Officials warn against celebratory gunfire this 4th of July

STATESBORO, Ga. (WSAV) – Each year, law enforcement sees an uptick in irresponsible gun use during the Fourth of July.

Officials are asking that you don’t get carried away this year with celebratory gunfire that could seriously hurt your neighbors.

“There is nothing celebratory about gunfire,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “Not only is celebratory gunfire illegal, it is stupid.”

It’s something that law enforcement all over see every year around July Fourth and New Year’s Eve.

“You don’t know, even if you shoot it straight up, how far that bullet is going to carry, and that’s without wind and anything else, and it’s still got enough velocity coming down to get through somebody’s skull,” said Statesboro Police Captain Jared Akins.

Akins says a bullet shot straight up in the air can easily hit someone standing a football field’s distance away.

“I understand you’re listening to the police say, ‘Don’t do this because it’s against the law’ and all, but look at it from a common sense standpoint,” said Akins. “Shooting a gun up in the air and having no idea where that bullet goes is the direct opposite of being a responsible person with a firearm.”

In addition to the safety issues, Akins says they waste police time and resources being called out to reports of “shots fired,” only to find someone celebrating the Fourth with celebratory gunfire.

“We don’t know if it’s a crime, if somebody is shooting at somebody else or if it’s something along the lines of this, so what we end up doing is tying down resources, tying down officers having to go out because you can’t ignore them,” said Akins.

He tells News 3, that if you’re caught shooting celebratory gunfire in the city limits, you could be given a citation or arrested and charged with reckless misconduct.