**In June of 1999 Shannon Smith was a happy, healthy, well-adjusted 14-year-old, who was "on top of the world." She has just graduated from the 8th grade and was looking forward to the challenges of high school. She was an honors student and a talented athlete with a bright future and unlimited potential. She was dearly loved by her family and had many friends. She was talking to one of her friends on a portable phone in the security of her back yard one night, when a bullet fell from the sky, ending her life and shattering the lives of her parents. The community was devastated by her loss. Her memorial service was overflowing with over 1300 people. Her former school provided grief counseling for her classmates. In that process her friends and classmates decided that they wanted to create a permanent memorial for her on the campus at her former school, containing confiscated, melted firearms. Three artists specializing in such public art volunteered their services at no cost and have designed an interactive piece in the form of a sunflower, Shannon's favorite flower. It will be 24 feet in diameter and 3 feet high. In addition to the melted firearms, it will have haikus containing the thoughts of her friends, family and classmates and a single bullet at the apex. The idea is to have present and future students, and all who experience the memorial, to understand the tragedy that can be wrought by one single bullet. Her classmates have worked, and continue to work, tirelessly to raise the money necessary for the cost of the materials and construction. They have raised well over half of the necessary funds, and the memorial will be constructed this summer, so that it will be finished by the start of the next school year.
When, in connection with the investigation of Shannon's death, the Phoenix police told her parents that Phoenix had some of the weakest gun laws for any city of comparable size in the country, and that the discharge of a firearm within the city was a simple misdemeanor, the Smiths set about to change that. They had widespread and bipartisan support, including the Governor, the Attorney General, the County Attorneys and City Councils in Phoenix and Tucson, law enforcement statewide and many others. The proposed amendment to the law came to be known as "Shannon's Law." The Smiths thought that making it a felony, under the appropriate circumstances, to discharge a weapon in a city, was eminently reasonable and would pass easily and quickly-there couldn't be a "random gunfire lobby" to oppose it. However, they were wrong. The NRA and other local and national members of the gun lobby resisted mightily. The Governor, who also thought the measure should and would pass easily, was anxious to have Shannon's Law in place for the Millennium New Year's Eve, so she called a Special Session of the Arizona Legislature with Shannon's Law as one of the two subjects under consideration. Amazingly, and sadly, the gun lobby flexed its muscles, and the Special Session was disbanded without its passage. However, the Smiths, and their supporters, refused to give up, and Shannon's Law was introduced again in the next regular session of the legislature. This time, after a tough struggle, it passed, and in April was signed into law by the Governor at a ceremony at the Smith's house.
In addition to working for the passage of Shannon's Law, the Smiths have participated in a public service campaign to educate the public about the danger of random gunfire. This has focused particularly on New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July, which are historically when the problem is at its worst in Phoenix. Law enforcement believes that this has been a resounding success, with shots reported for the Millennium New Year's Eve not only not increased as feared, but reduced by two-thirds of what had been reported in past New Year's Eves. The campaign continues.
More information concerning Shannon's Law, the Shannon Smith Memorial, the public service announcements, and additional information is available at:
The Smiths have formed The Shannon Smith Memorial Foundation, which is a non-profit corporation which will provide a scholarship in Shannon's name at the high school she would have attended, Xavier College Preparatory, for a deserving student who might otherwise not be able to attend. The foundation is also handling the funding for the Shannon Smith Memorial, which is discussed above, being constructed at Shannon's former school. Contributions may be made as follows:
The Shannon Smith Memorial Foundation
233 E. Pasadena Avenue
Phoenix, Arizona 85012-1514
Shannon's parents are both on the boards of directors for Citizens of Arizona to Prevent Gun Violence (CAPGV) and Helping Arizonans Limit Tragedy (HALT), and will devote the rest of their lives to the fight against gun violence.
So think about the next time you fire a gun into the air, doesn't matter if you do it on New Year's or on a regular day, just think about that bullet when it finally comes down, is that going to kill someone? It is plain an simple that what goes up must come down, so why do something stupid by firing a gun into the air? What does it prove or stand for, nothing, it just means that there is a great risk of someone getting hit or killed by that bullet. Just think about it, is it worth going to jail when, not if but when you get caught? Even if you don't get caught doing it, you will still know that you have done it, even if know one knows you did it.
