CLEVELAND (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team is getting action on complaints about celebratory gunfire.
Dr. Todd Barr and Dane Vannatter, of Cleveland, were stunned when they called police just after midnight on New Year’s Day because of a neighbor firing his gun and the officer told them there was nothing he could do.
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Cleveland police told us they took more than 100 calls in the first few hours of New Year’s Day. Records also show more than 700 alerts came in from the ShotSpotter system that detects gunfire. Despite all the calls, no one was charged criminally.
“The officer said it is perfectly legal for someone to fire their gun on their own property,” Barr told the I-Team. “I couldn’t believe it. Those bullets have to land somewhere. How can that be legal?”
According to a check of city and state laws by the I-Team, state law says it is not a crime for a person, while on their own land, to discharge a firearm.
Several Cleveland council members said they are not able to change the law; it’s up to the state.