LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The sheriff's department and Los Angeles police urged the public today to celebrate New Year's Eve responsibly, and warned revelers to avoid firing guns into the air.
``The adage of `what goes up, must come down' rings especially true in this case, and with the acceleration of gravity, physics determine free- falling objects speed up as they return to Earth,'' according to a sheriff's department statement. ``The danger of injuring someone with firing even a single round into the air is a lethal prospect.''
Law enforcement officials said that despite annual warnings about the dangers of such gunfire, the noise of discharging weapons is a common sound on New Year's Eve.
``The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department wants all to know shooting into the air is not only irresponsible, but a felony-level crime,'' according to the agency.
Sheriff's officials urged anyone who sees someone fire a weapon into the air to take shelter and call 911.