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Hey, Genius: Don't Shoot Your Gun Into the Air on New Year's Eve
Hey you. Yeah, the one with the gun all loaded and pointed up to the sky. Resist the urge to pull the trigger at 12:01 a.m. on January 1, 2012. It's a pretty simple scientific principle: What goes up must come down. It's as true for the bullets that come out of your gun on New Year's Eve, too, and local law enforcement are reminding us that they have no tolerance for those kinds of shenanigans.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the District Attorney’s Office have embarked upon the Gunfire Reduction Campaign, which aims (pun semi-intended) to "reduce incidents of indiscriminate gunfire that, while on the decline, has continued to be a deadly tradition in our County and in our City," according to the LAPD.
Shooting your gun off willy nilly, aka negligently discharging firearms, is a violation of California Penal Code Section 246.3. It's also really dangerous and, frankly, idiotic.
To help figure out what Los Angeles resident (and asshat) is firing their gun, law enforcement has a piece of technology called the Shotspotter, which helps them "pinpoint gunfire within a few feet of where the shots were fired." Bottom line: They can find you.
Additionally, the Gunfire Reduction Campaign would also like to remind folks whooping it up on New Year's Eve that it's not advised to mess around with toy guns either.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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