Arms Race in Sports, on the Street: And we were all worried about steroids...

For the past 20 years we've been biting our fingernails, certain that the steroid-juicing actions of star athletes were going to effect our children. We'd wake up one day and our little 12-year-old darlings would be 350 pounds, bench pressing the family Buick, with back acne and pattern baldness. And yikers, that's just the little girls.

To be honest, it's probably easier to buy a gun in this town than it would be to buy steroids. Cheaper, too.

And as usual, many of our pro athletes are right there to lend a fine example to the youth of America.

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas was recently suspended after he whipped out a gun in the locker room in what he said was a joke, spurring a teammate to pull a loaded bisquit in return. Arenas had four weapons with him in an arena full of fans. In retrospect, he said it might not have been so funny after all. Gee, Gil, YA THINK?

He's not alone, toting heat, though.

Shaquille O'Neil is 7 feet 1 and 325 pounds, with a tattoo that likens himself to Superman, yet he is licensed to carry a concealed weapon to protect himself. So are NBA stars like Paul Pierce and Vince Carter, NFL stars like Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison and Daunte Culpepper, Yankee pitcher Carl Pavano and lots more.

Team officials have said that the number of pro athletes carrying guns - legally or otherwise - is at an all-time high. New England Pats receiver Jabar Gaffney said he figures 90 percent of pro football players carry guns - himself included. One team official in the NBA said it is probably closer to 100 percent of players than 50 percent in that league walking around armed.

Nearly 30 elite athletes have been investigated for illegal incidents involving handguns in 21 months. It's on SportsCenter as much as the scores are. Police seized pistols from three Pacers players after one allegedly fired five shots in an early-morning fight at a strip club. Luckily, he's no better shot with a gat than with free throws.

"We make a lot of money and have nice things, like nice cars and stuff, and we need protection," whines Patriots defensive back Asante Samuel. Of course, when you flaunt your bling, and hang out in clubs every night, trouble will find you.

"Where I'm from,"NFL player Bryan Cox said a few years back, "a gun is like a credit card - you don't leave home without it." (He's from an Illinois suberb by the way, not Afghanistan.)

It's impossible to say how many athletes - or people in general - are packing heat. Laws backed by the National Rifle Association prohibit most states from license disclosure. For the record, Iowa has not followed Midwest neighbors Illinois and Wisconsin in ceasing to issue permits for concealed weapons.

About one in every 23 adults in Massachusetts, one of the few states that reveals the data, are licensed for concealed weapons. Somebody's mama at the PTA meeting is armed to the teeth.

You don't know if the guy sitting next to you at a high school game has a gun under his hoodie, if the dude in the car next to you at a stop light has one in his lap, or if your grandmotherly neighbor has one on her end table next to the window.

The New Orleans Saint's Michael Lewis, the city's former Man of the Year, carries a gun, as does Stephen Davis of the St. Louis Rams, former ambassador of physical fitness. Jevon Kearse of the Eagles, whose brother, father, grandfather, uncle, and cousin all died in separate incidents of gunshot wounds, packs too.

NBA Coach Doc Rivers says it isn't a matter of security as much as it is "a generational thing."

"We're seeing a generation of athletes coming into professional sports who have grown up with the glamorization of carrying a handgun," agrees Peter Roby, director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society.

Golden State Warrior Stephen Jackson has a gun tattooed on his chest, held between praying hands no less. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition?

Celtic Marquis Daniels has a tattoo of a guy blowing his head off with a shotgun. Cherokee Parks has ink of a naked lady pointing two automatic handguns. What, a tribute to dear old mom? How drunk do you have to be to get that done? Entire websites celebrate the ink, lead, and the attitude.

Is it a real surprise when a kid turns up with a 9mm in his backpack at school?

Or when a young criminal gets arrested for some petty local offense, and police doing a routine search turn up an arsenal better than the army of some third-world nations?

The most recent case involved an alleged petty pot dealer, whose house on Oneida yielded a loaded 9mm semi automatic handgun, loaded modified shotgun with pistol grip, 2 AK-47 assault rifles, a vintage rifle, and .308 assault rifle (one with a scope) and 2500 rounds of ammunition. (See photo) Unless homeboy is planning to do some elephant hunting, it's a bit much, even for the NRA fanatics. Memo to self: Do NOT rake my leaves into THIS neighbor's yard.

Gun control has never gotten past the first step - defining what the problem is.

That's because there are several vastly different gun cultures out there.

One is the guy with the rack in his truck - who grew up with guns as part of outdoor sports, and probably wouldn't dream of toting a loaded handgun around.

The second is the person who feels the only way to be safe is to have more firepower than those they fear - some with reason, most out of neurosis. They may or may not have training or a license.

And the third of course is the criminals, the suicidal, and more and more, teen posers.

The thinking has been that we can't attack the problems of any of those areas without giving up the rights of those who use weapons responsibly.

When one of our beloved sports heroes manages to accidentally shoot himself, or goes to prison for killing some innocent person who gets in the crossfire at some nightclub, maybe we will think different. In the meantime, our children are watching. And it isn't steroids that makes them be powerful, or so this message goes.