Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs had to surrender several firearms stemming from a domestic case involving his girlfriend, Suggs' attorney told the Baltimore Sun on Thursday.
Warren Alperstein told the Sun that Candace Williams, Suggs' longtime girlfriend and mother of his two children, filed a court order in November, but Alperstein declined to provide further details.
"The guns were surrendered over to police pursuant to the court order, and they (Suggs and Williams) are resolving their issues," Alperstein told the Sun. "All I can tell you is that he's in rightful and lawful possession of the guns but turned them over pursuant to the requirements of the law."
Court records indicate Suggs filed a custody complaint against Williams on Nov. 19, and that Williams filed her complaint after that, Alperstein told the Sun.
Two 911 calls were received from Suggs' address on Nov. 21, but did not yield any reports, Baltimore County police told the Sun.
The Ravens organization and Suggs both declined comment, according to the newspaper.
The Suggs news comes less than a week after Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend shortly before killing himself with a gun in front of his coach and general manager at Arrowhead Stadium.
USA Today reported Friday that several NFL players estimated about 75 percent of their fellow players owned guns, a figure that didn't sound unreasonable to former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy.
"I was always shocked at the number of guys who raised their hand," Dungy told the newspaper, referring to his habit of asking which of his players owned guns at his first team meeting every season.
"That was kind of eye-opening to me," Dungy said. "... (But) it's just a fact of life. These guys had them. ... I think so many of these young guys have been around guns and have seen guns, and they just feel that's part of the landscape for them growing up."
Forty to 45 percent of the general American population owns guns, according to the USA Today report, which cited the National Rifle Association.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, whom the report describes as one of the biggest gun advocates in sports, said the Belcher story was not related to the prevalence of firearm ownership in the NFL.
"It has nothing to do with the guns," Harrison told USA Today. "Somebody goes out and kills somebody with a knife, you going to blame the knife? It's the person who did it who's responsible."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.