It has been common in some areas of the United States and in several Latin American countries for revelers to celebrate the start of a new year by firing their guns into the air. But police are urging them not to do so. “When you fire a gun into the air,” said Los Angeles police chief Willie Williams, “that bullet does come down someplace.” And that someplace may be in someone else’s head. Over a dozen people have been killed in this way over a few years’ time in the United States. Additionally, hundreds of cases of injury and property damage have been reported, sometimes caused by bullets that came from miles away. Often, people who fire into the air mistakenly think that the bullets disintegrate in the air or that they will not harm anyone as they descend. But a bullet shot straight up can return with a tremendous impact that is “enough to break the skin, put out an eye or penetrate the soft part of a baby’s skull,” according to Fred King, spokesman for the Houston Police Department.
What Goes Up Comes Down
It has been common in some areas of the United States and in several Latin American countries for revelers to celebrate the start of a new year by firing their guns into the air. But police are urging them not to do so. “When you fire a gun into the air,” said Los Angeles police chief Willie Williams, “that bullet does come down someplace.” And that someplace may be in someone else’s head. Over a dozen people have been killed in this way over a few years’ time in the United States. Additionally, hundreds of cases of injury and property damage have been reported, sometimes caused by bullets that came from miles away. Often, people who fire into the air mistakenly think that the bullets disintegrate in the air or that they will not harm anyone as they descend. But a bullet shot straight up can return with a tremendous impact that is “enough to break the skin, put out an eye or penetrate the soft part of a baby’s skull,” according to Fred King, spokesman for the Houston Police Department.