Posted on 12/31/2012 12:22:26 PM PST by Kid Shelleen
District attorney Seth Williams and police commissioner Charles Ramsey today made their annual plea to Philadelphians not to fire guns into the air to celebrate the arrival of the new year. They say its a dangerous practice that can have tragic consequences, and they promised strict enforcement of laws prohibiting the practice.
Its an annual reminder that, apparently, isnt reaching its target audience.
Greg Jaskolka used to look forward to New Years traditions like watching the ball drop, banging pots, and kissing his family.
Now, his annual tradition is pushing his wheelchair-bound son, Joe, to police headquarters to put a human face on the consequences of so-called celebratory gunfire.
(Excerpt) Read more at philadelphia.cbslocal.com ...
9 arrests were made last year but not one person has been sentenced. Must be those zany Tea Partiers..
Responsible gun owners would not waste ammunition celebrating the need to buy a new calendar.
Just declare it a GUN FREE ZONE. Problem solved.
3rd world style celebration
I thought Philly just had a gun buy back. Didn’t that solve everything?
Somehow, PLEADING with criminals does not seem to work. How about adult consequences instead? Just a thought.
Philly is the 3rd world.
There will be several reported incidents of "celebratory gunfire" across the country tomorrow.
It wouldn't surprise me if related injuries and deaths were also reported.
Advancing the narrative that anyone who is stupid enough to own a gun is simply too stupid to be trusted with a gun.
Wanna stop gun violence in the city of Brotherly Love....it is easy!
Put a roadblock on US 30 for all those crazy Amish who leave Lancaster County and raise hell in Philly with their AK’s and Saturday Night Specials!!
sarc...
(Because we REALLY know who is the main culprits of gun violence)
My family spent one New Year’s Eve in South Philly in the 1980’s, and we were sitting on the front steps of a rowhome when a guy walked out of his house with a shotgun and shot into the sky. This was a tradition that was considered harmless for a long time... until a young boy was injured. (I guess Joe is that young boy today?) Probably another type of firearm is what injured him, if I remember correctly. Regardless, the tradition should stop.
Police did arrest nine people last year. Three are still awaiting trial; one case was dismissed; one defendant is missing; four pleaded guilty, but the DAs office did not know immediately if theyd been sentenced.
The authorities sure are tough on criminals there.
I recall as a kid, on New Year’s Eve 1977, the next door neighbors firing a .44 Magnum to celebrate the arrival of 1978.
This was in South Pasadena, California, a middle-class (at the time) predominantly white neighborhood. The celebrants were middle-class white folks, lived there all their lives.
My father went over and berated them for their stupidity. He told them if they wished to pop off a few rounds to celebrate New Years, at least have the common sense to use blank ammo.
Gun prosecutions under Obama down more than 45 percent
Exclude DC, Chicago, LA, Philly, East St.louis,Milwaukee & Baltimore and wed probably have the gun murder rate of Switzerland.
I remember as a kid one of my father’s friends shooting his WWII 1911 (which he kept with him when he left the service) into the air at midnight.
I guess our forefathers were smarter. I have read several times about them shooting blanks on special occasions. In addition, most of the blank ammunition I have seen on gunshow tables looks like it is pre-WWII.
I'm sure the Philly bangers will comply, and fire their guns into one another or innocent bystanders.
Why should today be any different than any other day?
The gang bangers have been closely following the fiscal cliff negotiations and will celebrate when republicans sell us out.
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