KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City Police are urging people not to ring in the new year by firing a gun into the air.
It is illegal to fire a gun in city limits, but in 2015, more than 1,400 celebratory gunshots were detected in Kanas City.
In the past celebratory gunfire has caused property damage and even loss of life.
"Just firing a gun – that is a crime. No gun can be fired in the city limits. If there is damage to property there can be felony charges, and if someone is hit by that, there is assault charges and if someone is killed. We have had incidents in our city where people have been killed by celebratory gunfire," KCPD Sgt. Jake Becchina said.
According to KCPD, the number of detected celebratory gunshots have gone down. Last year 883 gunshots were reported.
"What we ask is if residents see something, call 911. We have gunshot detection software but it doesn't tell us who is shooting, what kind of car they are in – we need people to call 911 and tell us those things," Sgt. Becchina said.
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