“We need a culture change. We need the community to step up and say, ‘This is not the behavior that we’re willing to put up with.’ When that happens, it will help.” – Columbus, Ohio, Deputy Police Chief Richard Bash in Please Don’t Be That Idiot Who Shoots Their Gun In The Air On New Year’s Eve [via cbslocal.com]
Bigger issue in Dayton than Columbus, I think. When I lived in Dayton’s South Park Historic District, drunken shouts of “ Happy New Year” followed by 5-15 pistol shots started around 11:46 pm and ran through about 3:45 am.
Yeah, “Historic District”…that’s a good name for it…
Make fireworks legal again. Ima set off a few M-80s tonight, but I had to get them in Mexico. That’s probably illegal.
I can legally set off fireworks here. Which reminds me…I need to FIND mine… It’s usually too COLD, though.
I used to light M80s but nowadays who wants the BATF up their kiester?
We are always under cover by 11:15 pm.
Years ago a relative made a recording; it sounded like Beirut’s Green Line in the 80’s.
Roofers will be waiting for repair calls after the first big rainfall post NYE.
how serious is this? two dead a year? I’m of the bring back fireworks stance. even there though people really do not care if their neighbor has to work.
It isn’t the number of fatalities that make it serious. For me, it is the terrible image of the “typical American Gun Owner” that this dangerous practice reinforces in the minds of the public. Idiots who celebrate whatever event with uncontrolled and reckless gunfire into the air are not our fellow gun owners. We need to disavow them at all times and make it very clear that their stupid actions are NOT representative of what we do.
🤠
Bingo – The odds of getting hit by a stray bullet from one of these idiots in worse than winning the lottery. It is still breaking the fundamental safety rules for firearms. The damage done to the reputation of responsible gun owners is a sure thing. Damage to the hearing of people near the idiots is also a sure thing. We need at least some basic firearm safety training for everyone, with 400 million guns in circulation, the odds are everyone will have contact with one sometime / someplace and too many people have lost common sense.
“Training” can certainly be a cure for ignorance. Unfortunately, there is no training possible to cure stupidity. People who don’t CARE will not be swayed by any training, mandatory or otherwise.
We need to separate any yahoo’s spouted opinion of “typical American Gun Owner” from the “typical American Gun Owner” .
Drunks do this, but (as long as it’s being characterized) there’s usually some ethnicity/nationakity thrown in.
[I’m not sure which, so start alphabetically with African, Australian, try Chechen, skip to Mexican, the Middle Eastern, and round out with Russian.
It’s not that Anglo-Saxon’s aren’t ever involved but that seems to be more of a drunken monkey see monky do issue.
I’m about 100% sure that the citizens of Columbus who are shooting their guns into the air aren’t the typical American gun owner but are the typical American street criminal.
We went through a stretch just here in the Tampa Bay area where we had 5 deaths in 5 years. And one year (I think 2013) that skipped but we had 2 the year after.
I agree, we need a cultural change – we need to teach firearm safety and marksmanship at a young age *gasp* starting in elementary schools even. The people shooting off a handgun are not the ones who go to the range on a regular basis and practice firearm safety – they are people who were never taught the 4 rules. This would also have the effect of reducing the number of hoplophobes pushing for gun control. The best way to take away liberty is to keep the majority ignorant.
Exactly. We’ve managed to teach kids to buckle up whenever they get into a car, we can damn well teach them not to do stupid things with firearms whether their parents do or not. If they’re gonna be indoctrinated at school, at least make some of it be useful to more than one political party.
Exactly what ‘culture’ are we talking about here? An imported one perhaps? I’ve never lived anywhere where shooting guns in the air, no matter what the occasion, was a thing. And all the places I’ve lived are extremely gun friendly.
There’s a long history of that here in SE PA. Philadelphians have been lighting off their firearms for New Year’s since at least the 1700’s (hence the “2nd Street Shooters” Mummers), and the PA Dutch also have a longstanding tradition of “shooting in the New Year”.
Of course, just because it’s a tradition doesn’t make it a good thing. I’d much prefer folks light off fireworks, but some idiots can’t be trusted with those, either, so Big Brother has limited what we can get in-state.
Interesting, I had no idea. Maybe I need to travel more…or maybe not 🙂
I just wanted to point out that this stupidity knows no ethnic/racial/religious/etc. boundaries and has a long history in this land.
And it probably can’t hurt to get out more. 🙂
You’re lucky if you’ve never had it happen near you. Around here, it happens every year. There’s at least a couple of people in my area that have automatic weapons, from the sound of it…
Comes Midnight, I’ll pop off a few caps, or a whole magazine’s worth, just to keep the handgun exercised. Of course, living in what would be considered Rural America one always hears gunfire off in the hills, year ’round, but especially at New Year’s Eve.
Worried where the round will go? Well, that’s what the dirt in the back yard is for.
Aim down, not up.
I’m guessing every night is new years eve in Chicago.
Never heard of blanks ?
Oh no, it’s an epidemic.
My Mossberg 500 makes a lot of noise, but that’s why I purchased a couple boxes of “Blanks” some years ago.
Firearms are meant to destroy things, Not to make noise.
If you must use your firearm to make noise, buy some Blanks, as stated above.
‘Bird Bangs’ are *great* in a scatter-gun.
A hollow ‘Bonk’ sound, and a few seconds later…*BOOM*!
That was my go-to back in ‘the day’…
There’s always an idiot. My parents live outside the city limits, where it is legal to discharge your firearm from your house, but it is an established neighborhood. The first New Years the community was built their neighbor decided that it would be ok to fire a rifle into the air. Everyone called the police. It hasn’t happened again, but still makes you worry just knowing dumbasses like that live next to your parents.
Sounds like a bunch of yuppies and pussies live in the area. I have gun fire around me almost every other day and its a non-issue. Well, except that one time…
The full auto and exploding targets are about to start out here.
Cruzo1981 – did anyone get hit? Bet not! I’ll also bet they were firing BLANKS! Kinda’ like your mind!
RIGHT. Because most gun owners keep a stock for freaking blanks on hand for their next MILES FTX.
How many guns shops/stores have you been to where there were blanks widely for sale?
You let hordes of 3rd world barbarians into your country, unassimilated and they bring their habits with them. And it ISNT shooting blanks.
Lots of idiots in my neighborhood. July 4th is worse…and the po-leece don’t do a damn thing. Stay safe POTG…
Proof positive the police chief is ‘Stupid is as stupid does!’
I don’t know. Americans grew up watching Americans in Westerns shooting in the air regularly.
Why blame Haji etc. when the subject is about American gun owners? Doesn’t it get tiresome trying to find fault with “other people?”
It’s a New Year. Clean your own house.
Happy New Year everyone!!!!
lived on long island a while back – new years eve sounded like fallujah.
Should be a quiet New Year’s Eve. Too cold to be outside. Even our dogs are speeding peeing, not looking for that “ perfect spot”
I still have some fireworks left over from summer. 8 below zero here right now. I’ll be sprinting out the door at 11:59 and plan to be back in by 12:01.
Back in the early 90s when I was attending university in eastern Kentucky, there was one New Year’s Eve where I had a rifle bullet (some flavor of .30 caliber) come through the ceiling and land at the foot of my bed. OK, to be fair it was a single-wide trailer (off-campus living, y’all!). I guarantee it was not fired by an urban thug.
KY. WV. Ohio. We were lily white Americans and the older generation in my family used their guns to ring in the new year. Stone sober, no less. Church going, hard working Americans of the Scots Irish persuasion.
All the retards blaming this behavior on a ‘certain culture’ or ‘recent immigrants’ are just that, retarded.
Years ago when I reloaded for trap I made blanks using cotton instead of shot. Made lots of noise and flame without any danger.
The wad would end up in the yard and that was it.
Well in4 hr.s It’s a shoot fest in the town South of me., I’m going to light up the sky with my pellet gun. That town South if me population 12000, will probably rip off 40,000 rounds or better, I kinda like it.
Try being in New Orleans 4 New Year’s Eve. Battleground USA.
Too late. Already did.
I live in Central Ohio, and my cousin is A Columbus police officer. He said all the warnings did was cause more people to shoot their firearms for New Years. He said it sounded like Beirut around 1983.
Columbus is now a city completely run by rubber-stamp virtue signalling big-city liberals, including the police department. They just had a record year for murders, so they constantly have to deflect criticism by changing the subject.
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