Police: Firing random gunshots on New Year’s Eve could mean prison time

PHOENIX — Owning and possessing a gun in Arizona may be legal, but shooting it into the air to celebrate New Year’s Eve is not, Glendale Police said.

Under Shannon’s Law, convicted felons can spend up to five years in prison for shooting a random gunshot into the air on New Year’s Eve, Sgt. Scott Waite said.

Waite said random gunfire endangers the shooter, their family and their neighbors.

“What could happen? Well, depending on where that bullet goes, a lot,” Waite said. “If it strikes somebody — if it kills somebody — you’re responsible for that.”

To help combat random gunfire, Glendale Police will be using a gunshot detection and location service called ShotSpotter. Waite said the technology is sensitive enough to distinguish between a car backfiring and a gunshot.

“They have somebody 24 hours a day monitoring that center,” Waite said. “They’ll determine whether it was a gunshot, then they will immediately [determine the shot’s location], then immediately send back a call for service.”

Shannon’s Law was enacted in 2000 and was named after Shannon Smith, a 14-year-old girl who was killed by a stray bullet in Phoenix in June of 1999. The law makes it a felony offense to randomly fire gunshots into the air.

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