DUI arrests down, Gun misuse up early on in 2009

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http://www.wset.com/news/stories/0109/581786.html

BUSY NIGHT FOR POLICE

Lynchburg, VA - Celebrations for the New Year didn't go as smoothly as some would have hoped.


Shortly after the clock struck 12:00 our police scanners were busy with calls about fights and shots fired.Lynchburg Police were called to Merredeth's Fine Dining at The Plaza after a fight broke out inside.Police say they found 20 to 25 bullet casings in the parking lot from at least three different guns.They say no one was hurt, but it was like this all night long.In fact, Lynchburg Police tell us that throughout the night, they were called to investigate about 30 calls of “shots fired” and countless fights.As a result, they weren't able to put as much effort into catching those who may have been driving under the influence.

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It wouldn't surprise me if it was a lot of the same people.

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"Shots fired" calls at midnight on New Years? How many of the general public can tell the difference between fire works and gun fire? Hmmm could the other calls, besides the one with casings, be fire works?

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This restaurant is not far from where my girlfriend lives. Although the neighborhood is not necessarily what I would call a bad neighborhood, it's not exactly where I'd like to be hanging out much after dark if I had to be hanging out somewhere after dark. It's an older neighborhood with generally good folk, from those I've run into, but it does not surprise me to hear of a gunfight in the area as I've heard gunfire before on rare occasion in the area.

The girlfriend and I went into one of the nicer restaurants here in Lynchburg on New Year's Eve for dinner and even it had a thug looking crowd that would not normally be there and certainly does not appeal to me. Although I'm almost always armed when we're out for dinner my girlfriend made particular mention that she was glad I was armed that night. Note that this was in one of the few restaurants that I'll go in without the firearm on occasion for a beer or two with dinner, so it's usually a place I feel comfortable.

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kenny wrote:

<snip> As a result, they weren't able to put as much effort into catching those who may have been driving under the influence.

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While I applaud the police department's attempts to catch those who, through drinking, may have been a danger to others or themselves, I fail to see how an inability to catch people who do not endanger others could take priority over a "shots fired" call.

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Tess wrote:

kenny wrote:

<snip> As a result, they weren't able to put as much effort into catching those who may have been driving under the influence.

Click to expand...

While I applaud the police department's attempts to catch those who, through drinking, may have been a danger to others or themselves, I fail to see how an inability to catch people who do not endanger others could take priority over a "shots fired" call.

Click to expand...

Responding to real crime doesn't enlarge the government's power the way random checkpoints do.

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I live in Hopewell, and trust me, I knew the gunfire when I heard it on New Years.. It's no wonder we get a bad rap as gun owners when so many irresponsible people just run out on the front porch at midnight and shoot off who knows how many rounds in the air. (To land who knows where..)

I'm not outside of town, or in a low populated area either. There's houses everywhere, and children everywhere.

It was one thing when I heard a few pistols going off here and there, but then the shotguns came out, and the big caliber assault rifles.. And to top it off, I heard multiple full auto bursts.

From midnight to 2am, while my neighborhood sounded like a war zone, I only heard one siren... just one...

I've talked to officers who told me they hate (and sometimes refuse) responding to "shots fired" calls on New Years.

I always round up the cats and dogs and take them inside during the holidays, and my wife and I stay inside too. There's no telling where those bullets will fall, and I don't feel like finding one the hard way.