Gunfire in Canton is rampant, illegal with exception, potentially deadly
CANTON – Some count it as a holiday tradition, regardless of legality, reserved by the general populace for the Fourth of July or the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.
But shooting a gun up in the air in the city of Canton is generally illegal — and dangerous — because what goes up must come down. Bullets can travel miles before landing, with the potential to damage property and kill or injure people.
"With ballistics, trajectory and speed, a lot of it all depends on the type of firearm itself and type of ammunition used," said Michele Foster, lab director at the Canton/Stark County Crime Laboratory.
The practice is in the news because Canton resident James R. Williams was shot and killed by a police officer while he was repeatedly firing an AR-15 skyward to celebrate the new year. The shooting is being investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
More: What we know about the Canton police shooting of 46-year-old James Williams
Shooting in the air can be deadly.
In 2011, a 15-year-old Amish girl from Holmes County was killed after she was hit in the scalp by a descending bullet while driving a horse-drawn buggy home from a Christmas party.
Authorities later traced it to a Fredericksburg man who admitted firing the shot while cleaning his gun 1.1 miles away from where the girl was struck.
He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and served 30 days in jail.
More: 'Today is not the day for judgment': Law enforcement experts weigh in on Canton shooting
More: Body cam footage: Officer shoots before yelling, "Police! Get down now!"
Gunfire in Canton
Gunfire has become so frequent in the city that resulting damage to cars and even homes often isn't reported until long after the shots ring out.
Last year, city police officers took 204 reports of houses and cars sustaining damage from gunfire, said Chief Jack Angelo. They also took reports of 953 incidents in which shots were fired but no one was hit.
"We have a lot of unknown bullet damage to cars. People are finding bullet holes in their cars or their house and they're not calling right away or even until the next day," he said.
And while gunfire unfortunately can be heard in the city all year, he said, the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve are his department's busiest nights of the year.
Other holiday celebrations have become marred by gunfire as of late.
During the city's annual Christmastime "Light Up Downtown" celebration Dec. 2, a 34-year-old woman shoved to the ground in a crowd reportedly pulled a gun from her purse and fired three rounds into the sky. In seconds, police arrested her, charging her with inducing panic and discharging a firearm upon or over a public roadway.
Celebratory gunfire is illegal in all 50 states.
Still, people do it.
Marquetta Williams, wife of James Williams, told The Canton Repository: "The kids were watching the countdown and we were going outside to shoot guns like everybody else does at New Year's. ... We do this every year because it was New Year's Eve. Everybody (in the neighborhood) was shooting. It was a tradition. Everybody shoots on New Year's Eve."
Why is it illegal?
City officials maintain that city law prohibits anyone from firing a gun inside city limits.
More: Body cam footage: Officer shoots before yelling, "Police! Get down now!"
City Law Director Kristen Bates-Aylward said firearms can be confiscated by the police and then later destroyed, burned in an incinerator at a local factory. The person who pulled the trigger faces a criminal charge — unless the gun was fired in self-defense or in the defense of others, or in the discharge of official duty, such as in a law enforcement capacity.
City regulations contain three criminal charges addressing illegal gunfire: discharge of a firearm within city limits, discharge of a firearm on or near a prohibited premises and discharge of a firearm across a public road.
Discharging a firearm within the city limits is a fourth-degree misdemeanor punishable upon conviction by a maximum sentence of 30 days in jail and a $250 fine. The other two charges are felonies that can rise to a first-degree charge, punishable upon conviction by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
In the last five years, the average number of people convicted of discharging a firearm in the city is seven, according to Canton Municipal Court statistics. But the number of those charged with shooting on or near a prohibited and/or across a road has nearly tripled since 2017.
Kody Gonzalez, chief deputy clerk, said eight people were charged in 2017. Last year, there were 23.
Outside city limits, firing a gun is legal in many more instances.
Hunters in nonpopulated areas and farmers managing crop-damaging animals routinely pull the trigger, and gun enthusiasts practice target shooting.
"But you are responsible for where that bullet ends up," said Maj. C.J. Stantz of the Stark County Sheriff's Office.
Firearms charges in Canton
Here's a look at the number of misdemeanor and felony charges filed in Canton Municipal Court for discharging a firearm within the city limits:
Misdemeanors
2017: 5
2018: 7
2019: 7
2020: 6
2021: 7
Felonies
2017: 8
2018: 10
2019: 21
2020: 17
2021: 23
SOURCE: Kody Gonzalez, chief deputy clerk, Canton Municipal Court
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Shooting in Canton is illegal - with exception - with deadly potential
