Shannon Smith
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Shannon Smith (1985-1999) was a teenager from Phoenix, Arizona, whose death by a stray bullet led to changes in Arizona gun laws, strengthening penalties for random discharge of firearms.
Smith had been an award-winning athlete and honor student, and had graduated from the eighth grade a few weeks prior to her death. While standing in her backyard and talking on the telephone with a friend, a stray bullet hit her in her head, causing instant death. Smith's death sparked a furor among Arizona residents. Her funeral was attended by approximately 1,300 mourners, and a monument, made with melted metal from confiscated firearms, was raised in her honor at her middle school.
At the time, Arizona's gun laws were among the weakest in the United States. After being informed by the police that random discharge of firearms was a simple misdemeanor, Smith's parents resolved to change the laws and ran a statewide campaign advocating harsher punishment for random shooters. Their campaign gained support from such people as then-Governor Jane Dee Hull. In April of 2000, "Shannon's law" was passed, over the opposition of such groups as the National Rifle Association.
