Public Warned of Danger of New Year’s Eve Gunfire

A police campaign is successfully targeting New Year’s Eve merrymakers who fire guns into the air in a deadly celebration that has killed and injured bystanders in the past, Los Angeles officials said Thursday.

For the second year, a weeklong ban on ammunition sales in Los Angeles went into effect Christmas Day. Police also are conducting a public information campaign to warn about the dangers of random gunfire.

“We’ve reduced the problem by 90%,” said Police Lt. Bruce Hagerty, coordinator of the publicity campaign. Before the crackdown began in 1989, at least one death and dozens of injuries were logged each year, Hagerty said. In the period since, the number of such shootings has dropped sharply and nobody has been killed or wounded by a stray bullet in the city, he said.

Most people guilty of shooting guns to celebrate the new year are “law-abiding citizens. They don’t realize the dangers involved,” Hagerty said. Public service announcements are being broadcast on radio, 800,000 flyers have been distributed and 30,000 posters have been tacked up this season.