CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — While the 4th of July offers festive celebrations, law enforcement gets quite a few extra calls this time of year, including from people concerned about random gunfire.
This according to Kevin Creighton, a firearms expert and writer for AmmoMan.com, who says some confuse the sounds of gunshots with those of fireworks.
Although there are cases where people are shooting their guns into the air in celebration, police still see plenty of false alarms.
“The police have limited resources,” Creighton says. “They just can’t spend their days sitting around and stuff like this because people think it might be random gunfire.”
For the average ear, fireworks and gunshots can sound very similar. But Creighton says there are a few simple ways to distinguish the two and save law enforcement some time.
“So the biggest way to tell the difference is going to be how you’re hearing the sound,” Creighton says. “There’s going to be a natural, mechanical restriction on how fast you can fire the gun. It’s going to tend to make it sound rhythmic. With a fire cracker, that doesn’t come into play. They go off on their schedule because they are triggered by the fuse that’s lit.”
There are also cases where the difference can be as easy as looking for smoke.
“Modern firearms use smokeless gun powder, so there’s very little smoke associated with them going off,” Creighton says. “But fireworks are based on black power, which was the type used during the American Revolutionary War. So, when you set off a firework – we’ve all seen it – this huge cloud of smoke that happens after. If you hear, “pop, pop, pop” and you’re not seeing smoke, call the police.”
We talked to a couple people in Hamilton County to see if they knew how to spot the difference.
“It’s much more concussion than just a snap,” Ray Kaz says about gun shots. “A firework is so superficial – a gun is deep.”
“We know the difference between the gunshot and the fireworks,” Dorothy Johnston says. “It’s usually just celebration this time of year anyway.”
Residents said that regardless of these signs, however, that people should still be alert of their surroundings and what’s going on around them.
Creighton also adding that even from far away, a gunshot should still be much louder than any firecracker ignition.
