If you’re anything like me, I’m sure your feeling safe and secure this morning about the fact that a fine, upstanding, responsible young man like Marcus Vick can get his hands on a gun so easily. I slept well last night.

Vick, as you are likely aware, turned himself in at the Suffolk Magistrate’s office Monday afternoon after allegedly brandishing a firearm at a teen or teens in the parking lot of the McDonald’s on Town Point Road in north Suffolk Sunday night.

The timing of the incident makes me a little dubious that it was just some kind of publicity stunt on Vick’s behalf.

Here’s why:

Anyone who has had as many run-ins with trouble as Vick would have to be a complete imbecile to pull a gun on kids. Anyone who can quarterback a Division I college football team to top ranking is anything but an imbecile.

Further, the incident occurred just a day after Vick announced he was making himself eligible for the NFL draft, this a day after getting the boot from Virginia Tech.

Are you beginning to see the big picture? I think the incident was a ploy to up Vick’s stock in the draft. Sure, he’s had some trouble, and while contributing to the delinquency of minor, marijuana possession, speeding, flipping off opposing fans and stomping one someone’s leg are certainly nothing to sneeze at, they are still bush league infractions, the stuff of third or fourth round draft picks. Vick needed to prove he was ready to play ball with the real criminals and miscreants in the NFL if he hoped to be considered in the first round and bring down the big bucks.

I believe he has succeeded. Vick has certainly outgrown college football and is ready for prime time.