Young guns are misfiring

"I think the young people now think they have to have a gun for some reason," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said during Wednesday's SEC teleconference.

"I think it's because all the MTV they watch and the videos. It's a different era, a different generation. We address it quite often. This is not something that can be treated very easily or very lightly. It has to be dealt with severely. We have policemen come in and talk to our players about it. We won't put up with it at all ...

"You are talking about life and death when you are dealing with guns. So you want to make sure you do the right thing."

Johnson, who has been indefinitely suspended from UT's team, is the fourth player this year to be charged with various offenses, though none of the others was gun-related.

Chris Heath, a former Vol on medical scholarship, owned the gun that was fired by Johnson. Heath, who was charged with unlawfully carrying a firearm, has been dismissed from the team.

However, UT coach Phillip Fulmer issued a statement indicating Johnson will remain on the team in a non-playing status while the gun case is investigated.

Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom did not comment specifically on the UT case. However, he said there is no gray area in the rulebook at Mississippi State that would allow a player who unlawfully discharges a gun to remain on his squad.

"Basically, on our campus, you can't have them (guns)," Croom said. "If you live off campus you can have one, but if it's brought on campus, or (if) it's used, you are automatically dismissed from school.

"The dean of student affairs goes over all the rules with our players. He was very emphatic: No guns allowed. If you get caught with one, you are out of school. There are no 'ifs ands or buts' about it. You're out."

Croom, a former Alabama player, said during his college days some players had guns used for hunting but they were stored at the dormitory.

Even as the gun issue was being openly discussed by other SEC coaches, Fulmer indicated earlier this week he would not address any questions about the alleged gun incident. UT officials have beefed up their efforts to manage the news this season by being less accessible and restricting and monitoring player interviews.

Tuberville indicated that bulletin-board material at Auburn includes off-the-field actions of athletes at other schools, not just their quotes.

"When we find something in the newspaper about college football players across the country, it goes on our bulletin board," Tuberville said.

"Every so often, I will take two or three of (clippings) down and we'll talk about it as a team, about what happened, why it happened and the results. ...

"You want to make them aware of what's happening, the consequences, and how much it's blown up in the media about all athletes, which it probably should be."

After Tuberville's first season at Auburn in the spring of 2000, sophomore defensive Brandon Reed was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm in an incident in which receiver Deandre Green allegedly fired a shot to get the attention of several people involved in a fight.

Tuberville and Georgia coach Mark Richt said they hope their players learn from the mistakes that other players make.

"When something awful happens, you hate it," Richt said. "But you'll read an article to them about something that happened to a guy in right there in their very same situation, and how easily something like that could happen to them or a teammate."

Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe, who had two players arrested in an alleged gun-waving incident in Memphis during the summer, said he has been "saddened" to see recent reports of gun incidents involving college football players.

Rebels' back Jamal Pittman pled guilty to reckless endangerment in a July incident in which police said he pointed a gun at individuals in a car and at a police officer. The complaint stated Pittman would not drop the weapon until officers struggled with him and doused him with pepper spray. The felony charge against Pittman was dismissed.

Cutcliffe suspended Pittman from the first six games of the season. An Ole Miss spokesperson said Wednesday that Pittman was eligible to play in Saturday's game against Tennessee but he did not participate. In the same incident, Ole Miss player Ken Bourne, who was dismissed from the team, received a diversion ruling on a misdemeanor charge of unlawful possession of a weapon.

"Handguns have been around a while, but it seems like there have been more incidents recently, Cutcliffe said. "I don't know what I would attribute that to, but I hope to see that trend stop."

South Carolina coach Lou Holtz said there's only so much a coach can do to prevent unlawful handgun shootings and that "common sense has to prevail.

"I just think guns aren't something you fool around with,'' Holtz said. "There's no reason to have a gun that I know of. I just don't think you should."

Cutcliffe, Richt and Tuberville said their schools have aggressive programs to educate athletes on the dangers of guns and other potential problems.

"Obviously players that are old enough to buy firearms if they want to,'' Cutcliffe said. "If you are going into areas where you feel like you need to have a gun, then you are going in the wrong areas.

Said Richt: "I talk until I'm blue in the face about the behavior they have, and the consequences that might come with making poor decisions.''

Gary Lundy may be reached at 865-342-6274.