DON'T DO IT: Celebratory gunfire in Florida is illegal and police advise leaving firearms out of your New Year’s festivities.
Earlier this year, News4JAX told youOn New Year’s Day, stray bullets came flying into their home, nearly hitting their then-1-year-old boy. His parents were petrified.
“A bullet has no name on it and it’s scary to think about it and it could have hit any of us in this home and that would have been the end of it,” the boy’s father said. While no one was hurt in that scenario, former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Officer James Brown said that is not always the case. “It’s just luck to call it by any other means. The more that that is done increases the likelihood that someone could be struck,” said Brown., people hit by falling bullets have a higher chance of receiving fatal injuries than those involved in a typical shooting.
Also, research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found bullets falling from the sky to the ground can reach speeds faster than 200 feet per second, which is fast enough to penetrate a skull.The trajectory of a single celebratory shot has the power to impact the entire trajectory of a person’s life.