History
Shannon's law is named after Shannon Smith, a Phoenix fourteen year old girl who was killed by a random bullet while talking to her friend on her celular telephone in June of 1999.
Sharon's parents decided that they wanted the shooter punished and to prevent future tragedies of this kind. They found out that hurting or killing someone with random gunfire was only considered a misdemeanor by Arizona's judicial system, so they started pushing for stronger laws.
Their campaign took them all over Arizona, and the councils of other large cities, such as Tucson, backed them up. Then Governor Jane Hull joined them in their cause. After failing to pass the law twice in 1999, the Arizona senate finally passed it in April of 2000, and it was enacted in July of the same year. Many groups, such as NRA, and gun right advocates, protested the law before it was installed. Defenders of Shannon's law argued that victims of random gunfire were innocent, and many times, children.
During December 31, 2003, the city of Glendale began use of computerized equipment that alerts cops immediately as of to where a shot has been fired. Four arrests of Shannon's law violators were made that night, and it is expected that more cities in Arizona will soon upgrade
their police departments with such equipment.Explanation
Breaking Shannon's law is considered a felony in Arizona. However, under the Arizona statures, a person acussed of this offense can bargain and get a lesser sentence, if the person admits to the crime. In theory, this means that prosecutors, who were the ones who actually pushed for legislation of the latter to get more shooters to confess, are only able to send away people convicted of this crime to jail for a term of, according to Arizona state attorney general Rick Romley, an average of three months in jail, whereas someone who does not confess and decides to go to trial faces one year or more in jail.