Tail light difficulties?

Last night my buddy pointed out that i had no running lights. So i checked my fuses(under the dash behind the coin holder) and sure enough i had one blown. The minute i put a new one in i had lights again! But! Smoke started rolling out from under my tailgate so i quickly turned the ignition off and removed the fuse.. After some tinkering i discovered there was a short in one of the wires going to my license plate lights. I took the right one out and sure enough. Melted plastic and a familiar stench told me what my problem was! Ill be buying. A new lighting mechanism dealy wop tomorrow. Until then i risk getting pulled over only to tell the officer yes i know my tail lights are out.. best of luck to you fellows out there with electrical issues!