Dear Editor,
Congratulations to the Gilroy police and fire departments for confiscating more than 7,300 illegal fireworks on the Fourth of July.
However, they could have doubled their stash if they patrolled a one-block radius of my neighborhood.
From dust until midnight a continuous barrage of mortar rounds echoed and vibrated through our house and the sky was littered with bottle rockets. Our roof and backyard were and still are littered with paper, plugs and the remains of half burned-out bottle rockets.
I made no calls to the police department. Why waste their time chasing down these rude, immature, obnoxious individuals that disrespect what the Fourth of July is all about.
Since moving to Gilroy in 1980 this was the worst year in memory. Dogs howled and people scream and yelled from their windows, but to no avail. STOP THOSE FIREWORKS.
The days following the Fourth I spoke with several people that live in various locations of Gilroy. They reported the same outrageous activities had taken place within their neighborhood, or could heard and see such activities.
One individual, said it reminded him of the news reports that were televised from Baghdad “shock and awe” of the U.S. bombings.
So what can the fire and police officers do next year to curb such illegal activities-probably nothing, except run around town putting out small backyard fires and collect overtime pay. As for my family and shelled shocked dogs, next year we will take a long walk on the Monterey Beaches.
Alan L. Johnson, Gilroy
