WASHINGTON -- Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas met with federal prosecutors at the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and detectives of the Metropolitan Police Department on Monday to discuss his possession of unloaded firearms at the Verizon Center.

Arenas' attorney, Kenneth L. Wainstein, said the meeting lasted for two hours, after which Arenas issued the following statement:

"As the person who caused this trouble in the first place, I thought it was my duty to be the first witness to come forward and meet with the prosecutors and detectives," Arenas' statement read.

"On Monday, December 21, I took the unloaded guns out in a misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate. Contrary to some press accounts, I never threatened or assaulted anyone with the guns and never pointed them at anyone. Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong. I should not have brought the guns to DC in the first place, and I now realize that there's no such thing as joking around when it comes to guns -- even if unloaded.

"I am very sorry for the effect that my serious lapse in judgment has had on my team, my teammates, the National Basketball Association and its fans. I want to apologize to everybody for letting them down with my conduct, and I promise to do better in the future."

Arenas and Javaris Crittenton had allegedly pulled guns on each other over a gambling debt on Christmas Eve, the New York Post reported last Friday.

The paper cited league sources as saying Crittenton became angry when Arenas failed to pay a gambling debt, sparking the standoff. The Post said Arenas pulled his gun first and Crittenton followed in response.

It was late on December 24 when the Wizards revealed that Arenas had stored firearms in a locked container in his locker. In its statement that night, the team said the weapons were "unloaded and without ammunition."

Arenas stated on Monday he brought the guns to his locker at the Verizon Center because he didn't want them at home around his children.

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