Quoted:
How popular is this in your area?
In LA, it's suppose to be really popular. In fact, it's so bad they bring in that anti-sniper radar and track the bullets back to the people who shot them.
Here is the story:
[url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-newyears31dec31001436,0,3373323.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dcalifornia]The story[/url]
View Quote
How about a copy/paste job for those folks that don't have a sign-on for Pravda West.
[url=http://www.kfwb.com/news_local.asp?displayOption=&contentGUID={66DD967A-3517-45FE-8256-91729831E07B}&groupName=KFWB Front Page Local Headlines&siteGUID={3B62BF55-4A93-48E6-A45D-6A495DC423AD}]Authorities Warn Against New Year's Gun Use [/url]
LOS ANGELES (KFWB/AP) 12.31.02, 10:00a - - A rain of lead that has killed and injured dozens in years past won't be tolerated this New Year's Eve, authorities warned.
Revelers who fire guns into the air to celebrate could be charged with a felony punishable by up to three years in prison, authorities said. They have repeated their message annually.
Prosecutors also will bring murder charges against gun owners whose stray bullets kill someone, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said.
Last year, a woman in Watts was wounded by a stray bullet on New Year's Eve as she played with her children in her front yard. Two years ago, stray bullets killed one man and wounded five others in the county, including a 10-year-old boy.
"There's no need to fire guns in the air. Quite frankly, it's stupid," Baca said.
In certain areas, the Sheriff's Department will use a high-tech system known as the Shotspotter to pinpoint locations where bullets are fired and will send out patrols to find the shooter.
Joining Baca at the Police Academy Monday were Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, Police Chief William Bratton, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, and prosecutors from the district attorney's office.
More than 50 10-officer special enforcement teams from the LAPD will be deployed on New Year's Eve to crack down on illegal gun play, officials said.
"This is my first New Year's in Los Angeles," new Police Chief William J. Bratton, formerly of New York, told the Los Angeles Times. "I'm still getting used to some of your quaint little customs, such as going to your front door and shooting your gun into the air."
Years ago, when the problem was at its peak, police officers on New Year's Eve duty would park their cruisers under bridges as midnight struck to avoid falling rounds, officials said.
The LAPD began a Gunfire Reduction Program in 1988 after New Year's Eve bullets killed one person and injured five others, including a police officer. The gunfire also damaged four squad cars.
Holiday gunfire calls have fallen in the years since, according to LAPD statistics. There were 788 such reports to city police in 1992 and 393 last year.
The issue surfaces on the Fourth of July too. In one case, a 9-year-old boy died after getting hit on July 4, 1999, while playing on his front porch with friends.
Bullets fired into the air can climb as high as two miles before plummeting to the earth at speeds of 300 to 500 feet per second - - more than fast enough to wound.
Also at the news conference were rows of schoolchildren who took part in a contest to draw posters illustrating the dangers of illegal firearm discharge.
One winner, 10-year-old Amanda Garcia, drew a crayon picture of three tombstones labeled "Mom," "Dad" and "Brother," with a crying little girl standing nearby.
On the poster Amanda had written: "Don't shoot. What goes up must come down and may kill."
"The reason I think no one should do this is because it hurts people and what if those people were important to people?" she said.