Plaxico Burress did the right thing and turned himself in. He didn't have a permit to carry a loaded gun in New York and there really was no way for him to get out of it, with such a media circus covering the whole thing. It's rather admirable of him, knowing that he could get 3.5 years of jail time for this silly matter.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg:
Our children are getting killed with guns in the streets. Our police officers are getting killed with guns in the hands of criminals, and because of that, we got the State Legislature to pass a law that if you carry a loaded handgun, you get automatically 3 ½ years in the slammer.I knew that Bloomberg was tough on crime in New York, but didn't realize he was this tough. I applaud his fearlessness, in the face of fervent Giant fans. It's going to be rather embarassing for Bloomberg if Plaxico doesn't get 3.5 years after such a definitive statement. Yet, something inside of me (disclaimer: I have no legal experience whatsoever) says that he will end up with a much more manageable sentence.
I don’t think that anybody should be exempt from that, and I think it would be an outrage if we didn’t prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, particularly people who live in the public domain, make their living because of their visibility; they are the role models for our kids.
Mikey it seems, shouldn't have been so harsh with his words:
In New York, according to state law, a person carrying a gun without a permit faces at least 3 ½ years in prison if prosecutors prove that the person intended to use the weapon on another person. If intent to use cannot be proved, the person may still face felony charges that could result in up to seven years in prison.In my opinion it would be tough to prove that a person of Burress's stature really intended to use the weapon on another person. It doesn't help that he shot himself. But, we really have no idea what happened. Burress could have been in the process of using the gun on someone else, but shot himself instead, because he is a dumbass. We'll see how this all plays out.