As revelers prepare to bid adieu to 2025 and welcome in 2026, Charleston Police Chief Kirby Griffin reminds city residents that their New Year’s festivities should not include the use of guns.
For some people, discharging a shotgun or other firearm into the air at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve is simply part of a long New Year’s tradition, but Griffin said no allowance is made for celebratory gunfire in the city of Charleston.
The chief said the city has a “zero tolerance” policy for discharging a firearm in the city of Charleston for any reason and on any day.
Griffin said anyone caught or identified as someone shooting a firearm, even as a celebratory gesture on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, will be charged.
Charleston Police Chief Kirby Griffin
Per city ordinance, discharging a fire-arm within the corporate limits is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine of up to $500 for the first violation and/or up to 90 days in jail. Conviction on a second violation charge basically doubles those penalties.
If the threat of arrest is not enough, consider the possibility that someone may be seriously injured or killed by a falling projectile after a gun is fired into the air.
Experts note that a bullet fired straight into the air will come down at a slower velocity than it went up, but it will still be traveling fast enough to penetrate a human body.
A bullet fired into the air comes down 20-90 seconds later, and it can harm someone as far as two miles away.
While no occurrences are known in Charleston, there have been documented cases in rural Tallahatchie County and elsewhere of people being killed by falling projectiles from guns fired into the air.
Such a preventable tragedy would mark a solemn start to the new year, the chief said.
Griffin added that a person’s freedom to celebrate ends when the celebration might endanger the life of someone else.
