Celebrate the new year without gunfire

Our communities have been turned into war zones at midnight on New Year’s Eve, and because of the gunfire every citizen is at risk.

For some insane reason, some people feel it is necessary to take a gun and fire it off as the new year is welcomed. For most, it is not just one pull of the trigger, it is multiple firings.

And, based on the sound, these are not small calibre weapons being fired into the air. They are high-powered rifles and handguns — hundreds of them throughout not only Porterville, but cities all over the nation.

It is a practice that has been deadly, is certainly very dangerous, and has caused thousands of dollars in property damage.

Apparently, those who get their kicks shooting a gun into the air do not understand that the bullet or bullets they fire, come down, and they come down at high velocity.

It was a few years ago that a man in Visalia was killed by the random gunfire. A bullet was found in a crib in Porterville many years ago, right beneath the hole in the ceiling and roof. A car has been damaged. We can only guess how many near misses have occurred and how much damage has been done that are not immediately linked to the gunfire.

The shooting of weapons into the air in Los Angeles has gotten so bad that many patrol officers park under overpasses until the gunfire stops. It is that dangerous.

We know police would like to put a stop to the gunfire, but it is difficult for them to catch idiots who don’t see the difference between right and wrong.

If you know someone who pulls out a gun to celebrate the new year, stop them. Get them to celebrate in a calmer fashion. They don’t need a gun to enjoy New Year’s Eve and they certainly don’t need to recklessly fire off a high-powered weapon into the air. A toast with a glass, a kiss or a warm embrace is certainly more fitting and much safer.

We hope everyone has a safe beginning to the new year.