It is sad to say, but in Athens, Alabama, not to far from where I live, a 5-year old girl was killed by celebratory gunfire on New Years Eve. I was a little surprised by this story. This is only my second New Years in Alabama and neither time did I ever hear any celebratory gunfire. It’s true, I live close to Redstone Arsenal and any bullets that land there will be dealt with heavily by the Federal authorities. But still. Northern Alabama may have its fair share of “hold my beer and watch this” types. If it was a story about some idiot blowing his hand off with a home made firework, I’d buy it. But shooting guns up in the air… that’s not really our style.
Then I read past the headline to the story. Not to sound like a prejudiced asshole, but the shooters name is Fidel Rodriguez Canchola. Now it’s all coming together. The times that I have heard the most celebratory gunfire were in the Central American areas of Miami and the Mexican American areas of Chicagoland. Firing guns into the air is common in the Middle East and Mexico/Central America. It’s true. Sorry. I’m not saying it is exclusively a Hispanic issue, but when I read about people getting arrested for firing guns up into the air on New Years, the names have … kind of a similar persuasion.
This is a fact noticed by the non-profit, Bullet Free Sky, when they realized that had to start releasing their PSA in Spanish.
I’m going to keep my eye on this story, because honestly, I have my suspicion that Mr. Canchola may not be here legally. Perhaps this is a prejudiced guess, but again, when it comes to my experience with celebratory gunfire, there are trends.
The only reason I am even blogging about this is because I broke the rule, never read the comments. I don’t think any of the antis who posted a response read past the headline.
First we have the obligatory redneck comments, because Alabama = redneck.
I’m not saying we don’t have rednecks, or that they don’t do dumb stuff. But celebratory gunfire isn’t really a redneck thing.
Then we have some people who managed to make this anti-Trump. Why the hell not. If you are going to hate on a Red State, might as well toss in some anti-Trump while you are at it.
Classy, nothing like mourning a tragedy like wishing for a genocide.
Then came the people that blamed this on the NRA and/or the 2A.
Then we have this thread full of anti-Southern, self righteousness.
I wonder if Buz Kearns thinks that Mr. Fidel Rodriguez Canchola is the same kind of “white Hispanic” that George Zimmerman is? I guess if it helps him fit the narrative.
BTW, we don’t tolerate celebratory gunfire here in Alabama either. Just so everybody north of the Mason-Dixon gets that.
I loved this comment.
I’m banking on Mr. Conchola being here illegally. LeftCoastLeftie’s sarcasm may be 100% accurate.
The only really reasonable comment thread was from James Graves.
I agree 100%. It is a stupid Thrid World practice that we should not tolerate in the US and should punish severely.
But for the holier-than-thou antis, why address the problem when you can attack the NRA and make fun of the South?
I have to say that this year I heard no celebratory gunfire in my little patch of Miami-Dade county. I think at least in my HOA the word is out about the asshole by the lake that will call the cops on your sorry ass if he catches you shooting in the air and does not give a damn about “snitches get stitches.”
I used to do that all the time. It was a family tradition. Then I got old and smarter. I fired two rounds this year, straight into the ground off my deck. BTW, I live in the country.
Being a native Southerner (and a member of the rare native Atlantan species), I was not at all surprised by the anti-Southern sentiment expressed above. It’s rather un-PC of me to note that the “celebratory gunfire” problem in the Atlanta area is not due to rednecks, conservatives, and/or NRA supporters — it’s “urban” types. Friends who live in “urban”/gentrifying areas experience “celebratory gunfire” for dozens of minutes during New Years and (to a lesser extent) July 4th. In recent memory, folks have been injured or killed by this around here, including one youngster who died while attending a midnight church service in a tent.
A good friend and I engaged in celebratory gunfire on New Year’s Eve.
We celebrated the close of 2016 by perforating paper targets. In front of a berm. While wearing proper eye and ear protection. With no unaccounted-for flyers.
Because that’s how we responsible, law-abiding gun owners roll. *drops mic*