Posted on 12/28/2004 3:02:39 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Bullets Come Down: Help Stop Celebratory Gunfire this New Years | |
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. This holiday season, help spread the word about the dangers of "celebratory gunfire" - the practice of firing a gun indiscriminately into the air to celebrate the beginning of the New Year. For activists and chapters looking for a project over the holiday week, we suggest contacting your local police and asking them if you can help spread the word about an annual firearm threat that more-and-more cities are facing. Brady/MMM will be issuing a press release on Tuesday, December 28, urging Americans not to engage in celebratory gunfire. The body of the press release is below. Your local police department would probably appreciate help from the Moms in spreading the word about this problem. It is not just about convincing potential shooters to think again - public attention on the problem can also increase peer pressure from the potential shooter's friends and relatives. Your efforts could lead to someone urging a spouse or friend to "put the gun away." Here's an early draft of next Tuesday's press release: The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence united with the Million Mom March is joining with America's police departments to urge Americans not to engage in what police call "celebratory gunfire" - the indiscriminate unloading of weapons into the air. On New Years Eve and Independence Day each year, scores of people place others at risk of injury or death as a result of celebratory gunfire. When a bullet is fired into the air, the bullet has to come down somewhere. The practice of celebratory gunfire has been a problem in cities like Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix and Los Angeles and in towns along the U.S. and Mexico border. Last year, it became such a problem in Puerto Rico that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were called in for advice. "Every police group in America supports national and local efforts to educate citizens on the dangers of celebratory gunfire," said John Shanks, Law Enforcement Relations Director for Brady/MMM. "Every police officer in America would urge people not to do something as reckless as this." "The danger inherent in this activity ought to be obvious," continued Shanks. "It makes no sense whatsoever to fire a weapon into the air, not knowing where the bullet may fall. This is probably the most unsafe, crazy practice people engage in on New Years Eve." Four years ago, Phoenix, Arizona enacted Shannon's law, in memory of 14 year-old Shannon Smith, killed by a stray bullet in June 1999 while talking on her phone in her back yard. The law makes it a felony to fire a gun into the air within the city limits. Yet in 2003, there were still 95 cases of random gunfire successfully prosecuted in the city of Phoenix. How dangerous can it get? Consider one of the risks facing America's service men and women in Iraq. Last November, celebratory gunfire in Baghdad following the death of Saddam Hussein's two sons cost 31 Iraqis their lives, including two young children. Seventy-six others were wounded. |
|
There you go again, insisting on accuracy from liberals! I was assuming there were actually a million moms, thus... ;-)
I was wondering who the idiots were that were firing into the air. I have lived muy whole life around guns and other gun owners and I have NEVER ONCE seen anyone fire a gun into the air. It had to be a "multicultural" thing ...
You're being waaaaay too nice.
Note the areas and cities that are cited in this press release; "Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix and Los Angeles and in towns along the U.S. and Mexico border. Last year, it became such a problem in Puerto Rico ...."
As such, to be effective this release should be in freaking .
Yep, that's the smart move. Every year it seems, at least one person in Los Angeles takes a hit from a "stray" round that's been fired into the air at New Year's Eve midnight.
On New Year's Eve, 1913, in New Orleans, Louis Armstrong, then aged 11, was arrested for shooting a pistol into the air. He was sent to the "Colored Waif's Home" (reform school), where he received his first trumpet lesson....
And I say to myself, what a wonderful world...
I try...
As such, to be effective this release should be in freaking SPANISH.
Jeez, now that would be funny! Could you imagine the outcry if MMM released this press release in the language that its target audience speaks?
Me? I save my celebratory firing of guns into the air for Arbor Day.
< /sarcasm>
This is what the Brady thieves are reduced to. Don't be fooled; this is simply a fallback tactic designed to give a little ground now so that they can take more later. It doesn't matter if this is a good idea or not; consider the source.
Just an aside but the terminal velocity of even very large slugs is just a bit more than it takes to break the skin.
A .44 (which is the only one that I can recall) has a terminal velocity of 70-76 metres per second. Skin penetration is between 45 and 60 metres per second.
From personal experience (dove hunters shooting into me not knowing I was there) buckshot is akin to getting hit with a pea out of a pea shooter.
I don't condone the practice by any means but it would almost be impossible to be killed by a falling bullet. Think the deaths are proabably people who have been shot.
Whenever I did this(as a kid) I would fire such rounds into the ground.
Now I believe anyone who gets out in the middle of the night on New Years Eve in the freezing cold to shoot a gun for the sake of making noise has some issues.......
Wow, buckshot for doves !! Just how big are those doves in Texas??
Haha, how about birdshot. More and more often my fingers disregard what my brain tells them to do.
He had moved or stopped the bad behavior by 1998/1999 New Year's Eve. I was sitting next to my wife for the 1999/2000 New Year's Eve as she was dispatching in the Sheriff's Office. I was feeling like a case of flu was chewing on me that night.
Nice spoof, but you didn't fool me.
Calling Al Gore... Caling Al Gore...
Yeah, yeah, it's Al here. Wudaya want?
Listen, Al... I wuz just thinkin'...
Since you ivented this fabulous Internet...
Why don't you do us all another favor and
invent a Holiday Bullet that just keeps on
going up, and up, and up, and up, until it
plows into a Russian or Chinese space craft !!! ;-))
I work at a 911 Center in the middle of a housing project. Every New Years' does about $10,000 damage to the flat roof, and every Spring the roof needs to be repaired. The roofers collect slugs that they find embedded in the old roof that cause the leaks, and I think last year they came up with about thirty slugs...
My father and I use to fire a shotgun into the ground for New Years until some wadding got lodged in the barrell. The next blast made the gun resemble a Warner Brothers cartoon with Elmer Fudd.
Years later we found the end of the barrell well over a hundred feet away down a hillside I was clearing. We never bothered with shotgun reloads after that.
Happy New Years to all!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.