Dear Morons: Don't Shoot Your Guns in the Air on Fourth of July

It is the year 2025, and unfortunately, we still have to remind Miamians not to shoot their guns in the air on the Fourth of July, especially here in Florida.

For more than 20 years, Miami-Dade County officials have kindly reminded residents not to fire their guns in the air in celebration of July 4 and New Year's Eve. The announcements are part of the "One Bullet Kills the Party" campaign, which launched after someone was shot on New Year's Eve in Overtown in 1997. Miami politicians have teamed up with rapper Pitbull and other celebrities in years past to get the message out.

Like clockwork, the Miami Police Department and the Miami Fire Rescue issued their yearly reminder about celebratory gunfire ahead of the holiday weekend.

"Please keep in mind that celebratory gunfire is illegal," a Miami police officer warns in a new video. "Do not discharge any firearm up into the air, as what goes up must come down, and that can result in serious injury or death."

Let’s keep this 4th of July safe for everyone and celebrate responsibly! 🇺🇸@CityofMiamiFire @CityofMiami pic.twitter.com/1uYkh6dlmk

— Miami PD (@MiamiPD) July 3, 2025

You are probably wondering, Are these reminders really necessary all these years later? Yes, people seem to forget that whatever goes up must come down — a basic law of gravity — and stray bullets have continued to injure folks amid holiday celebrations in the Sunshine State.

During Fourth of July celebrations in 2019, a 2-month-old baby was struck by celebratory gunfire. Six months later, on New Year's Eve, a woman visiting downtown Delray Beach was hit in the leg by a stray bullet. As a woman watched fireworks with her 13-year-old daughter in West Palm Beach on July 4, 2022, she was struck by gunfire out of nowhere. Another woman was hit in the face by a stray bullet, presumed to be celebratory gunfire, on New Year's Eve in 2022 in Lake Mary.

On this past New Year's Eve, 10-year-old Yanelis Munuguia was struck and killed by a stray bullet near Allapattah in northwest Miami-Dade. According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, Munugia was lighting fireworks with her family outside their apartment around 1:30 a.m. when she suddenly collapsed. The police say her parents examined the young girl and they discovered a gunshot wound to the back of her head.

Additionally, celebratory gunfire killed a 56-year-old grandmother on New Year's Eve 2025 in Kissimmee. Carmen Rosa Neira Ochoa was struck by a stray bullet as she watched fireworks from her patio. A 44-year-old man was arrested three weeks later after police say he fired a gunshot across the lake from the woman's screened-in backyard patio.