What goes up must come down.
Elementary as that principle is to most of us, there still seem to be plenty of gun-wielding simpletons who continue to fire weapons into the air on New Year's Eve.
We can call them simpletons because, of course, they're not reading this. If they read, they'd realize the tragic results of shooting into the air. They'd know about the children and adults who have died once the bullets completed their trip back to Earth.
Because the law of gravity isn't severe enough to deter the behavior, California laws have been written to stipulate that discharging firearms into the air is a felony and can be punished by a year in state prison.
And, in an effort to spread the word, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department are running a New Years Eve Gunfire Reduction Campaign, which includes billboard advertising.
In addition, on Monday, the campaign will exhibit its new "Shot Spotter" gunshot location system, which uses wide-area acoustic surveillance to detect and locate gunfire within seconds.
