NFL lineman busted with loaded pistol at JFK

A muscle-bound NFL lineman was busted at LaGuardia Airport today for packing a loaded .40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol.

Da'Quan Bowers - a second-year defensive end for the Tampa bay Buccaneers - was arrested at 11 a.m. at a US Air ticket counter as he was about to board a plane for North Carolina.

Sources believe Bowers arrived in New York with the gun on Friday, and was carrying the piece and a clip with eight rounds in a carry-on bag.

"The two of them were in the same bag, under the law it's considered a loaded gun," the source said.

Bowers, a Tampa resident, was boarding a flight to North Carolina, with his unidentified girlfriend, who lives in Raleigh.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Da'Quan Bowers at practice for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The former Clemson All-American was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and was awaiting arraignment.

Bowers, 22, a South Carolina native, just completed his second NFL season in 2012.

For his career he has 38 tackles and 4.5 quarterback sacks.

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SI man fatally stabs live-in girlfriend, then tries to kill self

A man stabbed his live-in girlfriend several times, the turned the knife on himself in New Springfield, sources said.

The 43-year-old assailant attacked the 44-year-old woman during a dispute in the home on Country Drive North, around 3:45 p.m., today, sources said.

He then stabbed himself in the chest inside a bedroom before also slitting both his wrists, sources added.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and the man was taken to Staten Island University North Hospital in critical condition, sources said.

kconley@nypost.com

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Now with Angels, Hamilton says Rangers fans 'spoiled'

Josh Hamilton's move to the Angels gives the outfielder a chance to do something he never could while with the Texas Rangers --- play in a real baseball town.

"There are true baseball fans in Texas, but it's not a true baseball town," said Hamilton, in an interview with the DFW CBS television station on Sunday.

Hamilton, who spent five seasons in Texas and led the Rangers to American League pennants, while also winning the 2010 AL MVP, was booed by home fans during his struggles at the end of last season, including the wild-card loss to the Orioles, and ended up signing a five-year, $125 million deal with the Angels during the offseason. Hamilton said that despite their success, Dallas has "always been a football town."

AP

Josh Hamilton at batting practice with the Angels.

"They're supportive," Hamilton said about the fans, "but they also got a little spoiled at the same time pretty quickly.

"You think about three to four years ago (before two straight World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011). It's like, come on man, are you happier there again?"

The Angels will appear in Arlington for the first time on April 5 and Hamilton said he still expects to some love from the crowd that once adored him, even after being spurned for a division-rival.

"It will be mixed feelings from the crowd," Hamilton said. "People who really get it will cheer and the people who don't will boo. Either way, I'll do what I got to do to help my team win."

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Newtown massacre gunman wanted to exceed Norway shooter's death toll

The gunman who carried out the Newtown school massacre was inspired by violent video games — and was trying to outdo a Norwegian mass murderer who killed 77 people, it was reported today.

Adam Lanza believed he was in ghoulish competition with Anders Breivik, who carried out a bloodbath at two locations in July 2011, law enforcement sources told CBS News.

Breivik, a paranoid ultra nationalist, fatally shot 69 people at a summer camp after murdering eight others in downtown Oslo.

Lanza wanted to exceed Breivik's death toll, according to investigators.

He chose the Sandy Hook (Conn.) Elementary School because it was the "easiest target" with the "largest cluster of people," two officials who have been briefed about the investigation said.

Lanza saw his victims as characters in a shooting video game and the higher the death toll, the better his "score."

Investigators said they had found evidence that Lanza was obsessed with Breivik, who posted a bizarre extremists manifesto the day of his attacks.

Sources told CBS that investigators have also uncovered a "trove" of video games from Lanza's basement.

He is believed to have spent much of his free time in a basement play room, with the windows blacked out, engaged in a kind of target practice on video games.

It was not disclosed which games he played. But Breivik boasted that he trained for his rampage by playing a war-simulation game named "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare."

He said he developed "target acquisition" by practised his aim using a "holographic aiming device" on the game, which he believed was being used to train combat soldiers.

Norwegian prosecutors also said Breivik played "World of Warcraft" an astounding average of six hours and 50 minutes a day for four months while he was preparing his attacks.

The fate of the two mass murderers turned out differently.

Lanza, 20, killed himself after slaying 20 children and six adults before police closed in.

But Breivik surrendered to police and is being held in a Norwegian jail on a 21-year sentence, the longest allowed in his country.

In his manifesto and afterward Breivik said he was inspired by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, the Knights Templar of the Middle Ages, al Qaeda, "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, and Japanese "banzai" warriors.

He said he was motivated by fear of an Islamic takeover of Europe, a decline in Western values and the growth of Europe's left-leaning political parties.

No manifesto or written explanation from Lanza of his rampage has been found.

Before his fatal spree he destroyed the hard drive on his computer, which may have kept some of the records of the games he played and who he played with.

But investigators are believed to be making progress in tracing Lanza's on-line life.

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Dems’ feckless checks

The Issue: Whether tougher background checks for gun sales will lead to a decrease in gun violence.

***

John Lott's article made me laugh out loud ("The Truth About Background Checks," PostOpinion, Feb. 13).

He is basically saying that beefed-up background-check legislation is flawed on two fronts: It has no teeth, and it might do harm by delaying gun purchases for women being stalked by exes.

There is really nothing to be said about the latter, an absurd premise. As for the former, exactly which toothier version of gun-control legislation does Lott think would have a snowball's chance in hell of passing? Lott seems to be advocating the standard Republican Party line: Do nothing.

Michael Valente

San Clemente, Calif.

Politicians of a liberal bent are determined to do something on gun control, even if what they accomplish is without meaning.

They know that many Americans are poorly informed and thus easily fooled. They talk up assault-weapon and high-capacity-magazine bans and increased background checks on gun buyers, knowing that even if they achieve this, it will not put a meaningful dent in gun violence.

This sounds good to the uninformed and wins applause from the naïve, but in this case, what you don't know may hurt you. Paul Bloustein

Cincinnati

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The cab ride of romorrow

Having trouble flagging a cab?

Mayor Bloomberg says that if he has his way, Gothamites will find it easier to hail a taxi — and enjoy a better ride. That's the idea behind two city initiatives that have now run into some serious litigation.

The first is the "Taxi of Tomorrow," a Nissan NV200 that represents the first custom remodel for the New York since the iconic Checker. The Greater New York Taxi Association is suing, claiming that the winning Nissan is not a hybrid as mandated by New York law — and that the city doesn't have the right to specify a particular vehicle.

AP

Hailing a cab the old way

The other development is a pilot program called e-hail that was supposed to start Friday. This would allow New Yorkers to order up taxis through an app on their smartphones. The e-hail concept is behind new services such as Get Taxi, Taxi Magic and Uber, which flourished elsewhere.

Unfortunately they have found the Big Apple's highly regulated market tough going. On top of this, the pilot program is now being sued by livery cab owners who fear the new competition.

All of which should remind New Yorkers that the real "taxi of tomorrow" won't be any one vehicle or app. It will be a market-oriented arrangement in which passengers — and not some city agency — decide which service is best, which fleets should survive and which cars should be on the road. Looks like a long wait.

Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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The wages of humor

Can't New York Democrats take a joke?

We were jesting Thursday when we suggested that if a higher minimum wage is an easy way to guarantee a better life, why stop at $8.75?

But it looks like Assembly Dems took us seriously. That same day, they announced they intend to push for a hike larger than what they had been proposing before.

This is just the latest in minimum-wage leapfrog. It started last year when Assembly leaders tried to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour.

Last month, Gov. Cuomo one-upped them by proposing an $8.75 minimum wage in his State of the State speech.

Reuters

Sheldon Silver

Last week, President Obama one-upped him by floating a $9 federal minimum wage in his State of the Union.

The Assembly is determined to catch up. On Thursday, Democrats announced their intention to pass their own $9 minimum-wage law.

At best, this is theater: If Obama gets his way with a federal minimum-wage hike, all the states will have to abide by it and the dogpile in New York becomes moot.

But if Obama fails and state Dems succeed, New York's minimum wage will become 24 percent higher than New Jersey's, and 9 percent higher than Connecticut's.

That would make New York even more expensive and less attractive than its neighbors for business — and harder for low-skilled workers and the young to find work.

You'd think state Dems would keep all this in mind. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says that "New York cannot wait while Washington weighs the pros and cons . . . We must act now."

Translation: Damn the consequences!

And that's no joke.

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It’s Greek to us

The International Olympic Committee has trumped the pope. We thought Benedict XVI was upsetting precedent by becoming the first pontiff in several centuries to resign his office.

But now comes a decision by the IOC's executive board — a body more secretive than the Vatican — to drop a sport that has been part of the Olympics since the first games were held in 708 BC.

The board's decision must still be ratified at the IOC general assembly this September in Buenos Aires. If the full committee agrees, wrestling will disappear from the program starting in 2020.

Reuters

Juan Antonio Samaranch

Few sports are as closely associated with the essence of the Olympics as wrestling. With one exception, it's also been part of the modern Games since their launch in 1896. And in sharp contrast to athletes in some other sports, for wrestlers the Olympics remains the summit of their competition.

So why has the IOC put wrestling in a full nelson? It's hard to say, given that the vote was made behind closed doors.

Maybe it's because the sport that reportedly beat out wrestling in the secret vote — the modern pentathlon — is run by one Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., son of the IOC's former president.

The most troubling aspect is that this move is but the latest in a trend that is killing the amateur spirit. As wrestling is pushed aside, golf is moving in, joining Olympic sports such as basketball and tennis, which are open to professionals.

Undoubtedly, big names like Tiger Woods or Ernie Els would get attention. But at what cost?

Young athletes who take the sport seriously will be deprived of ever achieving the Olympic gold that is every wrestler's dream. And we worry that schools may decline to support a sport that no longer has a place in the Olympic pantheon.

Still, we're not ready to call this match. There is an appeals process in May, when wrestling will "compete" with seven other sports marked for elimination. Only one will survive.

Here's hoping the wrestlers can pin the IOC on this Olympic travesty.

Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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Country star Mindy McCready, who topped charts with 'Guys Do It All the Time,' dead in apparent suicide

Arkansas authorities say that country singer Mindy McCready was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A news release from the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office says that McCready, 37, was found dead Sunday afternoon with what appears to be a single, self-inflicted wound. She was found on the front porch of a home.

McCready hit the top of the country charts before personal problems sidetracked her career

In 1996, her "Guys Do It All the Time" hit No. 1 and its dig at male chauvinism endeared her to females.

McCready arrived in Nashville in 1994 with tapes of her karaoke vocals and earned a recording contract with BNA Records.

Getty Images

Country singer Mindy McCready performs in 2006. She was found dead today in Arkansas.

Her other hits included "Ten Thousand Angels," also in 1996, and her album by that title sold 2 million copies.

However, personal problems plagued her beginning in 2004 and included a custody battle with her mother over one of her sons.

McCready took her older son Zander from her mother and the boy's legal guardian, Gayle Inge, in late 2011. She fled to Arkansas without permission over what she called child abuse fears. Authorities eventually found McCready hiding in a residence without permission and took the boy into custody.

She and her boyfriend David Wilson had a son, Zayne, in April of 2012. The older son has a different father.

In May 2010, she was hospitalized briefly after police responded to an overdose call at a home in North Fort Myers, Fla., owned by her mother. This followed a stint on "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew," where she delcared herself clean from drugs.

In 2004, she was charged with obtaining the painkiller OxyContin fraudulently at a pharmacy. She pleaded guilty and was placed on three years' probation.

She violated the probation with a drunken driving arrest in May 2005. Then she attempted suicide in July 2005, overdosed in September 2005 and slit her wrists again in December 2008.

Also that year, McCready was charged in Arizona with hindering prosecution and unlawful use of transportation. Those charges stemmed from an alleged attempt in June 2005 to purchase two high performance boats, but she claimed she was trying to stop a con man.

Growing up in Fort Myers, she took seven years of private vocal lessons and later sang in karaoke bars.

After getting her recording contract, she did concert appearances with top country stars including George Strait, Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson.

Her other singles included "Maybe He'll Notice Her Now," ''A Girl's Gotta Do (What a Girl's Gotta Do)" and "You'll Never Know."

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Bulls eyeing dow 16K

It's the running of the bulls — again.

The Dow Jones industrial index is having its biggest rip-roaring ascent in decades — an upside propelling it to record 2013 highs, according to market pros.

One vet on the New York Stock Exchange floor last week saw the Dow being catapulted well above its record close set in October 2007. It reached 14,164 back then.

By year-end the bulls will take the Dow past 15,000 and, hey, possibly to 16,000, says veteran Big Board floor trader Peter Doyle.

"There is an underlying feeling that things are not as devastating as they had been," he said.

Doyle is not alone in this optimism. "It looks like equities have recovered," said Kevin Connellan, director of equity trading at Northern Trust. "It's a steady climb. Where else will investors put their money?"

That view has gained plenty of currency lately. The Dow has had its best January in some two decades. And the bull run is gaining steam — despite warnings from bears on the sidelines. On Tuesday, for example, the Dow tantalizingly closed within 1 percent of its record 2007 high.

"We are pretty bullish," Savita Subramanian, US equity and quant strategist at Merrill Lynch, told The Post. "We've set a year-end price target of 1,600 for the S&P 500."

Some fundamentals driving the Dow's climb:

* Successive rounds of Fed quantitative easing

* Fiscal cliff averted

* Meek monthly US jobs gains of 150,000

* More merger activity

Last year, US equity fund withdrawals were the worst since 2008, according to consultancy firm TABB Group. Daily volume averaged about 6.4 billion shares traded last year, down from nearly 10 billion in 2009, studies show.

Of course, equities have been here before. The Dow has tested new highs for the past two years. About 12 months ago, for example, US stocks surged on positive economic data. That took the Dow past 14,000. Then it retreated as quickly as it rose.

"That's likely to happen again, to be honest with you," said a bearish Joseph Cangemi of financial technology firm ConvergEx Group. "I would say the majority of the volume actually taking place, especially in these periods of low volatility, is basically electronic market makers trading against each other."

It's just a lot of "noise," says Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading, criticizing the hordes of high-frequency traders playing the market. "Retail investors still don't trust this market," he added.

Saluzzi is a huge skeptic. "It's the old adage: The market takes the stairs up and the elevator down," he said. "I think that's going to happen on this one. The easiest thing is for it to go higher, until it doesn't. And when it doesn't, it will be ugly — and everybody will shake their heads."

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