When you hear news reports of people firing guns in the air in celebration, one generally conjures up a vision more common to Baghdad than Minnesota, but you would be wrong. Recent news items report a soldier, Private Danny Carpio, 23, on leave from the Army was arrested after he fired a gun in the air. The result of his actions: a 28 year old woman, who would have celebrated her 29th birthday on Saturday, was killed. Apparently the woman was leaning over a balcony above the location of the weapon discharge. News reports indicate the incident took place in Queens, New York. Reports state the soldier fired the gun several times. The soldier sits in jail facing charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon. The reports also indicate that Carpio had been consuming alcoholic beverages.
Believe it or not, this is not an isolated incident, especially on New Year’s Eve. “What goes up, must come down” holds true with bullets too. The bullet velocity as it falls can be faster than the discharge rate and certainly deadly if it strikes someone on the ground. Ironically the person injured or killed is often the person who discharged the weapon. Depending on your local ordinances, if you want to make some noise, fire off some legal fireworks. If all else fails, go buy a portable air horn if you feel the need to make that kind of statement on the eve of a new year.
FYI discharging a firearm in the city limits of Northfield is illegal as well as unsafe.
Another gun story: a 53 year old Florida man wakes up to find he has a bullet in his head. He drives himself to work, leaves a note and drives to the hospital. When police call his 65 year old girlfriend, neighbors call police to report they hear a gunshot. When police arrive at her home, they find her dead with a single gunshot wound to her head. The article states the doctor said it was a bigger risk to remove the bullet from the man’s brain that to leave it there….Amazing.