Don't Start the New Year Behind Bars

By Anne LaJeunesse

Santa Monica police are warning that anyone who shoots a gun into the air to celebrate the end of the millennium is likely to spend the first part of the new millenium behind bars.

Lt. Gary F. Gallinot, spokesman for the police department, said that such indiscriminate shooting is extremely dangerous, with the potential to kill or maim bystanders, sometimes up to a mile away.  For example, Gallinot said, shots from a .22 caliber rifle can travel a mile.

"Depending on the angle, it could be that someone in Santa Monica could shoot someone in Venice," he said.

Gallinot said that incidents of such careless and illegal shooting -- the crime is a felony and carries fines and a prison sentence -- have declined in the past few years, likely due to more education.

"Don't shoot -- the life you save may be someone you love," he said.

An increase in gun sales statewide -- triggered by stricter gun laws that take effect Jan. 1 -- could spark an increase in celebratory gunshots.

Bruce Jochim, owner of Pacific Cartridge on Colorado Avenue (one of two businesses in the city that sell guns), estimates that gun sales in his shop are currently up between 35 and 40 percent over the same time period last year.

However, Jochim said, he believes that increase is due to more stringent gun laws that will take effect in the new year.

"Most of that (increase) is transferring guns from private party to private party," Jochim said.

Senate Bill 23, passed in July, enacts what is believed to be the nation's toughest gun ban, restricting "copycat" assault weapons, guns
that circumvent California law. The legislation also prohibits large capacity ammunition magazines, detachable magazines or clips that have the capacity to hold more than 10 rounds.

Jochim explained that his customers are trying to beat the deadline, and that many are transferring their weapon ownership to other private parties.

"It's not so much Y2K as it is the threat of more legislation, that seems to be the way it's going," Jochim said.

A manager at Big Five Sporting Goods, the only other Santa Monica store that sells guns, refused to answer any media questions and referred all calls to the company's corporate office. However, no spokesperson was available Wednesday evening.

Anyone who sees a person shoot a gun off should contact police at 911, giving as much information as possible, Gallinot said.