Shannon Smith

Shannon Smith may refer to:

Sportspeople

Fictional characters

Others

See also

Shannon Smith (swimmer)

Shannon Smith (born September 28, 1961) is a former competition swimmer who represented Canada as a 14-year-old at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec. She won a bronze medal for her third-place performance in the women's 400-metre freestyle with a time 4:14.60, coming behind East German Petra Thumer (4:09.89) and American Shirley Babashoff (4:10.46). Smith also competed in the Women's 800-metre freestyle, finishing sixth in the event final and clocking a time of 8:48.15.

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Shannon's law (Arizona)

Shannon's law refers to specific changes in Arizona statutes, enacted in 2000, making it a felony offense to discharge firearms randomly into the air.

History

Shannon's law is named after Shannon Smith, a fourteen-year-old Phoenix girl killed by a stray bullet in June 1999. Smith's parents, after being informed that the assailant's activity constituted, at most, a misdemeanor offense, advocated stronger penalties, to prevent future tragedies of this kind.

Their campaign took them all over Arizona, and their efforts were supported by city councils of medium-sized Arizona cities such as Tucson. Then-Governor Jane Hull also joined them in their cause. After the Arizona legislature failed to pass the law twice in 1999, it finally received both state senate and state house approval in April, 2000, and was enacted in that July. The NRA supported the law and worked in cooperation to form the 'Shannon's Law'

Current

Violation of Shannon's law is defined as a felony offense in Arizona. However, as with most felony offenses in U.S. jurisdictions, a person charged with this offense can strike a plea bargain with prosecutors, and may be eligible for only a misdemeanor conviction. The decision of whether such an offer is available lies solely in the hands of the prosecutor, and presently these offenses are being charged as "dangerous" offenses, thereby making the accused ineligible for probation under state law, requiring a prison sentence even for a first offense.