the extensive efforts that some airports -- particularly in Atlanta and Miami -- have made to remind travelers not to carry guns in their carry-on items. Those efforts include hologram signs, postings on 70-inch television sets, other "high-visibility signage" installations, and communications to travelers through airlines to passengers to remind them to make sure they aren't carrying weapons.

All of that is to say this: For as much as most of us can't even begin to imagine making the mistake of packing a loaded firearm in a carry-on bag while preparing for a flight, the reality is that it does happen quite often.

Now, there are mitigating circumstances with Jones. For one, the weapons weren't licensed in Massachusetts. However, Massachusetts doesn't require out-of-state residents to register their guns while transporting them, "provided the firearms are unloaded and enclosed in a case while traveling." Jones' guns were not unloaded, as we know, and he also had two large-capacity feeding devices. (In this case, a 15-round magazine in one gun, and a 30-round magazine in the box containing the weapons. Massachusetts law defines a large-capacity feeding device as any device that carries more than 10 rounds of ammunition.)

So it's not as simple as Jones being hit with two $14,590 fines and going on his way. Understandably.

Yet for as much as the state is discussing mandatory minimum jail sentences related to some of the nine charges facing Jones, that only represents one extreme of the potential punishment. The other extreme is a simple fine. Because Jones' weapons were loaded, and because he had some magazines that violated Massachusetts law, he certainly will receive a harsher punishment than the basic fine. But if Jones -- like most offenders who commit this act -- can prove that it was a mistake, he and his attorney can likely find a comfortable middle ground with the Commonwealth.

And because states can't afford to incarcerate 6,542 people who mistakenly have guns in their carry-on luggage, there does seem to be a real possibility for a resolution that does not land Jones in jail for these alleged offenses.

(Unfortunately, data on how many offenders end up serving jail time is difficult to find.)

The second number: 2

Refocusing the situation back on the NFL, we ought to look at gun offenses and how Roger Goodell and the league responded.

Take the case of Frank Clark. The three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle was pulled over on two separate occasions in 2021. Both times, a police officer found weapons in the car that turned out to be unregistered. Just three months later, he was pulled over again, and another gun was found in his vehicle.

For these offenses, the NFL suspended Clark for ... two games.

That suspension was handed down more than six weeks after Clark had pleaded no contest to the gun charges. Clark played in seven games for the Chiefs after pleading no contest, before the two-game suspension was issued in late October. He played and started the final eight games of the season, as well as the Chiefs' three postseason games en route to a Super Bowl championship.

That number of two is highlighted to point out this: Jack Jones is almost certain to play in the NFL again, after his legal matter is resolved. While Clark didn't bring his guns to airport security, but he was arrested twice on charges of illegal gun possession, and the league was in no rush to suspend him. When the suspension finally came, it was for just two games.

(This is going back far too long, but after Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg in 2008, the Giants only suspended him for four games. He, of course, ended up serving a lengthy prison sentence, but he did return to the field to play two more seasons in 2011 and 2012.)

Of course, every situation is different, and there's no way of diminishing the significant variables of Jones' incident taking place at an airport in a state with stricter gun laws than most, while employed by a team that has to have heightened sensitivity to legal violations involving firearms.

Yet when taking those two facts together, the overall legal and professional outlook for Jones may not be as bleak as originally believed when he was arrested less than a week ago. 

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.