The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Million Mom March are joining with America's police departments to urge Americans not to engage in what police call "celebratory gunfire" -- the indiscriminate unloading of weapons into the air. On New Year's Eve and Independence Day each year, scores of people place others at risk of injury or death as a result of celebratory gunfire. When a bullet is fired into the air, the bullet has to come down somewhere.

The practice of celebratory gunfire has been a problem in cities like Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix and Los Angeles and in towns along the U.S. and Mexico border. Last year, it became such a problem in Puerto Rico that U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were called in for advice.

"Every police group in America supports national and local efforts to educate citizens on the dangers of celebratory gunfire," said John Shanks, Law Enforcement Relations Director for Brady and the Million Moms. "Every police officer in America would urge people not to do something as reckless as this."

"It makes no sense whatsoever to fire a weapon into the air, not knowing where the bullet may fall. This is probably the most unsafe, crazy practice people engage in on New Year's Eve," said Steve Lenkart of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers. And Curt Lavarello, Executive Director for the National Association of School Resource Officers said, "It would be horrific if one of our students did not return to school after the winter break because of this type of reckless behavior with firearms."

Four years ago, Phoenix, Arizona enacted Shannon's Law, in memory of 14-year-old Shannon Smith, killed by a stray bullet in June 1999 while talking on her phone in her back yard. The law makes it a felony to fire a gun into the air within the city limits. Yet in 2003, there were still 95 cases of random gunfire successfully prosecuted in the city of Phoenix.

How dangerous can it get? Consider one of the risks facing America's service men and women in Iraq. Last November, celebratory gunfire in Baghdad following the death of Saddam Hussein's two sons cost 31 Iraqis their lives, including two young children. Seventy-six others were wounded.

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