On Tuesday, city and county officials lined up in front of a poster featuring a serious-looking Mr. 305 and the words "One Bullet Kills the Party" for an Independence Day tradition: reminding the public of elementary-school physics.
"Please do not shoot bullets into the air, because they're coming back down," pleaded Miami-Dade Commissioner Audrey Edmonson.
This morning, we joined several leaders for a press conference to remind residents to celebrate Independence Day safely and refrain from celebratory gunfire. Remember: One??bullet kills the party. Be safe. #FourthOfJuly pic.twitter.com/DzkVjlcu80
— Miami PD (@MiamiPD) July 3, 2018
This is the 21st year local leaders have delivered this very simple message. They do it not once but twice a year, in advance of both New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July.
Unfortunately, it's completely necessary. Celebratory gunfire in Miami killed a father of five during 2007 New Year's Eve celebrations and an 11-year-old boy as 2008 was rung in. A man was grazed in the shoulder by a stray bullet as revelers celebrated the arrival of 2013.
So officials are forced each year to try to get it through peoples' heads that firing a gun into the air is a really bad idea. This year, they rolled out a snazzy new video cut with Pitbull dancing.
It appears no one has been injured in recent years. All of Miami's leaders — our unofficial mayor, Pitbull, included — are counting on you to keep it that way.
