Right before New Year’s, I wrote a warning about celebratory gunfire. Don’t do it.

However, it’s a warning I have to write about pretty much every year, and will probably have to write about every year for as long as I’m writing about gun-related issues. I shouldn’t have to, but I do.

On that post, someone asked, “Who the hell still does this?”

Well, enough that several people were shot due to such “celebratory gunfire.”

For example, we have a six-year-old girl in Oakland, California.

A 6-year-old girl remains in stable condition at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland after she was struck in the head by what police believe was “celebratory gunfire” on New Year’s Eve. She was apparently playing in her back yard at the time of the shooting.

Chief of Police Anne Kirkpatrick carried a large teddy bear to present to the girl on Tuesday during a visit with her.

“We have a young girl who is in intensive care today,” Kirkpatrick said. “We are just fortunate she is going to survive.

So much for California’s gun control laws, huh?

There’s also a woman in Indianapolis who was struck.

An Indianapolis woman is hospitalized after likely getting hit during celebratory gunfire on New Year’s Eve.

Police say the victim was hit by a stray bullet while standing inside her own apartment on Indy’s west side in the 5700 block of Port Irving Drive.

The shooting took place just seconds after midnight while a family of five rang in 2019.

In addition to them, there was a nine-year-old boy in Atlanta who was hit.

A nine-year-old boy is recovering after being struck by a stray bullet just after midnight during celebratory New Year’s Eve gunfire.

Police say Alfonso Vazquez-Naua was outside setting off fireworks with family when he was struck in the stomach. The young boy was standing by the porch of a residence in the 100 block of Griffin Street NW when the incident occurred.

The young boy was taken to Egleston Hospital in stable condition where he underwent surgery for his injuries. He is said to be recovering.

But he and the woman in Indianapolis were shot by gunfire that came in a more horizontal direction, rather than straight down.

They weren’t the only ones shot, either. There was also a 22-year-old woman in Raleigh, NC who was struck after someone shot straight into the air.

So yes, people still do this. They still ring in the new year by shooting their guns. If they had a proper range for this, I’d have no problem with it. I think it would be fun to sit around and have a good time, counting down the minutes, then have a whole line of people open fire right at midnight. I think it would be a blast, no pun intended.

But shooting into the air or just firing blindly?

Make no mistake, while we’re talking about responsible gun ownership to people, they’re thinking of jackwagons who do stuff like this. We need to make it a point to call out this stuff and call it for what it is, irresponsible and reckless.

The part that really burns me, though? There’s almost no chance of these people being caught and prosecuted for their reckless behavior.