Conaway/Conners: July 4 No Time for Irresponsible Gun Play

CONAWAY/CONNERS: FOURTH OF JULY NO TIME
TO FIRE GUNS IN CELEBRATION
Assemblymen Renew Call for Criminalizing Reckless Celebratory Gunfire,
Remind Residents 'What Goes Up, Must Come Down'

(TRENTON) - Citing the inherent dangers of people engaging in celebratory gun play on the Fourth of July, Assemblymen Herb Conaway, M.D., and Jack Conners today renewed their call for a state law to crack down on the dangerous practice.

The assemblymen said the Fourth of July is one of several holidays that can become unnecessarily dangerous when some residents fire a gun into the air as a means to commemorate the occasion.  The lawmakers said there have been several instances around the country in which errant bullets fired skyward from a pistol during a holiday celebration have injured or killed innocent people.

"Anyone who uses their Fourth of July celebration as an excuse to unload their gun into the air must recognize that the bullets will eventually return to earth," said Conaway (D-Burlington).  "Reckless holiday gunplay puts people in real danger and should never be considered a lawful or responsible act."

The Conaway and Conners bill - the Reckless Firearms Discharge Act  (A-1609) - would establish criminal penalties for individuals who celebrate holidays by recklessly firing guns into the air.   The Conaway/Conners measure would make the reckless discharge of a firearm a fourth degree crime punishable by up to 18 months in jail and $10,000 in fines.  The bill would protect wildlife control personnel, hunters in designated areas, and operators and users of properly supervised firing ranges.

"New Jersey law must clearly work to promote safe and responsible gun ownership, not provide a wink and nod to reckless and dangerous games," said Conners (D-Camden).   "Punishing celebratory gunfire should be a no-questions-asked, common sense move."

Municipalities have the authority to enact ordinances prohibiting the discharge of firearms into the air, but New Jersey state law is silent on the subject.

The legislators cited two local cases in which innocent victims of celebratory gunfire were either injured or killed by stray, falling bullets. During a New Year's Eve celebration in 2000,  a 42-year-old Mount Laurel man was fatally shot in the chest while attending a party in Edgewater Park.  The victim reportedly was reloading a gun as fellow revelers fired guns into the air to mark the arrival of 2001.

In 1999, a Philadelphia teen was left partially paralyzed by a falling bullet fired during a New Year's celebration.

Arizona enacted the nation's first law to criminalize reckless gunfire in 2000. "Shannon's Law" was named in memory of 14-year-old Shannon Smith, a Phoenix girl who was killed while in her backyard from a falling bullet that struck her in the back of the head.

"In a state as densely populated as New Jersey, reckless gunplay should be just as illegal as the fireworks some irresponsible owners are trying to mimic," said Conaway.

"Gun owners cannot use the holiday spirit as an excuse for putting the public in danger," said Conners. "Our message is simple: celebrate the Fourth by leaving the gun locked safely away and go enjoy a sanctioned fireworks display."

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