Good advice from the Brady Bunch!

[RoeBear]

And I'm serious!
http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/alerts/reader/0,2061,575484,00.html


Bullets Come Down: Help Stop Celebratory Gunfire this New Years
12/23/2004







Action Alert
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
United with the Million Mom March
1225 Eye Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
www.bradycampaign.org

Brady/MMM is joining with America's police departments to urge Americans not to engage in what police call "celebratory gunfire" -- the indiscriminate firing of weapons into the air. On New Years Eve, scores of people will place others at risk of injury or death because of celebratory gunfire. When a bullet is fired into the air, the bullet has to come down somewhere.

[Flammable Materials]

1. Mom always said, "Don't play ball in the house"! n/t

[CO Liberal]

2. Something Like That Happened in My Native NJ Back in the '70s

Seems that one year on the Fourth of July, a guy was in a local park in the town I grew up in (Morris Township), shooting off a rifle. Several miles away in Chatham Township, a man was working on his roof, when he collapsed and died. His wife thought he had had a heart attack, but when he was taken to the hospital, they found a bullet wound.

The Chatham Township detectives re-created the scene by determining the position that the man's body was in when he was hit, and they brought in ballistics experts from the Army's nearby Picatinny Arsenal to try and determine the approximate area where the bullet may have been fired. They calculated that the most likely area included that park in Morris Township.

When that information hit the papers and the public was asked for information on the case, eventually the trail led to that guy who was firing the gun in the park. He was arrested and convicted of the other man's murder.

[Retired AF Dem]

3. Murder or manslaughter?

You would think that there would be no problems in the middle east considering how often those people shoot their guns in the air. Joking aside, good advice, don't do it. Merry Christmas.

[CO Liberal]

4. Not Sure

But if I remember correctly, they threw the book at the guy because he obstructed the investigation, tried to dospose of teh rifle by throwing it in the Great Swamp, and went to all his neighbors to tell them what to tell the cops. The guy was a real gem....

[jody]

5. New Year’s Eve Injuries Caused by Celebratory Gunfire — Puerto Rico, 2003

QUOTE
New Year’s Eve Injuries Caused by Celebratory Gunfire — Puerto Rico, 2003
Bullets fired into the air during celebrations fall with sufficient force to cause injury and death (1). However, few data exist regarding the epidemiology of injuries related to celebratory gunfire. In Puerto Rico, where such celebratory actions are common, news media reports have indicated that approximately two persons die and an estimated 25 more are injured each year from celebratory gunfire on New Year’s Eve. The Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH) invited CDC and local law enforcement agencies to assist in the investigation of injuries resulting from celebratory gunfire that occurred during December 31, 2003–January 1, 2004. This report summarizes the findings of that investigation, which determined that 1) bullets from probable celebratory gunfire caused 19 injuries, including one death and 2) such injuries affected a higher percentage of women and children aged <15 years than injuries from noncelebratory gunfire, with the majority occurring in certain public housing areas in densely populated, metropolitan San Juan. Education and enforcement of existing laws are needed to prevent these injuries.
UNQUOTE

[slackmaster]

6. I heard several rounds fired last night

It happens on New Year's Eve, Christmas Eve, the 4th of July, and in some parts of town most heavily on the Chinese New Year.

[-..__...]

8. Isn't there a Cali state law (or LA County ordinence)...

that forbids ammo sales one week before New Years and the 4th of July?

<sarcasm> I'll bet it really helped in reducing the amount of celebratory gunfire and related injuries/deaths</sarcasm>

[slackmaster]

10. The city of Los Angeles has one

n/t

[Fescue4u]

7. I accidently fired a rifle into the air once

I was working the action with the rifle pointed up (i.e. safest direction) when the gun fired. I later determined it was due to a malfunction with a stuck firing pin.

I worried for weeks about where that rounded landed.

I just cant imagine firing a gun into the air intentionally, in a neighborhood multiple times. Very irresponsible.

This is one of the few times that the I agree with the Bradys efforts.

[-..__...]

9. Seems like the problem is part irresponsible firearms behavior...

and part cultural behavior (with the exception of New Orleans, the locales mentioned have a large Hispanic population).

[NorthernSpy]

13. it's also a Scandinavian custom -- keeps demons away, or something...

Seems like the problem is part irresponsible firearms behavior and part cultural behavior (with the exception of New Orleans, the locales mentioned have a large Hispanic population).

People fire shots on New Years morning where I live, but I don't think we have a Latino population.

:shrug:

[Withergyld]

14. It is also an Iraqi custom

They shoot in the air to celebrate just about everything. Births, Marriages, The last day of Ramadan.

Nothing like standing outside your tent and watching the tracers fly up into the sky.

About a month ago I found an AK bullet stuck in the top board of one of the fences in my camp. The angle it was at when I discoverd it suggests that it was fired into the air.

[NorthernSpy]

15. You're actually over there right now!?

I remember you announcing that you were shipping out. That was months ago.

It's good to hear from you. How are you doing?

[Withergyld]

16. I am home on "leave"

I am headed back in a few days. I am in a base south of Baghdad that is fairly quiet. We have only had two mortar attacks and one rocket attack in the eight months I have been in Iraq. I anticipate being home for good at the end of May.

[Columbia]

17. Great to see you around, Glen!

Glad you are safe! Happy New Year!

[Wickerman]

11. In San Antonio a decade or two ago

a young child was killed when a gun was discharged in the air in celebration - I believe of New Year's Eve. Very tragic. I recall little of the situation, but every Holiday they used to run her sad story on the news programs - It didn't seem to deter everyone - I still recall the gunfire when the Spurs won the Championship in 1999.

[MrSandman]

12. Newton was right....nt

[solinvictus]

18. Birmingham..

Lots of jackasses shooting down the street from a friends' house. We called the cops and they seemed to put a stop to it. That behavior is irresponsible as hell and any a**hole who fires into the air in a populated area should be prosecuted.