When a firearm is discharged, the bullet will travel a path until it strikes someone or something.

What goes up will most assuredly come down.

In any area, but especially in a densely populated urban area like Cleveland, the consequences of celebrating New Year’s Eve or any other occasion with a gun can be devastating. The intention may be a celebratory shot toward the sky, but the consequences of that moment can have disastrous consequences for a neighbor or someone blocks away.

It’s not just dangerous and stupid – although I would argue that should be enough, it is also illegal to discharge a firearm in the city of Cleveland (Codified Ordinance 627.20).

So, this New Year’s and all year round, keep safety first in your sights.  Put the guns away and ring in the New Year safely with your friends and family.

-Director Martin L. Flask, Cleveland Department of Public Safety