Don't fire guns into the air to celebrate New Year's Eve, officials warn
Law enforcement agencies across metro Atlanta will not tolerate celebratory gunfire which has tragically injured or killed children in recent years.
South Fulton police say celebratory gunfire is unacceptable, and those bullets come down with enough energy to seriously injure or kill someone.
Gwinnett County Solicitor General Brian Whiteside says that if you're shooting a gun in the air, whether it's for a New Year's celebration or any other occasion, you're selfish and shouldn't be a gun owner. His office wants the gun taken away and for you to undergo a psychological evaluation.
"You're ignorant and you're uncaring. You have no type of knowledge of what the firearm can actually do," Whiteside explained.
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When the clock strikes midnight on January 1, 2022, only the sound of fireworks should be filling the night's dark clouds.
However, we've all heard stories of people recklessly pointing their guns up to the sky and firing off several rounds.
"There have been people harmed in Gwinnett County and you look statistically, the majority of them have been kids," Whiteside detailed.
In 2019, a 9-year-old was hit by celebratory gunfire on Griffin Street in Northwest Atlanta.
"It could've hit his heart," his mother, Santa Nava, said after he was shot in the stomach. "It was really close to his heart. Stop the shooting. A lot of kids a lot of people that are innocent are getting shot or killed."
In 2010, 4-year-old Marquel Peters was killed after a bullet came through the roof of a church in DeKalb County. The little boy was there with his family on New Year's Eve.
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These tragedies are a concern for agencies across the country. Celebratory gunfire is against the law.
"There’s radar to pinpoint where a person could have fired that weapon. There are means to find them...high technology means, and some departments do have that where they are out during these type of periods where they can triangulate and find these people," the solicitor general explained.
Whiteside says that if you're convicted of reckless celebratory discharging of firearms, he wants your judge to hand down a stiff penalty.
"Twelve months in custody or probation and psychological evaluation," he detailed.
Instead of celebratory gunfire, there are many things that can help you celebrate as we head into a news year.
We have a list of ideas here that can help you decide.