Brian Perez was playing in the front yard of his Los Angeles home in 1999 while his parents roasted hot dogs during a Fourth of July barbecue when a bullet dropped from the sky, fatally injuring the 9-year-old.
It sounds like a freak accident, but every year dozens of people die or are injured from stray bullets fired into the air during Independence Day and New Year's Eve celebrations. In Chicago, police recieved 410 "shots fired" calls at the 911 center during the first 15 minutes of the new millenium. In 2001, a toddler was grazed by a bullet while watching a July 4th fireworks display at the State Capitol in St. Paul.
In Miami, police are so concerned over celebratory gunfire that all officers take cover for 10 minutes before and after the new year!
A bullet fired into the air can remain in flight for more than 60 seconds before it falls. As it falls, the bullet reaches a velocity of 300 to 700 feet per second, more than enough impact to pierce human skin and bone.
Cities from Trenton, New Jersey to Witchita, Kansas are running public-safety campaigns warning people not to fire guns into the air. Others are cracking down by stiffening punishment. In Arizona, firing a gun into the air was raised from a misdemeanor to a felony in response to the death of 14-year-old Shannon Smith who died from a stray bullet in 1999.
Los Angeles police now use a device called the Shotspotter Communication System that enables them to pinpoint the location from which shots are fired. In California, negligent discharge of a gun is a felony, even if no one is hurt.
In Minnesota, it is illegal to discharge a firearm over a cemetary, from an airplane or at or in a public transit vehicle. Additionally, local governments may regulate the "discharge" of a weapon within their jurisdictions.
Celebratory gunfire is a dangerous and growing public health problem that we must continue to monitor.