Kansas City Holiday Tradition: Ignoring Celebratory Gunfire Warning

A heart breaking story and threats of new laws typically don't scary drunken locals who party by way of reckless gun play.

Nevertheless, the traditional message is worth repeating even if it's dutifully ignored . . .

Kansas City's new police chief says it's a familiar message that many still are not hearing.

"Those bullets come down. They can hurt people," KCPD Police Chief Stacey Graves said.

For the last three years, Blair's Law, a new proposed bill that calls for more severe penalties for those who fire guns into the air, has stalled in the Missouri senate.

However, lawmakers expect it to pass in 2023.

"It will create the state offense for discharging a firearm into or within city limits. It will create a felony charge for doing so," Missouri State Representative Mark Sharp said.

The chief says the shot tracker technology has gotten a lot better, but they say they still count on folks calling 911 to Identify those in their neighborhoods shooting in the air.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

KCPD urging people to ring in the New Year without celebratory gunfire

It's been over a decade since 11-year-old Blair Lane was hit and killed by a stray bullet while in her backyard celebrating the 4th of July.Police are urging people to celebrate the New Year without guns this year."It has been 11 years, five months and 24 days since I had to let my girl go,"More than a decade later, thoughts of Lane still hit hard for her mother and the Kansas City area."I will still tell people that this is reckless and, you know, absolutely the most insane thing you could do," Blair Lane's mother, Michele Shanahan-DeMoss, said.

Years later, Kansas City tragedy reminds of celebratory gunfire danger

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Police Department is warning against so-called celebratory gunfire as we approach New Year's Eve. The shots into the air have caused property damage in the past but it's also caused injuries and even death.

11 years later, grieving mother warns of consequences of celebratory gunfire in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - City officials, lawmakers and a grieving mother are all pleading with the public to put away their firearms during New Year's celebrations. According to KCPD's ShotSpotter, 1,162 rounds of shots went off last year. Of them, only 259 were actually reported to police.

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