The charge is serious. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg is serious.

Plaxico Burress, the gifted and troubled receiver for the New York Giants, was arraigned yesterday for having an unlicensed (and thus illegal) gun in his possession early Saturday morning, when Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh.

Anyone who knows Mayor Bloomberg knows that regardless of what football team he roots for, he is not a fan of guns. He hates them. He has campaigned around the country against them. He has a no-tolerance position on them. City law requires a minimum 3 1/2-year prison sentence for conviction on possession of a weapon. Bloomberg said that not prosecuting somebody like Burress would make "a sham, a mockery of the law."

There is a way out for everyone involved. I say this not only as a Giants fan. Well, actually, I say this as a Giants fan.

My solution: Have the City Council change the law, but just for Plaxico Burress. It's sort of like what Bloomberg did with the city's term-limits law, something that voters have twice passed. But since Bloomberg wants to run for a third term next year, and since he knows that the Big Apple without Bloomberg would cease to exist, he had the City Council change the law ... but just for him. It allows him to run for a third term. And then the city can resume its term-limits thing. And everybody will be happy

The law is important, as we all agree. Guns can be dangerous. But, like with term limits, sometimes the law is not absolute. Just ask Michael Bloomberg.

categories: All Politics Is Local

3:45 - December 2, 2008

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